Date: 1 January 1985
Originally published in: Muziek Expres (Netherlands)
Written by:
Many artists go all around the world to record their records. Just take a look at Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Elton John who prefer to work in tropical hide-outs. But the Wilde family found a nice quiet spot near their home…
With a tense look in her eyes Kim Wilde sits next to her brother Ricky behind the impressive mixing board. Attentively she watches how he turns a few knobs and faders. “Wouldn’t it sound even better if we use the horn section more?”, Kim proposes. Ricky raises his eyebrows. “Hmmm, let’s try”, he answers.
“This is how we experiment a lot of the time”, Kim explains to us while Ricky rewinds the tape, “and we both love doing it. We built this studio ourselves and it is totally ours. We have picked out the very best equipment and paid attention to the acoustics of the room. We simply wanted to have the best studio in all of England! I am often here alone, without Ricky. I want to do more myself, to explore new areas. And when things don’t work out, or I feel dull, I just walk out the door to have a walk in the woods around here. It is an ideal place, which we also picked out ourselves. Nicely secluded, so that no-one can interrupt me.” A vague smile appears on Kim’s face. “I’m really close to nature”, she says. “When I walk through the woods with the ancient trees, I feel so humble. I always feel that way when I go skiing in the mountains. There’s such a lot of strength exuding from the mountains, one has to respect that. Strange, isn’t it?”, she wonders aloud, “that I love such contradictions! I can feel really happy when I’m walking through nature, but I also feel so happy in the studio with artificial light and a lot of noise!”
She has to think about this for a moment. “Oh well”, she decides, “the one balances the other and that’s why I can enjoy all of it. And I enjoy every minute of the day!”