Martin Russell is a twice Grammy-nominated composer, producer and recording engineer, producer, composer, and musician. His first band in 1979 was The Enid, a group that toured extensively in the United Kingdom, and released numerous albums on a variety of labels. Later, engineering at Utopia Studios, one of London’s premier studios, Martin found himself in the company of many recording ‘giants’.
In 1985 he was head-hunted by Swanyard studios and worked with a plethora of great artists from David Bowie to Robert Plant.
After setting up Sonic Innovation Studios, Martin became involved in many recording projects, including two albums for Real World (Maryam Mursal – The Journey and Waaberi), an album recorded on location in Madagascar for the group Tarika , album tracks for Alan Stivell and Carlos Nunez, and a steady stream of CD mastering including a great deal of CD mastering of the Music For Sport catalogue.
Martin was a core member of the music group Afro Celt Sound System .He has written film music for several feature films, including Hotel Rwanda and the Lebanese film Bosta. He collaborated with Music For Sport CEO Simon Webb on two classic Shakespeare productions directed by Sir Nick Hytner at The Royal National Theatre in the early noughties, working as Music Consultant.
As a studio wizard, producer and globe-trotting mixer/performer, Martin Russell brings a broad palette of skills to whatever he does. He flatly refuses to get either a life or a haircut.
Martin is currently building a new studio, The Music Barn (UK), a large and exciting multi-purpose recording location in a rural setting very close to the M5, which is nearing completion. It has a radical control design that has a surround sound 5.1 desk and monitors facing one way, and a stereo desk and speakers set up the other way. There is definitely going to be some interesting music produced in this radical new design studio. Watch this space!
