A quick tour of Nemo Studios

The second live room was a multi-purpose area, which measured 1,012 square feet. This area was primarily used as a lounge and meeting place, but it was also utilised to record acoustic work, such as percussion or vocals. At the far end of the room there was a large three-sided cyclorama. In the early days, the cyclorama was used to create very effective sound ambiences during live recordings, especially those requiring careful microphone-placement techniques.

A gantry above the cyclorama was fitted with several spotlights and a video projector that used the cyclorama as a video screen. At the other end of the room was a partial wall, which separated the live room from the control room. The dividing wall incorporated a fireplace, and in one corner was a small storage room for cables and unused percussion. To one side next to the curtains sat the instruments and keyboards that were not currently being used, and in every nook and cranny there was unused equipment. As new instruments were brought in, some older ones were placed at the side of the live room or hidden behind the cyclorama’s wall.

The live room could be accessed from the wall opening in the control room or via an access door from the hallway to the side of the studio. The hallway outside led to a small maintenance room, which was accessed via a wooden staircase. The maintenance room was useful for storing equipment and boxes, and later this was converted into a tape storage room.

The red, wooden door of the building was a communal entrance for the handful of businesses that rented the building. The red door was sometimes kept open during working hours on weekdays, and visitors were welcome to enter the building to find the company they were looking for. This was also the case at Nemo Studios, as any business or artistic appointments took place at Vangelis’ studio. Usually visitors could press the appropriate doorbell for the business they required.