The Council House That Launched The Human League, ABC and Pulp

In the 1970s, Sheffield car mechanic Ken Patten filled his council house with synthesizers and a drum machine, and built his own vocoder out of leftover RAF microphones and cardboard tubing. He called the unassuming home Studio Electrophonique. The living room served as the recording space, the main bedroom as the drum room, and an extension housed the vocoder. It wasn't much to look at, but it became one of the most important unofficial recording spaces in British independent music history. Far Out Magazine reported on this little-known chapter of Sheffield's music history in July 2026.

Who recorded there

Martyn Ware told the BBC he tracked down Patten's home in 1977 after placing an ad in a local newspaper looking for a place to record with his early band The Future. Ware went on to co-found The Human League and Heaven 17.

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker was struck by Patten's homemade CCTV setup, which let musicians downstairs keep an eye on the drummer recording in the main bedroom. In 1981, Pulp recorded early demos there, and Cocker personally handed the tape to John Peel at BBC Radio 1 — leading to a Peel Session the band landed before they'd even signed to a label. Vice Versa, who would later find success as ABC, also recorded early material there.

It wasn't just future electronic acts who came through. Folk musicians, Hawaiian guitar duos and political singer-songwriters all paid £15 a session to use the space.

Mrs. Patten's house rules

Patten's wife tolerated the steady stream of musicians passing through, but she had firm rules: shoes off at the door, no using the upstairs bathroom, and the bed had to be covered in protective plastic sheeting. Ware recalled one session hitting its stride when Mrs. Patten walked in and announced, "Ken, your dinner's ready" — and Patten would immediately ask the musicians to pack up and leave. The moment has since been held up as a kind of perfect snapshot of the Sheffield music scene's character.