With the philosophy that ‘engineering should be invisible: your job is to facilitate greatness, not hold it up’, producer-engineer Sean Genockey has upgraded monitoring system at his ReKognition Sound studio with a pair of Genelec 8351B three-way coaxial monitors.
With more than two decades in the industry, Genockey’s journey has encompassed global tours with his band Moke, collaborations with artists including the Manic Street Preachers and Suede and a long apprenticeship under producer Dave Eringa. Now, he’s channeled all that experience into building a hybrid studio that eliminates hesitation and captures instinct in its purest form.
Housed in London’s Metropolis Studios, ReKognition is the personal space of Genockey, which he co-founded with Jesse Wood to serves as the HQ for their ReKognition Sound label. Genockey regularly uses the studio for live tracking, and as a precision-focused mixing and finishing space. It’s here that he crafts records for the likes of Craig Silvey, NewDad, Futureheads, Jasmine Rodgers, Scott Matthews, Jace Everett, and Ronnie Wood.
‘Ronnie’s amazing, full of energy,’ Genockey says. ‘We’ve done all his recent solo work in this room. It’s a space where you can react fast and keep that magic alive. The moment you stall an artist, the take’s gone.’
With clarity as his guiding star, Genockey built the studio around gear that enables, not distracts. The front end is intentionally simple: great mics, Neve-style preamps, a few compressors and trusted vintage pedals. ‘The magic isn’t in the plug-ins, it’s in the players,’ he says. ‘My job is to get it right at source, fast, and then not get in the way.
‘I grew up in studios with massive full-range mains,’ explains. ‘This little set-up gives me that same confidence. It’s forensic, but it still feels like music. You’re not distracted by dips or harshness, you can think about emotion and instinct.’
Having been calibrated by Genelec’s Andy Bensley using GLM software, the system has changed the way Genockey trusts the room. ‘Andy came in, did the full sweep with GLM and suddenly I wasn’t second-guessing myself anymore. I can make big decisions fast and I know they’ll hold up.’
For Genockey, much modern production relies on correction rather than feel. ‘So many multitracks I get now are rescue jobs,’ he says. ‘Nothing’s phase-aligned, the fundamentals aren’t there. People are hoarding knowledge too – mic techniques, signal chains – like it’s all a secret. But I came up in a world where everyone shared what they knew. That’s how we got better.’
By grounding his process in intuition and experience, and trusting monitoring that gives him confidence, Genockey creates space for honesty in music. ‘Whether I’m handing off stems to someone in Nashville or mixing something Craig Silvey started, I know it’s solid. What I hear is what they’ll hear.’
At ReKognition, there’s no time for overthinking, instead there is a reliance on feel, trust and the truth in sound. ‘The artist walks in, we talk about what we’re trying to capture, and we just go,’ Genockey says. ‘No fiddling, no fuss. Just music.’
More: www.genelec.com