Peter Gabriel

What’s the link between a recording studio in Wiltshire and a giant spaceship? “I was thinking about the film Close Encounters,” says Peter Gabriel, “and the way we make a connection with the aliens through melody. That may be a little fanciful. But at the Real World Studios we get musicians from all over the world, who often can’t talk to each other. We give them the technology to make noises, and they start making noises, and suddenly there’s a common language. That’s when things take off.”

Real World Studios, set in the idyllic rural surroundings of Box, Wiltshire.Click to enlarge

Real World was set up in 1986 with one guiding principle in mind: in the words of its founder Peter Gabriel, “that it must be possible for any talented musicians in the world, regardless of nationality or home, to reach an international public.”

True to this doctrine, the pioneering record label and studio has perhaps done more to introduce musicians from all over the world to western audiences than any other single organisation.

Set in the idyllic rural surroundings of Box, Wiltshire, Real World Studios is the hub of the Real World organisation.

A residential complex employing 70 people, the studio performs two functions: to give musicians access to state-of-the-art recording equipment, and to provide an open, free environment in which people from different cultures would feel comfortable to give great performances.

The studio is the base of Real World Records, a label dedicated to recording and promoting musicians from across the globe.

Real World’s extraordinarily varied roster of artists includes Maryam Mursal, Yungchen Lhamo, the AfroCelts, Ozomatli, Little Axe, Nusrat Fateh Ali and L Shankar, and Gabriel himself has released all of his own albums through the label since 1989.

That year saw Real World’s first album release, Passion, the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ, featured many of the artists on the Real World label.

The album was a landmark in the popularisation of world music, and the inspiration for the BBC’s specialist music programme Mixing It.

At the Real World Studios we get musicians from all over the world, who often can’t talk to each other. We give them the technology to make noises, and they start making noises, and suddenly there’s a common language. That’s when things take off.|Peter Gabriel|Founder of Real World Records

One of Real Worlds Mixing Studios.Click to enlarge

Always passionate about new technology and the role of digital communications in expanding the reach and creative potential of music, Gabriel set up Real World Multimedia in 1993.

Throughout the 1990s, the organisation launched a series of innovative CD-ROMs that won many awards across the world, including the coveted Milia d'Or, two BAFTAS and four awards at the Digital Media Awards.

One of Peter Gabriel and Real World’s latest projects has been to record a series of albums by very different artists commissioned especially for the B&W Society of Sound Music.

A unique project in keeping with Peter’s progressive business ideas, these albums will be each available for one month as a lossless download to club members.

The chosen artist will be able to record their material with no restrictions by any label and all rights will return to the artist once the album is no longer available for download.

Along with its studio and record label functions, Real World also runs WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance), a series of international festivals celebrating traditional and modern music, arts and dance from every corner of the globe.

Reminiscing about his experiences at Real World, Peter Gabriel has described the moments of tension as well as inspiration that could result from bringing together people from so many different cultures.

Some would arrive with prayer mats, others with hookers. But, like hotelkeepers, a studio should not be in the business of preaching to its clients. We were there to facilitate the creative process.

Some would arrive with prayer mats, others with hookers. But, like hotelkeepers, a studio should not be in the business of preaching to its clients. We were there to facilitate the creative process.|Peter Gabriel|Founder of Real World Records

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