Tape London with Dallas Austin

The most exciting new music venue to hit London in a long time

Interview by Dan Prince


Launched in September, Tape London Members Club is set to become the home for London’s lauded music industry. The venue has been built from the ground up for one purpose only, to deliver a space that London’s artists, producers, labels and industry professionals can call their own, providing them with everything they need to make music, network, eat, drink and party. Created for the music community, by those in the community, the venue will serve as a central hub of creativity and celebration, offering a 150 capacity private members club space – Little Tape. This will feature a full food service offering, bar and late night license, as well as a Baby Grand piano, guitars, and musical equipment for use by all members and guests to entertain or road test their latest musical creations. The private members space will be the first and only in London to offer a fully equipped, sound proofed recording studio. Tape Studio is a concept inspired by legendary, two-time Grammy award winning producer Dallas Austin, responsible for crafting hit records for Madonna, Michael Jackson, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna and Duran Duran. The studio has been designed by the world renowned Munro Acoustics who were behind historic studio projects such as Abbey Road, AIR Studios and Tile Yard. DMCWORLD checks in with the main man…


Hey Dallas welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you today?

I’m at Tape London in Hanover Square, London right now.

Such exciting news for the music world right now thanks to the opening of Tape London, quite simply a breathtaking space designed by the music industry for the music industry…incorporating a private members space, a nightclub and recording studio. Word on the street is a unanimous “this is just what London needs right now”…how long have you been working on the project?

I’ve been working on this project with my partners for many months and we recently opened earlier this September. It’s such an exciting project and it’s going to have a really great impact on the music industry.

How have the opening weeks been at Tape London, you’ve had some great artists through the doors …

We recently had ASAP Rocky and Wiz Khalifa here over the weekend. Jess Glynne, Sinead Harnett, Rudimental and Wolf Alice have also performed. Now I’m hosting “Dallas Austin Presents” which is a series of live showcases. The first one I hosted featured performances by Harry Foxx, a great British artist with a really soulful voice, as well as US electro pop act, Rilan.

The walls are adorned by some priceless memorabilia…tell us more…

At Little Tape members club, Oliver Twitchett has given us an exhibit of incredible memorabilia, including a Kurt Cobain handwritten set list, a rare Mick Rock photograph of David Bowie, and the original Jimi Hendrix lyric sheet of “Crosstown Traffic”. When you see these items, you get inspired and it creates a great energy in the room.

How important are Munro Acoustics to Tape London?

Munro Acoustics are very important. The sound and acoustics in the main room are incredible for both our artists and the audience. Munro worked on Air Studios and right now they are redesigning Abbey Road.

What is it about London town that you love?

Right now there are so many great artists from London in the industry: Adele, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Sam Smith, Disclosure. It’s one of the reasons that I’m in the city – the talent is amazing.

What can you tell us about the artists and DJs that will be appearing at the venue – is there a theme?

It’s definitely a variety. The criteria is that acts have to be super talented – that’s it.

Are there any other models that you took inspiration from for Tape London?

My partners and I modelled Tape after The Sayers Club in Los Angeles. I often play with my band at The Sayers Club and throughout the night, we’ll invite various artists to come and play with us. Recently, Pharrell and Macy Gray made an appearance. I’m now looking forward to developing a similar concept at Tape, but expanding on the idea. At Tape, we have a members club, a recording studio and a performance space, and so all of it ties in together.

So let’s talk about your incredible life story. You got into music at a young age, it sounds like your whole family was involved in music in some way?

My step dad, Jimmy Nolen, used to play guitar for James Brown. When I was seven years old I used to go on the road with him and James Brown – those were my summer vacations. I actually sent my first demo to Warner Brothers when I was eight years old. I got the label’s information from the back of a Prince record. They sent a letter saying I had not been accepted and when my mom saw it, she was like, ‘What is this?’

The first concert I ever went to was The Osmonds. My father, who was the host, made me sit on Marie’s knee, so embarrassing! Who were some of the artists that you first caught live?

It was amazing when I was younger because my mom owned a soul food restaurant which was down the street from an auditorium in Georgia – so I saw everybody. One of the first acts I saw was probably Parliament Funkadelic. I saw the spaceship land on the stage and I thought, man I want to be that guy! Next one I saw was Prince and I became a Prince fanatic when I was about ten or twelve. All of these artists would also actually eat at my mom’s restaurant – it was called Marbell’s Diner.

What were your first steps into actually ‘working’ in the industry?

One of the first projects that I worked on was with Joyce “Fenderella” Irby from the 1980s band Klymaxx – they were huge at the time. I did a song with her and Doug E. Fresh when I was seventeen called “Hey Mr. DJ.” That was the first ever record that I heard on the radio. I remember being in California and driving around and hearing it on the radio, ‘Hey yo Dallas it’s time to rock …’ and from that point I knew I wasn’t stopping.

The music industry must seem like a million miles away from the scene that you first stepped into, no piracy, the internet so important, TV talent shows now one of the most easiest ways in. Do you prefer what it was it like back in the day?

It’s a double edged sword because we have more access to more artists from all over the world than we have ever had before, which is incredible. Before, if you were an artist in America, you would try to make it in the US and then you would have to go to each territory, whereas now it goes everywhere at once. However it’s negative in the sense, as I think this has kicked the value of music in some respect – there’s definitely going to have to be some kind of shift in the industry at some point.

North America finally caught the dancefloor bug a few years ago with EDM sweeping the nation and clubs, festivals and DJs popping up everywhere. You must have loved seeing the whole R&B/EDM crossover?

The EDM genre is done well by a few people like David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia, though I have to be honest the big room EDM sound was driving me nuts after a while. Now that the whole R&B 90s house music sound is coming back I’m loving it so much – it comes with so much soul and that’s the music that I like to produce myself.

Who is the greatest artist you have ever worked with?

Michael Jackson. By far the greatest artist I’ve ever worked with.

The last time you had a really good dance to a DJ?

David Guetta’s “Love Don’t Let Me Go.” I saw him play not too long ago when I was in Los Angeles. People forget how many records that he’s done. He’s always been very good with melodies.

So we come back to your place after Tape London. The vibe is chilled, what are some of the artists and albums you spin us for an Austin Dallas Back To Mine session…

I do this all the time actually. I’ll put on a Soul Train episode and turn the volume down. I’ll start off with playing something like Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” and then I’ll go to The Weekend’s “Can’t Feel My Face” and then segway into some Trap music. Everyone always ends up copying and doing the Soul Train dances to the music – it’s really fun.

How important do you think Tape London will become for the music industry?

Tape London is already becoming super important. It’s a very unique concept because it can be what the Troubadour was for music in LA when they were breaking new acts. I want people to come to Tape and see new emerging acts that go on to become music legends.

And finally, what can you tell us about the future plans for Tape London…you’ve opened well, but what are you going to spring on us in 2016?

At Tape we are always going to have something special to offer and keep everyone excited. In the future, there might be Tape Los Angeles and Tape Nashville.

Tape London
17 Hanover Square
London, United Kingdom

020 7659 9080