West Is Best

Over the past 25 years, Dublin’s legendary Westland Studio has welcomed some of the biggest Irish and international names in music. These include U2, Bryan Adams, Christy Moore, Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris, Placebo, Gemma Hayes, Paul Brady, The Corrs, The Chieftains, Massive Attack, Bell X1, Damien Dempsey and Declan O’Rourke.

Located at the rear of Lombard Street, a stone’s throw from the south quays of the River Liffey, Westland is also one of Dublin’s largest recording facilities, boasting a 90 square metre main studio room with two large booths separated by sliding glass doors.
The control room features an SSL E series desk (G+ computer), recording onto an OTARI 24-track analogue tape machine, IZ RADAR 24 or industry standard Pro Tools HD.
The studio has recently been taken over by noted Northern producer Alwyn Walker, now based in Dublin. Walker, who has played in various hardcore and rock outfits, has been recording bands for the last 10 years in his own studios in Northern Ireland. He arrived in Dublin initially to freelance as a producer, but has now settled permanently at Westland. “I heard that their studio engineer was moving over to the UK so I was offered the chance to take it over,” he says. “As everyone knows, the recording industry is in a bit of a recession at the moment, but I feel now is a good opportunity to further develop Westland and broaden its appeal.”
Immediately impressed with what Westland had to offer in terms of specifications and space, Walker is actively promoting it as a facility, for rock bands in particular. He also welcomes outside producers and engineers.
“When I came here first, it was being used more as a rehearsal space than a studio, although people like Sharon Corr and Neil Hannon had been in recording. I’m basically producing my own acts here and I’m also the studio manager. If other producers want to come in and rent it out, I’ll be on call as an assistant. And if they don’t need me around that’s fine too – I’ll basically be the office manager (laughs).”
Walker says Westland offers a unique recording experience, with the added bonus that it has a long pedigree and an established reputation of producing best-selling albums.
“This studio, more than any other in Dublin, has a certain vibe and atmosphere to it,” he says. “That’s partly because it hasn’t been renovated much since about 1985 – so it has a lived-in, vintage feel, which I love. The SSL desk was an amazing piece of kit back in 1985 when it was first installed and it’s still fantastic. It has a sound of its own. Plus, we have some of the best monitors in Dublin, including huge wall-mounted ATC speakers. We have state-of-the-art Pro Tools, which are a must these days, as well as a ridiculous selection of mics and outboard gear. And I’ve brought along some of my own gear to supplement what was already in the studio.”
He’s keen to stress that despite the high quality, it’s not as expensive as people might think, and he welcomes enquiries from bands at all levels.
“I’d like bands and artists to come around, see the place and to meet me and bring their demos. I’m only too happy to explain everything, and I’ll go a step further and go to their practise rooms and check them out live, if need be. It’s always a bit of a risk when a band haven’t learned to trust you on a personal level.”
Walker insists that, despite the proliferation of affordable, digital home recording gear in recent years, there is still a place for a high-spec professional recording studio environment.
“Every band should have home recording gear – that’s a given,” he reflects. “A lot of bands ask me if they should get Pro Tools and I usually say ‘no’ because the temptation is for them to record something and then spend the rest of the time sitting in front of a screen fixing things, as opposed to getting it right from the start. The danger with bands recording themselves is, they’re not objective enough and they never get beyond the politics of it – which means that once everyone in the band is happy with the results they go with it, even though it might not be the best take or performance. I’ve heard a lot of recordings made here in Dublin which are good on a technical level, but lacking in the performance side. A lot of bands need to find someone who sees their music the way they see it.”
Currently working with a blues band and a glam band, Walker says he’s not confined to one particular genre of rock.
“I’m interested in working with rock, grunge, punk and even trad,” he says. “I asked the glam band why they had come to me and their answer was that they’d heard my work with a rock band, an indie pop band and a metal band and they liked what they heard. I pride myself on not pigeon-holing myself – or the studio. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to work here is that it’s big enough for bands to record live. With CD sales dropping, it’s become more and more about the live performance.”

Contact Alwyn Walker at Westland Studios, Magennis Place, Dublin 2. Tel: 00353 (0) 1 6779762. Mobile: 00353 (0) 879 668333