Inside Seattle’s Legendary London Bridge Studio

By: Owners — Eric Lilavois, Jonathan Plum, and Geoff Ott

As producers we have worked on many records and many genres over the years. Aside from our shared love of music and deep rooted desire to help bring artists ideas to life, there is another major thread that connects us and ultimately brought us together, London Bridge Studio. We’ve all seen the studio from different perspectives over the years. In the early 90’s Jonathan was an 18 year old budding guitar player and studio engineer, inspired by the Seattle grunge movement and curious about the natural and powerful sounds he heard via a band called — Temple of the Dog. Geoff was doing much of the same, dissecting sounds and space and enchanted by Mother Love Bone. Eric had just been given a tape of Pearl Jam’s Ten, a tape that was soon worn thin as he played the track “Release” on repeat, an album and a band that would lead him to so many other musical influences.

All three of us heard album after album, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, asking ourselves, where did all this come from? After scouring the liner notes, it was clear, it wasn’t just coming out of Seattle, it was coming out of London Bridge Studio.

Upon realizing this, both Jonathan and Geoff instantly migrated to London Bridge, and at a young age under Rick Parashar, were able to work on many seminal records by Alice in Chains, Candlebox, Blind Melon and so many others. A little over a decade later, they found themselves owners of the studio and shortly thereafter, Eric walked through the doors as their very first client. After a few years, Eric became their partner and co-protector of London Bridge’s legacy.

The studio was meticulously built, designed by acoustician Geoff Turner, and far ahead of its time in 1984 by using many reclaimed and recycled materials. It was founded on the principle of being a space to support and cultivate talent, and that mantra continues.

The original Yamaha C7 Grand Piano used on Mother Love Bones “Chloe Dancer” is still at the studio and well maintained, and the walls are filled with memorabilia from not just the “heyday,” but also from the many artists that have come through London Bridge since, including Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Now the studio is a hybrid of old and new, keeping true to the space and the studios original legendary Neve 8048 console, Studer 2inch tape machine, but also adding a lengthy list of outboard gear, microphones, and and an SSL AWS console to move London Bridge into the modern era.

It’s all still here, still Analog (and digital), and moving forward. All you have to do is come in and lay it down.

The Studio give’s historic tours via our website www.londonbridgestudio.com and we are always open to hearing music from upcoming artists.

~Eric Lilavois, Jonathan Plum, and Geoff Ott. London Bridge Studio Owners

In collaboration with Jeff Gorra — Artist Waves

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