I have been a recording engineer for over two decades, cutting my teeth on analogue tape recorders at Metway Studios in Brighton. Standout projects include working with Orbital, Asian Dub Foundation, The Electric Soft Parade, Clearlake, Sleeper, Royal Blood, Kula Shaker and Metway’s proprietors, Levellers.
I learnt my trade from the ground up, starting out as a tea boy at Metway in 2000 after graduating from Brighton University with a degree in music and visual practice (specialising in computer animation). Since then, I have worked my way up the industry ladder, including engineering jobs at London studios. I learned advanced ProTools editing techniques from Damian Taylor (Bjork, The Killers, Adam Freeland, Stone Lions) early into my career, working on multi-tracks from an array of respected producers including Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters).
In between studio sessions, I toured all over the world as the drummer in Clearlake (Domino) including a two-month US trip supporting Franz Ferdinand, The Decemberists and Stereolab. I also spent time at Konk studios in London and Black Box in France making Clearlake’s 2004 album “Amber”. I toured with Evil Nine (Marine Parade) in 2009 as part of the promotion for their critically acclaimed album “They Live”, incorporating a number of European break beat & dance festivals and a headline slot at Glastonbury. Since then, I have played drums out on the road and enjoyed session work for Mark Chadwick (Levellers) and Fujiya & Miyagi.
2011 saw a new Levellers album “Static On The Airwaves” that was tracked at Sono Studios in the Czech Republic, where I engineered alongside producer Sean Lakeman (Equation, Seth Lakeman).
March 2017 ticked many boxes as a recording engineer with a week at Abbey Road Studios in Studio 2 recording Levellers with the legendary record producer John Leckie (The Stone Roses, Radiohead, The Fall, plus many more) in control of operations. The summer of 2018 saw a new record by 90’s Britpop legends Sleeper that was engineered by myself and whipped into shape by producer supremo, Stephen Street (The Smiths, Morrissey, Blur, The Cranberries, Kaiser Chiefs plus many more).
December 2022 welcomed English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker back into the spotlight with their new LP project and I had the pleasure of engineering their record back at my home from home, Metway Studios. Their first single, ‘Waves’ has garnered praise from Kula Shaker’s fans along with the music press and has been welcomed onto the playlists of many major radio stations including BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music.
I have 16 years of experience as a senior lecturer within the Higher Education sector and I have made a name for myself not only by delivering Studio Sound & Recording Technology, Audio Fundamentals, and Approaches to Production Workflow modules, but also by mentoring students and supporting the development of a wide variety of creative projects.
Tobias May Sound Engineering Services 