County Dublin, Ireland (February 14, 2019)—Beechpark Studios in Ireland is up for sale and Daire Winston, its founder and owner, has announced he will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house during the AES Convention in Dublin in March 2019.
“I’m not getting any younger and so I am looking for someone to come in, take over and take Beechpark through the next 25 years of its life,” said Winston in his announcement. “This is a thriving business and whoever comes into it will be earning from day one—and that’s a rare thing in our business. So, leaving here is a little bittersweet, but I am sure that whoever comes in will love it as much as we do. In fact, I’ll probably be one of the new owner’s first customers.”
Winston started out as the tea boy at Lombard Studios in Dublin in 1981, cutting his teeth on the facility’s Helios desk, soon rising to assistant then first engineer. “I moved on to become the first house engineer in the Dave Hawkins-designed Westland Studios in 1985. After falling in love with country music, I got on a plane with just few dollars in my pocket and went to Nashville.”
In 1993, he bought a house on a one-acre site in County Dublin with wife-to-be Heidi, and opened Beechpark with just one room. It has since grown into a residential facility, designed by Roger D’Arcy of Recording Architecture.
“It’s our clients that have made Beechpark so very special,” says Winston. “Everyone from Clannad to Daniel O’Donnell have recorded here. Other artists and producers include The Script and Celtic Woman and a whole host of Irish and international artists and producers.”
During the 2019 AES Convention, on March 22, Winston is planning to take people from the convention center to Beechpark to experience the facility, which includes a large production studio that is regularly used by bands for tour rehearsals, and was recently occupied by The Lemonheads, who just kicked off their European tour in the UK.
Beechpark • www.beechpark.com
Related: Dublin’s Beechpark Studio Is Up for Sale, by Fiona Hope, Pro Sound News Europe, March 5, 2019
