Pleasure Palaces: Jamie Grier

To begin with, can you describe the space you play music in and tell us how long you've been using it?
It’s a 2000sqm warehouse with lots of different sized spaces. I’ve been in here for almost a year, wiring things up and treating some areas to control the acoustics a bit and make some warm spaces. There are old chemical tanks wired up as reverb chambers, everything in here adds reverb, it’s massive.

How do you feel the environment affects the outcome of the music you make?
Sometimes in the winter it’s a bit too cold to do anything useful in the live rooms, you get brain-freeze, so I sneak away into the smaller rooms and make music under a blanket with the computer and the heater on. It can be a busy space and the sound spills everywhere so sometimes people are performing for whoever is around and sometimes it’s more private. I think that affects what people do, if you think there's no-one around you can mess about more freely without embarrassment, and if there are random folks listening a lot of people show off a bit more...both ways have their advantages.

What is the surrounding outdoor environment like? Does the space feel very separate from that?
It’s in the middle of an industrial estate. When you're inside the building you don't think about what's going on outside so you can just forget about it and make a racket without worrying that folks can hear you and it’s shite.

What is the building's history? What did it used to be?
It was a cycle factory in the 50s then Scottish Adhesives moved in until the early 2000s.

Have any other bands used the space before, to your knowledge? If so, who? Any records been made there?
There were some gigs here when the Finn collective and the Mutual had exhibition openings over the last few years. Palms, Neighbourhood Gout, Silk Cut and Top Dollar have recorded singles here so far.

How did you find the space?
Some folks and I were looking for a space for various purposes and we approached ISIS – a waterside regeneration organization who own the building. We have a good relationship with them and they are pretty supportive of what we’re doing.

Where else have you rehearsed/made music?
Loads of places! The Green Door Studio, the old Stereo on Kelvinhaugh St, Paradise Studios (above the Modern Institute), the old GFM building in a pigeon filled flat overlooking Kelvingrove Park, 61 West Princes St (depending on who lives there at the time). I liked the old Stereo ‘cos it had a bar and a stage with PA so we could practice like it was a proper gig and do it nice and loud, then play there that night, it made such a difference to the band. I think I got a disease at 61. At Paradise we seemed to piss off the artists and the wee guy in the lift. The GFM place fell down I think. But the new place is so versatile and the tanks have really special four-second reverbs like Duane Eddy records.. snare drums last forever. It’s a bit less sociable being in a factory in the middle of the night all the time.

Do you use any other spaces – like a bedroom, parents' house, girlfriend's living room?
I had my stuff set up in my room at home since I was a wee kid until I moved in here, I love having a bedroom without a mixing desk in it now, pretty luxurious. A lot of my favorite records were recorded by people outside of a proper studio environment. Maybe they were mixed and mastered in a proper studio but I think there is no way to recreate the sound you can get in your own home or practice place in a commercial studio, probably because there is no pressure and no clock when you are working at home. Having freedom to experiment makes better music. Working to a tight deadline can be good to stop things dragging on forever though – everyone should do a gig before recording a record, they will be tighter and more self critical!