Credit Louis Preston – Buy this poster
(Key to people in the picture below)
Nottingham’s Sirkus Studios is celebrating its 25th Birthday… in its 27th year!
INSTA COMPETITION ! – Win Free Industry Standard Apple Digital Certified mastering of up to 4 tracks by expert mastering engineer K Robin Junga. Winner will be drawn on the day of the party – see below for details
PARTY ! – 15th November 2024, the fabulous Dragon, 7pm till late. DJs Simon Paterson (Electric Gumbo) , Ashwin Balu ( Claude Money), Matt Shelton (amillionsons – former Sirkus joint owner) https://fb.me/e/85hC0bO7o
Founding directors Karl Robin Junga & Simon Paterson branched out from Nottingham’s original A-list studio, the now bulldozed Square Centre Studios in the late 90s. Their vision of a more creative-centred space came at a time when recording studios were going bust. Reinvesting all income from the outset, they saw a new, sustainable, super-high quality digital recording business model emerging. Their CIC/Co-op style model still enables them to offer world class audio facilities and expertise at rates affordable to all. They believe that In a world where it’s increasingly difficult for musicians to make money, this ability to finish tracks to the highest standards without a record company behind them is critical for any artists to to emerge and establish themselves.
The model has proven successful against all odds. Over the last quarter century Sirkus’ team have invested lots of their collective time & effort to stay at the leading edge of digital production, mixing, mastering and mentoring. No mean feat. With Billboard #1s and countless well known credits across most genres, Sirkus has proved to be an unsung powerhouse, nurturing talented Nottingham artists and operating on an international stage. And not just musical talents – they’ve mentored emerging creative businesses along the way too.
Historically, Sirkus gave an early home to Dealmaker Records, Rikki Marr, the Elementz Studios, Tom Dodds’ development of BBC live festival audio streaming, and Brendan Oliver’s stunning Disney interactive Google map of the Hundred Acre Wood – amongst many others. Many are still part of the extended virtual community. As are Nightbreed, the goths in residence back in the 90s when Sirkus initially became their tenant.
All this despite numerous threats over the years. From the 2008 recession and the pandemic, to threats of eviction by Nottingham City Council in 2013 and 2017. These latter attempts were abandoned after concern from local MPs with BBC & Nottingham Post coverage – and amazing social media support from all over the world.
In 2024 Sirkus is at the centre of Nottingham’s longest established creative collective, Canning Circus Creative Hub. The CCCH was formalised into an association in 2013. This prompted cllr Nick McDonald to praise the calibre of its members’ creative international output on regional TV news. Although their grade 2 listed buildings are now sandwiched between brand new student blocks, Sirkus is part of a proudly independent economy of shops, bars and eateries around Canning Circus.
2025 GRAMMY Contenders amillionsons – wholly produced, mixed & mastered at Sirkus
Founder Robin’s band, Amillionsons just rebooted their noughties UK Top 40 & international #1 Misti Blu into 2025 GRAMMY contention – featuring soul funk royalty Taka Boom, Chaka Khan and their brother Mark Stevens. With strong international support from high profile DJs like Timo Mass, Paul Oakenfold & Cafe Del Mar resident Ken Fan. The 2024 global release racked up 10 mixes including by Blakkat (M People), Claude Money (Sirkus resident producer), Dr Davinchi, Nottingham LA expat Grace Bones, Lizzie Curious, fellow director Simon Paterson and Nottingham’s very own Schmoov! All on upstart Leicester label Ill Kid Records, who now have an office at Sirkus.
Sound People
CEO Robin Junga aka KJAMM is a veteran engineer & producer as well as musician. He has mixed and mastered for the likes of David Bowie, Gong, Doobie Brothers, New Order, Andrew Weatherall and Nightmares on Wax, plus widely known Nottingham names like Lone, Scorzayzee, and Nina Smith amongst hundreds of credits. He’s still passionate about working with emerging cross-genre talent such as Ill Kid’s Elise, Arch Femmesis, Victoria Hoffmann, LPMC Music & Jahrel JP. He’s also an experienced educator via NCN, NTU, DMU and currently helping design entirely fresh immersive music industry curriculum at award winning Circle Of Light based at Fishergate Point.
He engineered Nottingham’s now almost mythical artist Whycliffe, witnessing his meteoric rise on MCA Records, supporting James Brown and dating Dani Minogue. He also witnessed his notorious implosion and on-going sing-for-a quid street trouble. This internationally important story will be told in Nottingham’s own words, and Robin is assisting Ill Kid Records and filmmaker Chris Davis on a major documentary to tell that story in the words of the key people involved – including Whycliffe, most importantly.
Fellow Sirkus director Simon Paterson, now Assistant Professor of Music at UON is in demand as a critically acclaimed & accomplished jazz musician. His current projects include Sharp Little Bones and Electric Gumbo. His approach to education, embracing both new technology and timeless musical discipline is popular with students and highly effective, with alumni establishing strong musical careers.
Ashwin Balu aka Claude Money has been an important part of Sirkus for the last six years. He’s a producer via Singapore and Spain whose career to date encompasses journalism, marketing and live music promotion, working with headliners such as Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Saul Williams, KRS One, Children of Zeus, The Pharcyde and Ghostface Killah. He’s produced for a wide variety of artists including Pete Beardsworth, Emily Makis, Wariko, President T, Window Kid and Snowy. His music has been screened too, soundtracking sports broadcasts, London Fashion week, and BBC and Netflix documentaries. His latest venture is PhD research at NTU, where he will be documenting the history of Nottingham Hip-Hop, a previously unexplored and critically undocumented area of British cultural history.
Ashwin and Robin also made Sirkus home to a new record label, KJAMM Records. This year, they signed a label deal with Kycker, a global music distribution company, headquartered in Sheffield. The fledgling label has enjoyed music featured as Track of the Week on BBC Introducing East Midlands, airtime on Chuck D’s radio show in New York, multiple features on Bandcamp Weekly and more.
So the music goes on. Eclectically. With a very recent example being the Sirkus mastered Luke Una compilation ‘Everything Above The Sky’ featuring John Martyn, 808 State, Manu Dibango and many equally illustrious musical glitterati. Sirkus’ future history is still being written…
How it All Began In The 90s
Picture of all 4 founding Directors – Top L-R Chris ‘Kit’ Adamson, Simon Paterson & Gareth Bailey. Bottom, K Robin Junga hard at work on the Atari 1040 ST!
How it’s Going 2024
Sirkus is now home to £30K+ of the very latest software and plugins, with high spec Apple computers to match, and mastering grade hardware – including class leading converters by Apogee. Everything a top studio anywhere in the world needs to record, mix and master to the very highest industry standards. Plus they have the vast experience and track record of #1 releases and kudos tracks across many genres. “The kit now is amazing for the price, but without the experience and musical understanding it’s only as good as you are at following YouTube clips.” says Robin. Having led and lectured on uni courses, he says the actual industry chops needed at the highest levels are outside the scope of time spent in degree courses. “Graduates need mentoring to progress … and you don’t need a degree, or any qual, to be a pro. Output is all that matters.”
Their philosophy has always been that musicians get lost in assuming better kit or studios will get them a big hit. In reality, they need someone capable of harnessing their creativity and achieving their sound vision. The kit is relatively affordable now with the tech, but the skills needed to get it to make great tracks are acquired through thousands of hours of hard work.
They know that Nottingham has huge raw talent. Top class production skills are the first important step in launching a musical career, then advice about management etc. They also tutor those production skills from starter to PhD, and offer sage music industry advice to all their clients for free. Read more about their high-end kit and philosophy.
Win A Mastering Session!
You can win an opportunity to harness all that Sirkus experience with top class mastering or stem mastering of your own EP of up to four tracks. Following their instagram @sirkusdrecording and look for the competition post near the top of their grid. The winner will be drawn and announced on November 15th – party day!
Party!
The party at The Dragon. Angel Row Nottingham is free, and all over-18s are welcome to come down and vibe to some seriously good DJ sets, with Simon and Ashwin blending some choice Sirkus output with other Electric Gumbo and Claude Money classics and off-piste masterpieces, ramping up through the night to a full-on vinyl only party set from amillionsons’ Matt Shelton.
ARTWORK KEY:
L-R, top row down.
Top Left
Conrad Ellis, Brendan Oliver, Louis Preston, Dave Parker.
Harry Proctor, Frank Le Funk, Greg Boote, Jonny Olly
Top Right
Chris Russel & Tony Bednall (Hoovers), John Thompson
Lee McMahon (LPMC), Tim Bullyement ( Ex Head of AR MCA), Errol Linton,Tiffany Jade Holland
Chaka khan,Taka Boom, Matt Shelton & Andy Kulesza (amillionsons)
Mid Left
Phil Mison (Cantoma), Max Essa, Jason Boardman (Aficionado, BIDP)
Pete Herbert, Phat Phil Cooper (Nu Northern Soul), Ampo & Timm (Isitbalearic)
Middle Right
Leon Bailey (Recharge Audio), Pete Beardsworth, Bru-C
Chisomo Thipa, Daisy Godfrey, Jahrel JP
Bottom Left
Ste Allan, Rikki Marr, Dwyz, Sophie Johnson Hill
Scorzayzee, Nina Smith, Emmcee Killa, Lone
Bottom Right
Gothlord Trev Bamford, Stunt Girl Maxine, Alex Dean
Katy Mason, Tom Dodds, Rob Greco
Street Level
Karl Robin Junga (Founding Director), Chris Kit Adamson (Founding Director), Gareth Bailey (Founding Director), Magnus Hawker-French, Simon Paterson (Founding Director), Ashwin Balu (Claude Money), Jordan Jones-Lowe