We have heard of it as the summer residence of Brangelin, but Miraval Castle (in Correns, in Provence) is primarily a place of worship for rock lovers. In fact, right in his Miraval Studios – the same one where Travis Scott just recorded his latest album. Utopia – in 1979 Pink Floyd recorded part Wall. They were followed by AC/DC, Cranberries, Cure, Yes and David Sylvian among others.
Together with Château d’Hérouville (Val d’Oise) and Davout (Paris), Château Miraval has made France one of the reference places for logging.
How Miraval Studios was born
The castle stands on land where a monastery was built in the 13th century, surrounded by vineyards. All this passed through the hands of the French nobility and in the middle of the 19th century was bought by the inventor of ferrocement (reinforced concrete) Joseph Lambot.
Taking us a little closer to today, before the estate became a bone of contention between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, French pianist and composer Jacques Loussier, with the help of sound engineer Patrice Kef, set up a studio in the castle in 1977. . At first he uses it to engrave his own works, but then he also invites other French artists (Pierre Vassiliou, Maxime Le Forestier).
At this point, fame spreads until it reaches the ears of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. “In France we did most of Wall, to work hard and very well, in a relatively short time,” said the latter. “Super Bear in Bere-les-Alpes, the studio where we worked the most was quite high up in the mountains, it wasn’t very easy to sing there, and it was hard for Roger to get the right intonation. So we found another studio, Miraval, and Roger went there with Bob (Ezrin) to record the vocals.”
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New life Miraval Studios
In 1998, Loussier sold the French chateau to Italian-American entrepreneur Tom Bove, who in turn resold it to a couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, in 2008. The two seem to have little interest in the fate of the recording studio and are clearly more focused on the vineyard, so much so that a few years later, with the help of the Perrin family, they start producing their own rosé.
Fortunately, almost 20 years later, Pitt changed his mind, contacts producer Damien Quintard, and Miraval Studios reopens its doors in the summer of 2022. “I decided to renovate these historic studios with the idea that they would generate creative ferment and become a space open to artists of all stripes.”. Shortly after the opening, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea went to Miraval to rest before their world tour, and director David Fincher was editing his film there.
“For a French sound engineer like me, Miraval was the holy grail,” Quintar said., who already had an Emmy for mixing under his belt when Pitt called him. “Designing and managing it, especially in the midst of the pandemic, has been like riding a rollercoaster, but I immediately felt a huge responsibility to honor this iconic site’s past and bring it into the future. I made sure that the latest technologies help the creative process without interfering with inspiration.
Damien Quintard explained that he worked with Brad Pitt in the studio with the goal of creating something new and different from the incredible recording studios that already exist in the world. Both thought of a kind of spaceship that combines analog and digital functions. The rest was done by the magic of the location, behind which there is a great story: “When you enter the castle, you enter another dimension., the key to everything is simplicity and the problems of everyday life begin to fade, giving way to a whirlwind of ideas. The photos and videos don’t do it justice, you have to be there to really understand, you are a pleasure to work with and you always get amazing results.”