Brian Casey’s recording studio in West Cork aims to empower local musicians.
SIX day weeks don’t appeal to most people, but for Brian Casey, owner of Wavefield Recordings studio in Clonakilty, they’re made that little bit easier by his love of music.
Over the past decade and more Brian has, with the help of his partner, grown what started as a passion for recording his own bands as a child into a studio that is central to West Cork’s thriving music scene.
‘It was kind of slightly accidental, really,’ Brian says when asked why he became a producer.
‘I’ve been playing music my entire life. I remember going through the Smyth’s catalogue with my siblings when I was about three wanting to play drums, like I wanted a toy drum kit, toy keyboard and a toy guitar.
‘I started recording myself very, very early on, and I would be forcing whatever friends I had, even if they didn’t play music, to try to create bands and stuff.’
Months spent gigging around Ireland and stints in various bands meant there was always a new track to be recorded, or a genre to attack.
‘The longer it went on I realised I couldn’t decide what genre of music I wanted to make anyway, so looking back now it’s so obvious that I should be a producer because I basically get to be in a different band every week.’
Aside from his partner, who plays a crucial role in the business, Brian has his parents to thank for helping get the studio going – the first iteration of the studio started in his parents’ basement in Sheep’s Head – but it was a move to Clonakilty in 2017 where things really took off.
West Cork singer-songwriter Culture Kid.
Hannabella’s single ‘Dainty Fae’ was produced by Brian in his Clonakilty studio.
Fast forward to 2025 and the studio is a key cog in the West Cork music scene, with numerous artists – both from the area and further afield – releasing singles, EPs and albums recorded in Clonakilty.
The town’s location relatively close to Cork city makes it easy for anyone wanting to travel to record, and Brian’s impressive work ethic means there’s always someone around.
‘We’d be very focused on working with young artists and we’ve been maintaining a kind of stupidly crazy work rate for the last 5 years. So there’s been an awful lot of months of working 6 days a week. We try to work with as many people as possible, which is because we want to,’ Brian says.
‘I mean, it’s the only way to survive, but it’s also that there’s so much exciting music happening right now, and we’re just lucky that we happen to tap into the vein of it.’
At a time when issues like housing mean many young Irish people are moving abroad – especially musicians, who often go straight to London, Nashville or LA to follow their dreams Wavefield offers younger artists the chance to get a start in the industry.
‘I like the idea of saying we can make records in Clonakilty that are as good as the record that’s made in LA,’ adds Brian.
While there isn’t a very developed industry here in terms of people able to make a financial living, the range and quality of music produced in West Cork blows people away when they visit.
The Kates formed after a number of charity gigs in West Cork – they rehearsed at Wavefield.
‘The musicality of the area becomes so obvious when we have musicians from abroad working with us and we go into Debarras to wind down after a day’s recording, they’re always blown away by the level of music happening on the average week night,’ Brian says.
‘Add to that Connolly’s in Leap, Levis’ in Ballydehob, the Kin series of original showcase gigs in Ahakista, not to mention all the festivals run by West Cork Music and others. There’s more happening down here than in most international cities with ten times the population and resources.
No one here is going to get rich and it’s often about survival for these institutions, so it all has to be driven by the pure love of it.’
That love is what’s powered Wavefield Recordings since its inception back in 2012, and is what keeps artists coming back to record time and time again.
