How To Visit Parr Street Studios, The Place Where Coldplay Recorded Their Best Songs

Between Liverpool’s main train station and port lies a less-visited road called Parr Street. It has none of the magic of the main Ropewalks area and is, in fact, pretty different in look and feel from the city centre area. Parr St almost looks working class and business like and is pretty unremarkable – except for one thing.

The road features Parr Street Studios, a blink-and-you-miss establishment that has seen many international singers and bands pass through its doors. Liverpool has a rich musical legacy courtesy the Beatles. The transformation of the city has drawn many famous bands and singers in recent years and establishments like Parr St have been happy to cater to this crowd with names like Barry Manilow, Coldplay, The Verve and others in its Grammy-award winning studio complex.

The studio itself is exclusively used by musicians and there is no way to access this place if you just turn up. After reading up about the place, I found that the studio also has a hotel of sorts where I checked in. The room itself was a tinny place with hardly any ventilation. In fact, I had to use the fan inside the room to keep myself cool – the only place in my six-week journey through the UK that I had to do that. With all the other issues in the room, I was determined to get a peek at the studio.

Now, when I first heard about Parr Street Studios, I didn’t really know what songs or albums had been mastered and recorded there. I sort of walked in blind knowing it would be worthwhile, like walking into Disneyland knowing you’ll have a good time regardless.

Even for guests like me staying at the studio hotel, getting the see the actual studio turned out to be slightly bureaucratic. I was told that the hotel was managed by a different group and the studio itself was handled by another firm so checking the studio might be a problem.

“I’m here for three days. Surely something can be done so I can see the studio!” I said in my most indignant voice.

“We’ll see,” came the non-committal reply.

At the end of my second day, the receptionist called me over and said someone will take me to the studio the following morning. Perfecto!

At 10 AM, I checked out and waited to be shown the studio. A handsome young man who looked like he had nothing to do with the music business walked up to me and beckoned to follow. The studio adjoins the hotel so we had to go out and come back in again. Once inside, I was shown the piano where Chris Martin recorded Paradise and the studio where most songs from Coldplay’s album ‘A Rush of Blood To The Head’ were recorded.

I also saw the mixing studio and the record-lined shelf spread across the studio. I literally got a private tour of one of the most well-known recording studios in the UK. I also learnt that not many people can explore the studio, even if its empty. My persistence had paid off apparently. Things went so well that I even tried my hand at singing (with horrible results I must say).

After three days of hanging in the balance, I was finally free to explore a real international sound studio. It was the most effective part of my day and made my journey to Cardiff later in the day much more tolerable. I had stepped into a space reserved only for musicians and learnt about their trade in the most intimate way possible. It was quite a high.

If you ever decide to go to Liverpool, then look beyond the Beatles experience and explore the musical heritage that still lives on in the city at its vibrant bar scene and hidden nooks like Parr Street.

You can find out more information about Parr Street Studios here.

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