Take a stroll down a cobbled backstreet just off Parsons Green and you will find a number of music companies huddled towards the narrowing far end, reminiscent of the way the music industry grouped itself together in Denmark Street (the UK’s version of ‘Tin Pan Alley’) where publishers once held sway.
Heathmans Road was hit by the media revolution when BSkyB moved into the street in the late 80s. Around the same time music business people began to take up residence there. Ronnie Garrity was one of the first.
Garrity’s Passage
Garrity was a security guard for Warners in central London and would organise bikes to take tapes to BBC Radio 1 and 2. With the music business moving out to west London, Garrity spotted a need for a duplicating facility there. His first company, a cassette duplication firm called Tape To Tape, moved into Heathmans Road some 18 years ago. Indeed, as one of the original residents (and self-styled keeper), the street is referred to colloquially by some as ‘Garrity’s Passage’.
‘The idea was to be able to offer fast pick-up and delivery,’ says Garrity now. ‘So we moved here because it had a great
catchment area—Rondor was already in Parsons Green Lane; A&M were on the New Kings Road; Beggars Banquet just over the river in Battersea; East West were in Kensington High Street and Polydor was in Sussex Place. It was an ideal location.’
When Garrity moved in, he initially changed the name of his business to Heathmans Mastering, as much in recognition of the demise of the cassette as in homage to a street which was becoming a brand name in itself. Business took off and with the emergence of the CD, the company began dealing in CD mastering, vinyl disc-cutting, CD and DVD duplication and, more recently, watermarking. Garrity, who has worked with all the majors over the years and many of the big indies, says he doesn’t regret the move all those years ago.
‘You can stand on the corner and watch people you know in the business coming up and down the street,’ he says. ‘That says it all.’
'it’s the only street in Britain where you can record a demo, get it produced, mastered, published, get the artwork done and grab a cup of coffee while you wait'
Numbers game
Not too long after Garrity set up shop, songwriter/producer/manager Nicky Graham moved over to Heathmans. It was about the time he was hitting the charts with songs like When Will I Be Famous which he penned for Bros.
‘This was at a time when the music business was beginning to move west,’ he says. ‘The rents just got too high in Soho.’
Nicky outgrew his original premises and now has five studios, as Maximum Music, in the street.
Over the intervening years, more music companies have moved into this corner of SW6. Along with them there is also a photography studio called The Works (which regularly doubles up as a record industry party venue).
Publishing and management company Darah Music moved to Heathmans about eight years ago.
‘When we moved (here) I was astounded how many music people were in this street,’ says MD David Howells.
Howells, who has a long and enviable track record in the music business, now manages Nicky Chinn and Steve Mac and has worked on a number of projects with Simon Cowell.
‘It’s been a fascinating period…we’ve worked on Kelly Clarkson and Il Divo—who have sold 11 million units in the past 18 months.’
He says Heathmans Road is an ideal location. ‘It’s a real village atmosphere in Parsons Green and it’s nice when you can bump into friends and colleagues,’ he says. ‘It’s not like being in the city. And it’s obviously convenient because the majors are also around here.’
‘Also, I reckon it’s the only street in Britain where you can record a demo, get it produced and mastered, get it published, get the artwork done, grab a cup of coffee while you wait,’ - Starbucks is also there – ‘and then buy a car!’
Producer Steve Mac is also based at Heathmans. 
Mac got his first break when he was a teenager and produced the hit dance record I Wanna Give You Devotion by Nomad. He progressed on to Swanyard Studios in Islington where he continued to work on dance material. Three years after Howells moved over to Parsons Green he asked Mac, who he was already managing, to move over too.
Mac ended up producing Boyzone, Westlife, Il Divo, Shayne Ward and others, and between them, Mac and Howells have notched up 127 top 40 singles and albums in the past 14 years.
‘When I moved here I didn’t know anyone so it’s been a great education for me,’ says Mac. ‘I opened up a studio, then as I got more successful I opened up a mixing room. It’s been a great ride.’
Wildlife
Up a flight of stairs from Darah Music is management and production company Wildlife Entertainment, run by Colin Lester and Ian McAndrew, which has managed Craig David, Travis and the Arctic Monkeys, among others.
‘We’ve been here for the last ten years,’ says McAndrew. ‘Rondor Music was here first. We had Ronnie Garrity’s space at number 19 originally. It was just me at the time.’
Colin Lester came over to partner Ian McAndrew on managing the Brand New Heavies. The company also managed Bomb The Bass and songwriter Russ Ballard.
‘We took on Travis after meeting up with the band and around 1996-97 we put out a 10-inch vinyl single on them,’ says McAndrew. ‘Ronnie was very helpful in that. He mastered the record.’
The rest, as they say, is history. NME did an early photo session with the band in Heathmans Road and Travis’ second album The Man Who sold 2.7 million in the UK and 3.5 million worldwide.
Around 1997, the pair then formed their own record label Wildstar—a collaboration with Richard Park at Capital Radio and with Telstar.
Wildstar’s first hit was Connor Reeves. ‘We literally bumped into him in Heathmans Road,’ says McAndrew. ‘He was being published by Rondor at the time. All the duplication and mastering of the single was done by Ronnie Garrity, and it went to number 11 in the charts. The album went gold.’
Their next signing was Craig David, who ended up selling seven million copies of his first album. ‘Later he asked us to manage him,’ says McAndrew, ‘which we still do, although two years ago Warner signed him.’
Another fruitful joint venture was with artist/designer/manager Jeff Barrowdale.
‘We took him on to look for and develop new talent,’ says McAndrew. ‘He became a manager partner and he went on to bring Arctic Monkeys to us.’
Wildlife put out a 7-inch single, Five Minutes With The Arctic Monkeys, on Bang Bang Records—a label set up for the band— which was distributed by neighbours Cargo.
‘We were fortunate to have one major act in Travis,’ says McAndrew. ‘Then to have two was great. Now to have three…It makes you think it might be something more than just blind luck!’
Fourfives Publishing
In the unit below Wildlife—and next-door to Darah—is Fourfives Publishing, who have been in the street for five years.
‘We’re a relatively new company compared with others in the street,’ admits Neil Duckworth, co-owner with Andrew Greasley. ‘We’re mainly producers, but we also publish. We look after our own artists.’
The roster includes Irish girl band Triniti and solo artist Louise Setara, who is signed to EMI in the US and who releases a UK album in November.
‘We’ve been preparing the ground over the past three years and now this is our major year,’ says Duckworth. ‘We also produce music for adverts for Channel 4, as well as for its ski-ing programme over the course of the season.’
He adds: ‘There’s a nice feeling down here. People know the business and there’s a kind of friendly rivalry. And there’s a lot of nice pubs around here!’
Cargo Records
Distribution company Cargo moved into Heathmans Road from Putney in 1999.
Cargo have been distributing independent labels to UK retailers and other distributors around the world since 1992.
MD Phil Hill says the Cargo business is changing with the popularity of digital downloading. ‘We’ve just done a deal with a digital aggregator,’ says Hill, ‘and now we’re offering our labels digital distribution in addition to physical.’
And things more generally may be changing in the street.
‘They’re demolishing the whole area on the opposite side of the street to make light industrial units,’ says Graham. ‘There will be a whole bunch of new people coming into the area. Maybe computer design offices…or, who knows, maybe recording studios!’