DAVE HARRIES EPISODE ONE ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS

Recorded 25th August 2026
Location - British Grove Studios, Chiswick, London

Dave Harries is one of the most important British recording engineers and studio designers of the post-war recording era, whose career spans the technological transformation of the recording industry from the 1960s into the modern digital age.

Harries began his professional career at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, in 1964, initially working as a technical engineer. During his six years there he became involved with sessions by many of the leading artists of the period, including The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys and The Hollies. Among his notable Beatles work was the recording of the first version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” with producer George Martin.

Harries subsequently joined George Martin in establishing AIR Studios at Oxford Circus, which opened in 1970. He became one of the studio’s key technical figures and eventually managed AIR for approximately 25 years. His responsibilities extended beyond engineering into studio design, technical management and the development of recording facilities.

His credits and associations encompass an extraordinary range of artists, including The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Donovan, Cliff Richard, The Beach Boys and The Temptations. He also engineered the Third Ear Band’s soundtrack for Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, recorded at AIR in 1971, using an eight-track Studer system synchronised to film.

Harries was also closely involved in the evolution of studio equipment and monitoring. He was instrumental in the development of the Lockwood Major loudspeaker, originally conceived as an Abbey Road project in 1968, and has subsequently contributed to studio design and consultancy.

In the 2000s, Harries worked with David Stewart on the development of British Grove Studios in London for Mark Knopfler, helping create a facility combining historic analogue equipment and techniques with modern recording technology.

His career represents an important link between the pioneering engineering culture of Abbey Road and the sophisticated studio environments of the twenty-first century.