The old vinyl factory

Is it a bird, is it a plane?

admin — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:23:38 +0000

In April 2013, Sky Futures an innovative start-up company moved into The Shipping Building at The Old Vinyl Factory. They offer a market leading service using cutting edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for aerial photography, inspections, mapping and surveys.

The little drones that were recently sent to the skies of Hayes might have worried residents with their UFO resemblance, however they can rest assure that they weren’t visitors from space!

A recent article in the Hayes & Harlington Gazette explains more about Sky-Futures and can be read here

MADE IN HAYES

admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:49 +0000

Last night was the official launch of the new exhibition MADE IN HAYES in the gallery space of The Shipping Building. It was an opportunity to celebrate the granting of planning consent which will pave the way for the site’s radical transformation, bringing new homes, jobs and leisure facilities to Hayes town centre. The Worshipful the Mayor and Mayoress of Hillingdon were in attendance alongside local councillors and members from the EMI Archive Trust.

Three sheds have been added to the gallery and each one focuses on different aspects of the site’s heritage; place & community, music & culture and technology & innovation. They tell the story of the history of the site and explain its industrial, cultural and musical significance not just to Hayes but to the UK as a whole. Specially sourced artefacts, pictures and other memorabilia have been kindly loaned by the EMI archive and its curator Joanna Hughes.

It’s a record breaker…

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:25:25 +0000

The Record Player Orchestra held its inaugural meeting at The Vinyl Lounge on Saturday. An interesting collection of record players and turntables were brought to the event including a 1950′s Saturn Sterogram, a 1970′s Sony HP211 Solid State system and Revolver Rebel and Trio KD-750 turntables.

After hearing about the history of the site, the orchestra engaged in some experimental record playing using a vinyl record that was produced for the meeting. Taking inspiration from an EMI Technical Test Record, this vinyl record was mastered at Abbey Road Studios and pressed at The Vinyl Factory. Using all the record players and turntables simultaneously, the orchestra played compositions that combined tracks on this record to create unusual and extraordinary sounds. All tracks on the vinyl record can now be downloaded from www.soundcloud.com/therecordplayerorchestra and recordings from this inaugural meeting will placed there soon. For further information, please contact Roger Clarke at recordplayerorchestra@gmail.com.

What a Marvel…

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:00:40 +0000

You may well recognise some of the background scenery in this trailer for the new Thor film as the beautiful buildings of The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes. You can’t miss the Powerhouse chimney and the majestic Record Store and Cabinet Building. We can’t wait to see the whole film and marvel at our site making it big in Hollywood.

The Old Vinyl Factory. It’s official!

admin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:41:29 +0000

Formal planning consent was granted by the London Borough of Hillingdon for our redevelopment at The Old Vinyl Factory today. The Section 106 Agreement was signed earlier in the week so now we can crack on with our scheme to transform this part of Hayes. A huge congratulations to all the team involved and a massive thank you for all the hard work that made this important milestone possible.

Classic Album Sundays

admin — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:10:48 +0000

Classic Album Sundays took over The Vinyl Lounge on the weekend to celebrate 40 years since the release of Pink Floyd’s iconic album, The Dark Side of the Moon. The record, which was first pressed on site was played in full using high-performance audio equipment supplied by Absolute Sounds. Ticket revenue was donated to the charity War Child.

The special event was hosted by Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy, founder of Classic Album Sundays. The concept of these events is to bring people together to enjoy an album from start to finish, with no interruptions, how lovely!

The Big Themes- Property Week

admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:14:58 +0000

The Old Vinyl Factory was mentioned in Property Week today in a review of the Big Think debates. It highlights how we have revitalised the site with the new Vinyl Canteen, bikes for staff to cycle to Hayes town centre and The Vinyl Lounge, which has become a hub for community activity. You can read the full article here.

Table Talking…

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:37:11 +0000

For the last three nights The Vinyl Lounge at The Old Vinyl Factory has been rocking to the sound of debate. Smooth Radio’s Emma B (above) hosted a series of three of her famed Table Talks events all themed around current debates in the music industry. Three panels of high profile music industry figures debated whether music can be owned in 2013, whether music has lost its cutting edge and, last night, whether we are a ‘live nation’. A lively and vocal invited audience from the British music industry shouted each other down, reminisced about crackling vinyl and decided that no, music can’t be owned, no, music has not lost its cutting edge and YES, we are, most definitely a live nation. Music was supplied by The Old Vinyl Factory Sessions players Sabiyha, Kimberly Anne and Sam Beeton.

Cooking up a feast…

admin — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:18:10 +0000

The You Cook Road Show came to The Vinyl Canteen today, working with families to make quick and healthy recipes. The Road Show is a partnership between Com Cafe and Colham Manor Primary School with support from the London Borough of Hillingdon. The workshop involved families cooking a recipe from scratch and then sharing the tasty food at the end. David Graham, the Com Cafe Manager said ‘The Vinyl Canteen was a really interesting and fun space to work in and added to the excitement of what we were doing’.

Dance to the beat

admin — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:04:12 +0000

ERA Dance-Theatre company recently recorded a short contemporary piece in The Shipping Building called Opposite Forces. It’s a newly started company and is founded by Artistic Director, Eleanor Ramsby Herrera as part of a Youth Initiative, funded by the EU-programme “Youth in Action”.