Europa Sound Studios circa1978-1987 were created in from the virgin hobby project operated by Chris Ashman under his home in Folkestone, Kent, which for some reason was known previously as "Kripps Studio". Chris was joined by Mike Craig bringing his engineering skills developed at Chalk Farm and Olympic Studios.

During the next few years Folkestone's first recording studio also became the area's first commercial record company "Red Admiral Records" and "Cringe Music" (Publishers) bringing local and international musicians together for their projects.

Mike Craig was introduced to Chris by a common aquaintance Nigel Blow who said that he knew a guy from Herne Bay who was the engineer of Radio Caroline and was interested in getting back into studio work. A visit was arranged and the partnership started there and then. A strange combination maybe but it worked. Chris operated the studio and business while Mike built the new equipment and developed the sound engineering and production skills that Chris would need over the next 10 years. Chris took control of the studio in 1982. Mike went back to the radio business.

The Piano in the studio was a German Gors & Kallman metal framed overstrung upright. Aquired via Nigel Blow from a local public house, tatty & unloved (the piano not Nigel) this piano was to cause a few heartaches. Transport was arranged and a crew of heavies to move it. The loading was not a problem. but first it got stuck at the top of the studio stairs (requiring the whole wall to be replastered) and then would not fit through the bottom door. The door frames were removed and great chunks of the wall chopped out to allow the keyboard to pass through. When the studio was sold the piano stayed and is probably still there now.

Recordings
BUZZ-13 Canterbury Pop EP: I'm In Love With You/ The Daughters Of Frenchmen/ If I Was A Jewess/ Dreamland (Canterbury Pop 1978)

On Web - LONGPORT BUZZ: "Canterbury Pop" E.P. I'm in love with you/The daughters of Frenchmen/If I
was a Jewess/Dreamland (no label, UK '78) M-/EX € 35,00
U.K. group best known for their "Fun" single from 1980 (see "Powerpearls Vol. 2"). This is their privately released debut E.P. that is more DIY pop/wave-style, but that is VERY HARD TO FIND!

SWAG-14/BUZZ-14 Fun/ Who Is He? (Criminal/Canterbury Pop 1980)

"I've got a bird on my head"

I was part of the Alternative Alternative Country Boppers and Jim - authors of the famous 'I've Got a Bird on my Head' session of October 1982. Arthur Kay and Stan Gretsch (of Ignerents fame) managed to stop the whole thing deteriorating into a complete farce, although it wasn't far off. Our music saw four of us asked to leave Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in 1981 following an underappreciated turn at the Faversham Carnival Club talent show. I shall never forget the forbearance of Chris Ashman who, at a point, ripped his headphones from his head as singer Dave Holt hit one of his trademark high notes.

No hard feelings?
Cheers
Chris Blunkell now with

Kripps Studio
1974-1978 - Chris Ashman a former vocalist in a Folkestone band borrowed a Fidelity mono tape recorder to record some harmonies being practiced by Nick Ashman and Ellis Pelham - Glasby in his basement. Pleased with the results and but not the quality, a Ferrograph Series 7 was purchased. Wow! Stereo, 2 track, Sound on Sound - what a difference.
An insulated cupboard was built to house equipment and the engineer with only headphones to monitor with - Don't laugh, it worked - and it wasn't you who had to climb through that little door.

SOUNDS FROM A BASEMENT - Article from South Easti nternal regional Newspaper of BT.
When you walk into vour local record shop and buy an LP, do you ever wonder how it was made - recorded that is? Do you imagine a big spacious studio, dozens of microphones, several tape recorders with thousands of feet of tape, not to mention guys bedecked with headphones pushing and pulling switches?
Perhaps this is so in London. But down at Kripps Studios in Folkestone, Chris Ashman does things in a less complicated way, but still gets quality results.
For pop groups and singers who want to make a record hoping to get into the "big time", starting at the bottom can be a costlv business - as 27-year-old Chris Ashman, an apparatus fitter based at Folkestone TEC, knows only too well.
About seven years ago, he was a vocalist with a local group, and they had hopes of making a recording until they visited a London studio and found it would cost them anything up to £50 an hour to do it - and they would probably end up with a poor quality tape.
After a couple of years, the group broke up, and with his brother and a friend, Chris formed a three-part harmony group. They experimented - recording their sound on an ordinary tape recorder, but the results were hopeless. Chris had recently bought a terraced house in Folkestone with a large-size basement which the group used for practice without disturbing anyone. And soon, Chris found he was more interested in recording the sounds of the group than actually performing.
Naturally, his main aim was to achieve better quality and this called for more sophisticated equipment - and the idea of con-verting the basement into a recording studio was born.
With backing from John Budd, a friend who used to be an engineer on Radio 390, Chris built up the recording equipment in collabora-tion with friend and partner Ian Cooper, a 28-year-old Folkestone bus driver, who once worked with RCA in America.
Chris said: "We put the studio together with the idea of helping local bands and musicians - doing recordings for them at cost price to stop them becoming victims of the London studio sharks. After my experience with our group, we aimed to save other youngsters from paying through the nose for bad recordings. We do all the ground work and try to help anyone who has some sort of talent. We don't ask them to sign any contracts, but aim to send them away with the best recording we can produce."
What started as an extended hobby has now developed into a small company.Registered under the CMI (Country Music International) label, Kripps Studios produced and issued 1,000 copies of their first LP last June. It was a country record called Especially For You, by the Ashford-based group, Young Country, and was recorded in one hard-working week-end.
Studio space in the converted basement is 16 feet square, which includes the drum booth, lined with old mattresses, to contain the sound. The rest of the studio section is lined with an odd assortment of egg boxes, foam rubber, peg board, polystyrene squares and old carpets on the floor to deaden the acoustics.
Chris said that it took him six months of study to set up the recording equipment, although his Post Office training helped him a lot with the work. "We now have the equipment to do a master recording with good quality," he said.
1976 Control room rearranged -
17th March Chris Resigns from IMC Record Productions
18March 1976 John and Ian leave Kripps Studios

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