We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mick Connolly a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mick , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.
In a digital world, our studio is 100% analog. There are no screens, laptops, mouse or PC’s in our studio. We record to analog tape on vintage tape machines.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The Red Room Sound Studio located at 21 Water Street in Torrington CT is an all analog all tape format recording studio. The historic space that houses the studio provides a retro aesthetic to the studio which has been painstakingly refurbished to the look, feel and equipment of the analog recording studios of the 1970’s.
The studio is co-owned and operated by Mick Connolly and his wife Lucinda Rowe.
Originally from Newtown, CT the couple is well known from their performances
and national tours.
Both Lucinda and Mick are award winning songwriters and musicians having performed with international acts such as Eddie Money, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar, Tony Bennett, Steve Katz of Blood Sweat and Tears, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ricky Byrd formerly of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Rick Springfield and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge.
The Red Room Sound Studio is a classic 1970’s period piece. Taking its aesthetic from the
cavernous studios of the heyday, the 1600 square foot live room feels like an “Abbey Road”
esque studio.
The control room looks out into the live room through the engineers window over the mid 70’s
analog console. There are no computers in this studio or digital devices. The format is analog
only providing recording of 24 track and 8 track tape formats. The tape decks are all
original to the era and have been refurbished with original parts. Each tape deck has a piece of
history that follows it as the 24 track deck was at Electric Lady Studios in New York for a time
and also made its acting debut in the HBO series “Vinyl”.
Artists that have recorded in the studio have been from the local area to internationally known.
Most recently Steve Katz, platinum artist and founding member of Blood Sweat and Tears
recorded his newest release “The Juggle” at the Red Room Sound Studio. Andy Pratt of
Columbia Records “Avenging Annie” fame, is at the studio often recording. The studio has also
welcomed well known names in their “In Studio with the Stars” series hosting Steve Katz, 2015
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Ricky Byrd formerly of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and
Corey Glover of Living Colour, FRank Carillo, Jeffrey Gaines and the Allman-Betts Band.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The best strategy for us is the final product. Our recordings sound unique and real. That comes from a number of different things. Our expertise as producers and engineers, our knowledge of the equipment and knowing how to use it.
Before we there was “Protools” there were “pro’s”. It is an expertise you can only acquire with experience.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth and the incredible testimonials of our clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: redroomsoundstudio.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/mick_connolly_official
- Facebook: facebook.com/redroomsoundstudio
Image Credits
Jimmy Ienner Jr