Leeds’ Old Chapel Music Studios opens up for public tours

Embrace speak equally highly about the role Old Chapel Studios played in their journey to success.

The band’s drummer, Mike Heaton, said: “My memories of Old Chapel Studios are all really great. So many different bands, so many different genres of music in there, I don’t remember any bad words said between the bands, everyone got on even though we were radically different people. It was a space where you could be creative, develop, it was always great value for money and just a fantastic place.”

Old Chapel Music CIC also works closely with Festival Republic, promoter of the Leeds and Reading Festivals, which guides talented females and female-identified artists into the industry through its ReBalance programme launched in 2018.

Festival Republic Managing Director Melvin Benn added: “It’s rare that community and professional can be used in the same sentence but, when talking about Old Chapel Music Studios, that rarity is allowed. They mix that community approach and commitment with a professionalism at all levels that means that young female artists making their first EP feel confident they will be looked after in the same way that internationally known musicians and bands do. It’s a rare combination.”

The free tours, funded by Leeds Civic Trust, cover the facility’s relocation and rebrand from Parkside Studios in 1992, together with the 30-year tale of its development from a former Wesleyan chapel into the community creative hub it has become.

The tour will featuring never-before-seen artefacts, and participants have the chance to get hands-on with instruments and recording facilities, join in with quizzes and take away photo mementos from their visit.

Tours run at 11.30am and 2.30pm on the last Sunday of every month and should be booked in advance at the Old Chapel Studios website.