Hi, my name is Ian Crabtree and I've been a professional musician for over 30 years, working as a freelance guitarist and bassist and performing at more than 1,000 gigs, both live and in the studio.

After graduating from Leeds College of Music in 1996, I returned to my home town of Leicester, where I began building relationships within the music industry. Over the years I've had the privilege of working with artists including Simon Webbe (Blue), Errol Brown (Hot Chocolate), Down to the Bone and many other talented musicians.

In 2006, following a house move, I was fortunate enough to build my own recording studio. What began as a space to record my own music developed into working with local artists, and over the years I built my experience in recording, mixing and mastering.

Since 2020, I've focused increasingly on mastering and I've found the part of the audio world that I really love.

I think those 30+ years of playing, recording and listening have given me something valuable as a mastering engineer: a deep understanding of music beyond the technical side. I know what makes a great song, what makes a great mix, and most importantly, what makes you want to keep listening because ultimately that's what music is about.

You press play. Your ears prick up. Your foot starts tapping. Your head starts nodding. Something connects. You feel something and you want to hear it again.

Every great song already has something to say.

If you've already written a great song, the story, emotion and intent are already there. My job isn't to rewrite it. It's to bring those qualities into focus, giving each part of the song the space and attention it needs while making sure nothing stands between your music and your listener.

That's why every master is approached individually with careful listening, musical judgement and more than 30 years of experience as a professional musician and engineer.

Because mastering should serve the music.