Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Inside the control room at Grafton Studios.

"Yuh hear fi mi voice coming through di speaker, but it sound sweeter wid di echo chamber."

So said Papa Levi in his song Mi God Mi King. It is within the walls of a studio that the sweetest melodies are captured. In the midst of complementary instruments, inspiration sparks in the echo chambers and creates a musical fire. The Sunday Gleaner has visited some of the more notable chambers and today we take you to another, this one on Grafton Road, Vineyard Town.

At Grafton Studios, there is a creative space for music to rise and take flight. Located at 2B Grafton Road, the studio is operated by popular songwriter and producer, Michael 'Mikey' Bennett.

Founded in the early 90s, the facility features a main studio with an accompanying voice room, as well as three rehearsal rooms, a writing room (where a number of dubplates are recorded), offices and a well-equipped canteen. Often, the gathering place for singers, young and old, Grafton Studios boasts a history as strong as it is diverse.

Bennett says, "I used to work at King Jammys and with Gussie Clark. While at Jammys I met two youngsters - Brian and Tony Gold. They used to do a lot of voice work for me and we became a little crew. When I started doing my own work they came, along with Chevelle Franklyn and others."

Bennett grew up in the Vineyard Town community so it was natural to look towards home for a place to rehearse. In 1995 the studio was officially finished. Mikey Bennett has engaged the services of world- class engineer, Errol Brown, once lead engineer to Bob Marley, to assist in the process.

earlier successes

Bennett had early success with Housecall by Shabba Ranks and Maxi Priest, as well as Mr. Lover Man by Shabba Ranks and Chevelle Franklyn. While he continued to write and produce he saw a change in the times, with record sales on the decline, so renting the studio seemed to be the right path to take.

"Initially I didn't intend to rent it out; it was just for my production. Then I started renting and you know the key to a studio is the personnel who you have working there, not the equipment. Anyone can buy equipment and a studio. If the space is creative people will come," Bennett said.

Dean Fraser warms up at Grafton Studios.

Grafton then went into hosting a number of live sessions, an area in which most smaller studios were lacking. Since then, Grafton has been known for the best in vocal sound and recording.

Grafton's live studios have hosted countless rehearsals, from Curefest and Rebel Salute to Sting. A number of artistes, most of them singers, have passed through Grafton's gates and it was the first studio in which Jah Cure recorded after his release from prison earlier this year.

A large part of Tarrus Riley's 'Parables' album was recorded there, saxophonist Dean Fraser does a lot of work at Grafton and the football anthem Rise Up was recorded there as well.

Artistes such as Maxi Priest, Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Ernie Smith, Etana, Pluto, Cherine Anderson, Dennis Brown and countless others have passed through the gates.

Bennett says, "our slogan is 'Grafton - where good things happen to a song.' Our goal is to see the best in music. Vocalists have always seemed to like it here; we have that legacy. We also have the cutting edge in technology and training our people is another focus".

Mikey Bennett, operator of the studios. - Contributed

Grafton Studio is also well immersed in the community employing many persons from the area. Every Thursday the courtyard of the studio is used host to 'Reasoning With Seasoning', a forum for members of the community to address needs and discuss issues. Memebers of Parliament, lawyers, senators, athletes and musicians have graced the forums.

"The community is really proud of us. It's been really wonderful, the community turnout. People respect what we're doing here" Bennett said about the weekly gatherings.

Among the new ventures planned to revolve around Grafton Studios is the management of Rising Stars finalist Tashina McKenzie, who Bennett describes as the whole package.

photos by Krista Henry