Kevin Metcalfe - Career History
The Soundmasters 1998 - present
EMI Music (Formerly Virgin Records) Townhouse Studios 1983 - 1998, Mastering Engineer
Utopia Studios 1979 - 1983,
Delane Lea / CTS Studios 1975 - 1979,
RCA Records 1973 - 1975,

Bio :
Kevin was born in Yorkshire and moved to London aged 20, armed with nothing but his record collection and a Mark II Ford Cortina. Kevin started his long career in the music business after seeing an ad for a disc-cutting engineer with RCA Records.

Kevin worked at RCA for two years, cutting many Number 1 singles such as Charles Aznavour's 'She', Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' and John Denver's 'Annie's Song'. During this time he also cut albums like 'Pin Ups' and 'Diamond Dogs' by David Bowie, 'Slaughter On 12th Avenue' by Mick Ronson and 'Preservation: Acts 1 & 2' by The Kinks.

Kevin then moved to Delane Lea/CTS Studios where he swiftly became a favourite for the era's leading figures of reggae, working with producers such as Bunny Lee, Gussie Clarke, King Tubby and Lee' Scratch' Perry, and cutting albums for the likes of Dennis Brown, Dr Alimantado, Black Uhuru, Creation Rebel, Aswad, Prince Fari, Keith Hudson and many more. Here Kevin first worked with Greensleeves Records and Chris Cracknell, who continue to work with Kevin for the last 28 years.

During this period Kevin also cut countless notable albums such as The Who's 'Who Are You?', Electric Light Orchestra's 'Out of The Blue' Chas & Dave's cult classic 'Wotcha!' and several film soundtracks engineered by the legendary John Richards.

Kevin also came in contact with the Punk phenomenon for the first time and mastered music by The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Members, and Dead Kennedys, amongst others.

Another highlight of Kevin's time here was meeting legends Fred Astaire & Bing Crosby when they came in to record the classic hit 'Tea For Two'.

From here, Kevin moved on to Utopia Studios, where he mastered a vast range of music, including Spandau Ballet, Roger Waters, Heatwave, Lindisfarne, Judy Tzuke, Paul McCartney, Ultravox, The Clash, The Police, Yello, UB40, Duran Duran and...Bucks Fizz!

Kevin then went on to work for Virgin Records at The Townhouse Studios, mastering for many of the period's leading recording artists including Queen, Depeche Mode, Phil Collins, Happy Mondays, Chris Rea, U2, Simple Minds, David Bowie, KLF, Orbital, Spiritualized, Pulp and many more.

In 1997 Kevin co-founded The Soundmasters International, where to this day he attracts a wide variety of artists such as Underworld, Death In Vegas , Paul Weller, Simply Red, Rufus Wainwright, Bebel Gilberto, Robert Plant, Craig Armstrong, The Prodigy, Simply Red, Supergrass, Zero7, The White Stripes, ...the list goes on!

Artists mastered for

Zombies, Robert Plant, Shpongle, Asian Dub Foundation, JD aka 'Dready', Rufus Wainwright, Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Prodigy The Others, The Upper Room, Kira, Estelle, Engineers, Don Letts, Clinic, Diane Tell, My Red Cell, Autamata, Hope Of The States, Blank Faced Babies, Bebel Gilberto, NOM, Pink Grease, Mikey 3D, Thirteen Senses, Goldfrapp, The Hiss, Jeremy Chatelain, Octane Soundtrack, Dave Gahn, Susie Hugg, Borders Crossing, The Creatures, Pet, Natasha Atlas, Kinesis, DJ Poverello, Medium 21, Bent, Kealer, Paul Weller, Puressence, Pape & Cheikh, Locus, D-Note, Audio Active, Eighties Matchbox Bee-Line Disaster, Arch Enemy, Little Axe, Easyworld, Lamb, Lisa Roxanne, Alpinestars, Space, Actual Size, Dog, Virgin Souls, Tetra Splendour, Leaves, Dot Allison, Ben Christophers, Supersister, Gene, Terrorvision, King Adora, Defenestration, Mo Solid Gold, Mikey Graham, Cousteau, Snow Blind, Reflex, Logan 7, Little Tempo, Tin Star, Indian Rope, Alabama 3, Big Sur, Kodama, Meeker, Gerry Rafferty, Abraham, The Grits, Cassius, Side Stepper, Furia Soundtrack, Napalm Death, Wetta, ECHT, Regular Fries, Jeff Beck, Mr. Vegas, Shaggy, Bruce Dickinson, Elephant Systems, Zero 7, Lowfinger, Dalata, Finlay Quaye, A-Ha, Black Legend, Cherie Amore, Madasun, Juno Reactor, Oasis, Bluetones, Death In Vegas, Horace Andy, Yello, Dark Star, Perpetual Motion, Elwood, Supergrass, Jimmy Somerville, Point Break, Tam, Skunk Anansie, Cast, Tom Jones, Feeder, Merz, Drugstore, The Genies, Simply Red, All Saints, Tanita Tikaram, Orbital, Roger Taylor, Marcella Detroit, Medal, Echoboy, Underworld, Suggs, The Aloof, Archive, Silver Sun, Deetah, Mansun, Medal, Sound 5, KLF, Audio Web, Spiritualized, Brand New Heavies, Midge Ure, Aswad, Bryan Adams, UB40, Christians, Carter USM, A, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Space, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, The Who, Phil Collins, Ian McCulloch, Curve, ELO, Depeche Mode, Gary Moore, Level 42, Suede, Chris Rea, U2, Bob Geldof, Live Aid, Sting, Pulp, Erasure, Robert Plant, Queen, Eric Clapton, Brian May

Record Companies

London Records, Island Records, Sony Music, Virgin Records, Epic Records, NudeRecords, Mercury Records, Polydor, EMI Records, Big Brother Records, A&M Records, BMG Records, One Little Indian, V2, Edge Records, WEA Records, Unique, Blue Room Released, The Echo Label, Mute Records, Gut Records, Road Runner, Blood & Fire, JBO, Greensleeves Records, Sanctuary, Universal, Laughing Horse (Germany), Papillon Records, Deconstruction/Arista

Producers and engineers worked for

Nigel Godrich, John Kelly, Chris Thomas, Flood, Steve Lillywhite, Dave Bascombe, Steve Osborne, Youth, Niven Garland, Tim Palmer, Ian Capel, Alan Moulder, Ed Buller, Al Clay, Jeremy Wheatly, Gil Norton, Ben Watkins, Clive Martin, Steve Lyons, Mark Wallace, Andy Bradfield, Gorwell Owens, Chris Sheldon, Philip Bagnell, John Cornfield, Ted Carfrae, Mark "Spike" Stent, Mick Glossop, Dave Richards


Telephone +44 (0)20 7565 3020 or email for booking enquiries and further information