This is Part Two of our journey through Sensible Studios. The complex is such a sprawling maze of creativity and history that we had to split the tour into two videos just to capture it all. With its many rooms, workshops, rehearsal halls, and production suites, the space is far too large to cover in a single pass.
Walking through the doors of Sensible Studios feels like entering a labyrinth built for music. The facility spans two separate buildings, each filled with rehearsal rooms, recording suites, and long-term creative spaces that have hosted artists from arena-level bands to experimental newcomers.
A Yard Full of Music
The day begins in the yard, already packed with vehicles, flight cases, and the energy of a touring cycle. Studio 4, one of the largest live rooms, doubles as both rehearsal and recording space. Long-term tenants can roll their gear down the corridor from their smaller suites, making the jump from writing to rehearsing seamless. The room is built for volume: arena-sized bands can pile in with front-of-house engineers, guitar techs, and drum techs, filling the space floor-to-ceiling with cases. Noise isn’t an issue—this industrial corner of the city has no neighbours to complain.
The Workshop: Where Gear Finds New Life
Around the corner is the workshop, now home to Taffy, the elusive repair technician who has been part of the Sensible family since the 1970s. Line amps, donated gear, and half-finished projects line the benches. It’s a space that epitomises the DIY ethos of the studio—repair, reuse, and innovate.
Theo’s Guitar Heaven
In Studio One we meet Theo Liao of Theo and the London Outfit, a guitarist and songwriter fresh from New York. His live room is stacked with amps and cabs: a 1969 Fender Twin, a ’74 Hiwatt cab, vintage Nationals, and Silvertone combos. He’s working on a punk rock track, recording singles that blend Cars-inspired power pop with heavy, fuzzy bass lines. His drummer, Lou Veio, cut the tracks remotely from Nashville, and Theo now spends hours sculpting tones and documenting amp settings with military precision.
Theo’s story highlights the studio’s role as a creative hub. After years in New York at Loft Studios, home to SRP Records and mentors like Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers, the duo who discovered Rihanna—he returned to London and found a new home at Sensible.
Bringing Rooms Back to Life
Walking through the corridors, it’s clear how much the new custodians have revitalised the place. For years, some rooms sat empty after uncertainty about the studio’s future. Now, singer-songwriters like Louie Dunford and James Miller have taken long-term residency, filling once-cobwebbed spaces with life. A little steam cleaning, some lighting updates, and the rooms are thriving again. Vintage gear like the Sony C800G microphone, Odyssey speakers, and Yamaha uprights add to the charm.
The Studio Between the Studios
Perhaps the most unusual space is Studio 6—the “studio between the buildings.” Originally intended as a staff room, it became a unique recording space thanks to Taffy’s unorthodox acoustic design. Using cheap but effective materials, he tuned the room into something extraordinary. What looks unconventional sounds phenomenal: sub frequencies are clear, the midrange tight, and the room breathes in a way that inspires performances.
Meet Mike: Uber Beats and Beyond
Here we meet Mike Malyan, drummer for Monuments, session player for Tesseract and Periphery, and all-around creative force. A multi-instrumentalist and educator, Mike describes himself as a “one-stop shop for drums.” He spends his days tracking, editing, building sample libraries, and mentoring bands. His passion extends to technology—using automation, Python scripts, and custom workflows to streamline rendering so he can spend more time being creative.
Mike’s curved-screen workstation reflects his hybrid world of teaching, streaming, and recording. He’s committed to creating a better shared language between guitarists and drummers, especially in progressive metal where polymeters dominate. “There’s essentially code-like grammar going on,” he explains. “I want to help guitarists program better drums and drummers understand guitar riffs more deeply.”
The Evolution of Drumming
Our conversation drifts into drumming philosophy. Mike talks about the balance between physicality and sound, recalling lessons from Dave Elitch on ergonomics and energy flow. He reflects on how guitarists programming drums accelerated progressive metal’s evolution—creating parts that drummers later translated into physical performance. The result is a unique blend of machine-like precision and human groove.
Stories abound: from Sully of Godsmack playing drums alongside Tommy Stewart and producing radically different tones on the same kit, to pop sessions with Romesh Dodangoda at Rockfield that separated cymbals from kick and snare to capture the perfect balance. Mike’s own journey has included injury, surgery, and recovery, teaching him the value of technique and efficiency.
Collaboration and Craft
Ultimately, Sensible Studios thrives on collaboration. Whether it’s punk rockers tracking guitars at 3am, technicians building custom line amps, or progressive drummers redefining notation, the space embodies what studios should be—laboratories of sound where tradition and innovation meet.
Mike sums it up best: “I don’t just want to fish for people. I want to teach them how to fish.” That ethos, combined with the energy of artists like Theo and the legacy of technicians like Taffy, makes Sensible not just a studio complex, but a living, breathing community of music.
