'Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm' Review | Hot Docs 2021

The 2021 Hot Docs Festival will be available for audiences across Canada to stream April 29 to May 9. Hot Docs is the largest documentary focused film festival in North America and the line-up this year is absolutely incredible.

Check out my full coverage of Hot Docs 2021!

Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm (2020)

Director: Hannah Berryman
Producer: Catryn Ramasut

Synopsis: This is the unlikely tale of how two Welsh farming brothers turned their dairy farm into one of the most successful recording studios of all time, producing four decades of legendary rock music.

Review:

Throughout modern music history, certain recording studios have carried an almost folklore-level weight. In the UK, Abbey Road is probably the one most well-known due in large part to The Beatles. But there is a farm out in the rolling hills of Wales that has been the birthplace of some of the most storied rock records.

Rockfield tells the story of this fabled recording studio started by Kingsley and Charles Ward, two brothers who always harboured a love for music. Soon they were welcoming the biggest rock acts of the '70s, '80s, and '90s -- Black Sabbath perfected their heavy metal sound at Rockfield, Queen put the finishing touches of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the Welsh barn, and Oasis recorded my personal all-time favourite record, ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ in this countryside farm. Director Hannah Berryman interviews the likes of Chris Martin, Ozzy Osbourne, Liam Gallagher, and Robert Plant who all share stories of their time recording at Rockfield.

While the retelling of these tales are interesting (hearing Liam Gallagher, very non-chalantly, describe a brawl him and his brother, Noel, got into at the studio that involved cricket bats and hiding air guns was amazing), I would have preferred to learn more about the studio itself. We aren't given too much information about how the Ward brothers started the studio, how the studio was run, and the ultimate falling out between the two. There is some mention of these things, but nothing substantive. The recording session stories certainly paint a picture, but it's one of the artist and their work than the studio itself.

Last year Noel Gallagher returned to Rockfield to celebrate the 25th anniversary of '(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ as a part of a 30-minute documentary available on YouTube, Return to Rockfield (2020). He takes a tour of the studio and gives his recounting of how this seminal record was developed -- even giving praise to Liam's vocals. This short-form documentary was really great in part because it was focused and so could really dive into the material. In comparison, Rockfield covers so much that you don't get a real sense of any single recording session or what the vibe of the studio was as a whole.

It's an interesting documentary that music fans, especially fans of '70s/'80s/'90s rock, will enjoy. But ultimately it only just scratches the surface and doesn't give audiences a very rich picture.

Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm is streaming in Canada via Hot Docs until May 9.

Thanks to Route 504 PR for the screener!