It is perhaps the most famous music studio in the world, made famous not least because of the Beatles’ iconic album cover which features the zebra crossing outside and bears the same name.
But what’s it like to be Managing Director of Abbey Road Studios? Isabel Garvey knows it, helping to push the boundaries of pop music and mixing with some of the biggest stars in the world.
She knocks everything down.
How was your first day at Abbey Road?
I was a nervous wreck. People often ask me what it’s like to walk through this zebra crossing – which is now Grade II listed – and walk into Abbey Road Studios every day. It sounds awfully cliché but it never gets old.
You always say to yourself, ‘I can’t believe I’m walking into this building.’ On day one, multiply that by about a million.
Also, even though I joined EMI in 2004, I had never worked in the studio before. I felt a heavy responsibility. It is a piece of British cultural history. I am now at the helm.
I could really ruin everything!
What is the most unusual or starry moment you have witnessed on the zebra crossing?
You have the funny moment when tourists ask you to take a picture of
them on the crossing, which I always oblige. I saw a lot of people on this level crossing.
The artists who come don’t really do that. These are usually, oddly, politicians and movie stars. Once upon a time, Bon Jovi and Prince Harry crossed paths. It seemed a little strange. It happened when they were both here
for the Invictus Games.
You became an MD at Abbey Road in 2014…
Universal had recently acquired EMI and with it Abbey Road Studios. Part of the brief was “here is a brand that is recognized around the world and yet nothing has been done with it outside of North West London”.
My journey was very digital – and it’s important that we see Abbey Road not just as a physical building, but in a digital world.
Do you have a daily routine?
When I get to Abbey Road it’s all about coffee but it’s also a nice time
if you are in the studio early because orchestras often warm up. This is also the time when those happy accidents happen.
I remember the first doors walking down the halls and bumping into Paul McCartney. The nice thing about this place is that famous artists come to do work. It’s only natural to have your cup of tea with Noel Gallagher on one side.
The Facts for a Studio Engineer at Abbey Road
Salary: £21,350 is entry level at Abbey Road Studios. It would be for our youngest engineer.
Regular hours? I’m mostly Monday to Friday but our engineers work pretty crazy hours. We’re open for as long as people want to create music.
Short and sweet advice: Let your passion shine through.
Mistakes, have you made any?
We built three new studios nearly five years ago. At the time of the launch, I was eight and a half months pregnant. We decided to place the microphone where I would give my speech halfway up the stairs in Studio 2.
My son was a very big baby. By the time I got to the top of the stairs, I just gave this breathless speech. It was horrible. I thought, ‘What was I thinking? Why did I put it up there? I still hear that speech in my head.
Any advice for those who work here?
I would say never tell an engineer what your favorite track is because he will always pick it out. I still don’t have the right answer. With the different engineers, I tried a few different ones.
I tried Where The Streets Have No Name but then I clearly had someone who wasn’t a U2 fan and they said, ‘Yeah, but I hate that beat two minutes later’, which I didn’t. never noticed before and now I can’t hear it!
The Lady Madonna piano, which Paul McCartney played on the Beatles classic, is still there. Are there all kinds of amazing artifacts?
There are loads of artifacts. Everyone is always laughing because they’re just sitting in the hallways. Everything works in this building, regardless of whether it was
a piece of equipment from the 1940s or last year. The most requested microphones are the Neumann.
How did you manage to publicize music engineering as a career with Abbey Road Institute?
We have an ongoing scholarship with two students studying at Abbey Road Institute, which we launched in 2020 thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement.
It was in particular to take students of black origin but also from disadvantaged backgrounds to give them the opportunity to study production and engineering.
Isabelle’s best advice
“Be as creative as the people who enter the building every day. It’s so humiliating to see people come in and leave after making an album or a track, and during that time I was on Excel’
We did a huge exercise last International Women’s Day and we’re doing it again this year to inspire women to enter the industry as a career path.
Abbey Road is 90 years old and the pandemic was the first time it closed – even during World War II it remained open. How difficult was this decision?
It was a very heavy decision. We had to. It was March 23, 2020, when we closed and I remember leaving just feeling physically ill. You think, ‘Oh my God, this building was never closed.’
At the same time, we were lucky. We have only been closed for eight weeks. We have found a way to operate via Covid. To be able to come back and hear music in the hallways was so moving. We really felt like we were surviving.
What was your experience as an Abbey Road fan girl?
Meet Bono – he’s a charmer. U2 were here to film a BBC special a few years ago. We had a good old chat about how good it was to have an Irishman at the helm.
I tried to be a bit professional and not show that I was such a fan, but hearing them live in Studio 1 up close was a dream.
Abbey Road Equalize Festival is March 5.
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