A Tribute to Barry Jenkins - The Vulcan - Rehearsal Rooms/Studio, 69 Waterloo Road, Liverpool L3 7BE

The Vulcan

Rehearsal Rooms/Studio

68 Waterloo Rd, Liverpool L3 7BE

0151 236 2724

www.vulcanstudios.co.uk/

Barry@vulcanstudios.co.uk

The Vulcan is said to be one of the earliest surviving examples of a fireproof warehouse, built in 1843 and designed by Liverpool Architect A.H.Holme.  It was built in order to store cotton and by the middle of the 1840’s was used as a holding area for refugees fleeing the Great Hunger in Ireland. Who would have thought back then that this building would become home to thousands of varying artists? – It is an incredible thought, and I often wonder what the ghosts of past would think of it all, as I am sure The Vulcan has a few if not many, that wander through its meandering corridors.

The Vulcan

In 1985, I joined the Sons & Daughters of Liverpool shortened to SADOL, a music, art & drama group – that still currently runs today, although focusing more on the drama side and now and called Yellowhouse - carried out not anywhere near the old warehouse in Porter Street and stands directly behind The Vulcan in Vulcan Street off Waterloo Road.

The Vulcan is a converted warehouse and another of Liverpool’s listed iconic buildings (and should be mentioned when talking of the three graces, as The Vulcan is much older than them and has plenty of vibrant history attached to it) and yet one building that is only usually, talked about within various music circles and famous in its own right, for playing host to Liverpool’s Independent music scene since 1979.

The Vulcan is still situated in Vulcan Street off Waterloo Road and many times I sat staring out of an open, sometimes cracked window pane of the old warehouse in Porter Street listening to the bands rehearsing opposite. Their sounds drifting above the odd rumble of a train or passing car.

Of course music being my passion I used to go into The Vulcan when one of the SADOL bands were rehearsing.  The maze of dark corridors and ambient atmosphere was vibrant with sound as it still is today and even more so!

A lot of the “now” famous band’s including Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, Icicle Works, The Jam, Microdisney, The Smiths, Scott Walker and of course, Dead or Alive to name but a few, rehearsed at Vulcan Studios (early Sunday mornings) at the same time when Half Man Half Biscuit were recording their 1st album (1985-1986) and reported that Dave Treble (of Crikey, it’s The Cromptons) most famously recorded the debut Half Man Half Biscuit LP for a cost of 40 quid!!! (And apparently not received a penny more even though the LP sold zillions!) Could be heard muffled behind the closed doors, which housed the sounds of the 80’s.

Post Punk band Half Man Half Biscuit from Birkenhead - Trumpton Riots

Rehearsing Details

Room charges: £3 per hour.

Monday - Thursday after 6pm - Minimum of 4 hours rehearsal space.

Other times - Negotiable

I was still very “green” to the music scene back then, but loved to listen to the various bands that attended The Vulcan in order to perfect their acts.

The Vulcan started in 1979, but I never set foot inside its rooms until around 1985, but the presence of The Vulcan has always stayed with me, and now it has grown into not only a shrine for the bands that used to rehearse there but also become a musical temple for new bands within the Independent scene, welcoming bands in and around the Liverpool area and beyond.

A lot of the SADOL bands rehearsed at The Warehouse in Porter Street, where I became George McKane’s right hand woman so to speak, collecting the subs from the many people attending and making up leads for the bands once I had finished my electronics course at M.E.T.E.L believe it or not!

It is indeed fantastic to see that The Vulcan has all that music history behind it and even more strange, to think that the ghosts of previous bands once graced (or disgraced) the building in the hope of making it big.  For some the dream happened and this was, I am sure, and still is, partly down to the way in which The Vulcan was (and still is run) by Barry - A softly spoken man, who has been in the background of the music scene for many years! In fact the silent voice in many ways!

The Atlantis Code practising Toy Story at Vulcan Studios
https://www.facebook.com/theatlantiscode

Nowadays with the Internet bringing everything into your front room, you can see what The Vulcan looks like. You can also advertise your gigs there, sell equipment and more besides.  The Vulcan is no longer just a formidable building along the Dock Road, but home to many a band, who seeks a safe and affordable sanctuary to perfect their music, and this, is all down to one man “Barry Jenkins” who has throughout the years remained strong and built the studios up to such an immense level.

Now The Vulcan offers 16 nicely decorated and carpeted rooms, (very different from the 80’s when everything seemed so sparse) and now accommodates any bands’ needs, styles and indeed sizes.  Open from 11am to 11pm including Bank Holidays. No parking restrictions and an on-site shop that caters for all musicians needs including guitar strings, plecs, drum sticks and cables. Not to mention lockers and equipment hire, that everyone in the music biz needs occasionally! Barry has indeed thought of everything, and grown this business from scratch.

**Breeding Violence with Phil Berrington at Vulcan Studios recording Admordeo their E.P
https://www.facebook.com/BreedingViolenceOfficial

The Vulcan is neatly tucked away and you can play as loud as you like and nobody will complain. A bit like space “Nobody can hear you scream!” The once eerie corridors that housed the feet of many an old band from the past, has now been replaced with the new  feet of up and coming bands around Liverpool and further afield.

There are not many people in Liverpool that don’t know about The Vulcan and its reputable reputation that has indeed been carved into the history of Liverpool, and is still growing today, offering a safe haven for bands everywhere to pave the way for their particular brand of music.

How I have missed the long walk from the Pier Head and the numerous glances from the Warehouse in Porter Street, through into a world where music poured out of the heavily dust laden windows of The Vulcan opposite, watching the bands loading and unloading their various equipment from their old clapped out vans that were parked outside and in a road that very few cars frequented. Today is certainly very different, - well perhaps not where the vans are concerned!

Some years have passed for me but The Vulcan continues to stand proud along the Dock Road and behind its walls the bands of the future rehearse tirelessly in order to perfect their art!  All this would not be possible if it were not for the endurance and determination of one man – Barry, and now his daughter Trish.

Barry, we salute you and what you have done for the Liverpool music scene in the past 34 ground-breaking years and what you have continued to do, despite the usual chaos of the music scene.  Lots of bands have come and gone but you have perfected an art and stood the test of time just like the building itself and this should in my opinion be recognised.

It is amazing to hear the varying styles of music from 80’s punk to present day Metal Core and even better knowing it is all still going down at Vulcan Studios today!

I so wished, I had owned a camera back then and taken some pictures of the building as it once was.  Definitely a lot different to the rooms the band’s now frequent.  I remember it being quite dark and it had a musty smell that often hung in the air as you went inside, and quite smoky too, with there being no ban on cigarettes back then, not to mention the graffiti that was scrawled across some of the walls and would be etched into the fabric of the building forever, if not for a can of paint! But it all adds to the character of what was and still is, an immense musical playground for bands near and far, proving that the past is not quite the ‘forgotten past’ and lives within the future of the bands that frequent this iconic building, guided by the watchful eye of Barry Jenkins and his crew.

Long live The Vulcan!

*Photographs courtesy of The Vulcan Studios*

** I do not own the three video's attached to this review - Two are featured to simply show the inside surroundings of The Vulcan Studios, the third portrays  a band who once recorded there back in the middle 80s.