0:00:02 > 0:00:04Take the Bakerloo Line two stops from Paddington
0:00:04 > 0:00:06and you arrive here at Maida Vale.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10It's one of London's poshest suburbs.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Round here, a three-bed flat costs more than £1 million,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17but it's also home to one of the BBC's hidden gems
0:00:17 > 0:00:22and it's going to be our home for three days of live music-making.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25So welcome to the BBC Maida Vale Studios
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and welcome to Wales Unsigned.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I'm Heledd Watkins - that's me right there -
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and I played here last year with my band HMS Morris
0:00:37 > 0:00:40as part of the Horizons project,
0:00:40 > 0:00:42which supports up-and-coming Welsh bands.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47This year, there are 12 new acts and so, for our first band on day one,
0:00:47 > 0:00:52with musicians from across South Wales led by MC Skunkadelic,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54this is Afro Cluster.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57# Double trouble
0:01:01 > 0:01:05# Say she don't come again
0:01:08 > 0:01:09# Double trouble
0:01:14 > 0:01:17# Say she don't come again
0:01:43 > 0:01:44# Yeah
0:01:44 > 0:01:46# Where we met, it's a story for another day
0:01:46 > 0:01:49# The friend request came quick there on the page
0:01:49 > 0:01:52# These kind of things ain't new to us nowadays
0:01:52 > 0:01:55# So I accepted, as she expected
0:01:55 > 0:01:58# Hourglass figure, rude if you neglect it
0:01:58 > 0:02:03# Seemed to be worth every sly move, time and effort invested
0:02:03 > 0:02:06# First name Olivia, half-Nigerian
0:02:06 > 0:02:09# With a Greek heritage, hell of a look
0:02:09 > 0:02:10# Vision turned sepia
0:02:10 > 0:02:13# Hotel for a beverage, this wasn't easier
0:02:13 > 0:02:15# Pupils haemorrhage at the glimpse of her
0:02:15 > 0:02:20# Like Pepe Le Pew, think I just clocked my Penelope
0:02:20 > 0:02:22# Elegantly step in the room
0:02:22 > 0:02:25# Coming like a weather balloon
0:02:25 > 0:02:27# Filled with laughing gas, her arse bent
0:02:27 > 0:02:30# Love muscle nodding like an iguana
0:02:30 > 0:02:32# Oh, what a view
0:02:55 > 0:02:57# Yeah!
0:03:00 > 0:03:03# When I plan my attack, ah-ha
0:03:04 > 0:03:07# Wahala, one-two
0:03:07 > 0:03:09# Double trouble
0:03:11 > 0:03:17# When I plan my attack now
0:03:18 > 0:03:20# When I plan my attack. #
0:03:26 > 0:03:28That was amazing. I really, really wanted to clap,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31but I'm not allowed to, I'm not allowed to make any noise.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Next up in Maida Vale Studio Three,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and now with the addition of a string section,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41here's Cardiff R&B artist Reuel Elijah.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55# Stressing out
0:03:56 > 0:03:58# It's got me tripping out
0:03:58 > 0:04:01# That's what it feels like
0:04:01 > 0:04:04# I know you know what it feels like
0:04:04 > 0:04:07# Feel like I'm chatting to a brick wall
0:04:07 > 0:04:10# Hollering for a miracle
0:04:10 > 0:04:12# But ain't nobody answering
0:04:12 > 0:04:15# They're going to hear me singing
0:04:15 > 0:04:18# It's never too late
0:04:18 > 0:04:20# One day you'll be free
0:04:20 > 0:04:23# Got to make the move before it's gone too soon
0:04:23 > 0:04:26# Could you be the one they remember
0:04:26 > 0:04:28# They remember
0:04:28 > 0:04:32# Forever, forever be the one
0:04:32 > 0:04:34# You'll be the one
0:04:34 > 0:04:35# Oh
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# Make it through
0:04:38 > 0:04:40# That's all I want to do
0:04:40 > 0:04:43# Make it through
0:04:43 > 0:04:46# That's all I want to do
0:04:46 > 0:04:50# Be the one they remember, one they remember, one they remember
0:04:50 > 0:04:53# Forever, forever be the one
0:04:53 > 0:04:55# Be the one
0:04:55 > 0:04:57# Hey
0:04:57 > 0:04:59# I'm out here dreaming
0:04:59 > 0:05:02# I'm out here dreaming
0:05:02 > 0:05:05# You're out here dreaming
0:05:05 > 0:05:07# You're out here dreaming
0:05:07 > 0:05:10# We're out here dreaming
0:05:10 > 0:05:13# We're up here dreaming
0:05:13 > 0:05:16# Just out here dreaming
0:05:16 > 0:05:17# Just out here dreaming
0:05:17 > 0:05:19# When they see you running and you're running
0:05:19 > 0:05:23# And there ain't no turning round
0:05:23 > 0:05:27# You ain't about to stop right now till you have found
0:05:27 > 0:05:29# What you've been searching for
0:05:29 > 0:05:32# What you've been looking for
0:05:32 > 0:05:36# What you've been searching for
0:05:36 > 0:05:39# Be the one, hey
0:05:39 > 0:05:47# Oh, oh-oh
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- # Yeah - Dreaming
0:05:50 > 0:05:54# I'm out here dreaming
0:05:54 > 0:05:57# Yeah, yeah, yeah
0:05:57 > 0:06:01# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. #
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Like all of our acts, Reuel gets to listen back to the recording
0:06:07 > 0:06:11and works with the engineers to get the best mix possible.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13But today...
0:06:13 > 0:06:16'Attention, please. Attention, please.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18'Fire in the building.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:21This is pretty exciting.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24It's only day one of having the Horizons bands here at Maida Vale.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26They're already causing trouble. There's been a fire alarm
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and they're all gathered here on the pavement.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Hopefully we'll go back in soon.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35You are free to go in.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38OK, back we go for more live music and the next act
0:06:38 > 0:06:42in the smaller Studio Four this time, accompanied by his band,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45is Anglesey's Connah Evans.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05# Feeling so tired
0:07:05 > 0:07:08# I just can't sleep
0:07:09 > 0:07:13# Thoughts running through my head
0:07:13 > 0:07:16# I drop to my knees
0:07:16 > 0:07:20# I'm just so scared of saying something
0:07:20 > 0:07:24# I don't know what they think
0:07:24 > 0:07:32# It's easy to just hide and then forget everything
0:07:32 > 0:07:35# So I run to the ocean
0:07:36 > 0:07:41# Cos that's where I'll be, yeah
0:07:41 > 0:07:45# Won't you just save me?
0:07:45 > 0:07:48# I beg you, please
0:07:48 > 0:07:53# So I run to the ocean
0:07:53 > 0:07:57# Cos that's where I'll be, yeah
0:07:57 > 0:08:00# Won't you just save me?
0:08:00 > 0:08:04# I'm begging, please
0:08:21 > 0:08:25# So I run to the ocean
0:08:25 > 0:08:29# Cos that's where I'll be, yeah
0:08:29 > 0:08:33# Oh, won't you just save me?
0:08:33 > 0:08:37# I'm begging, please
0:08:37 > 0:08:41# So I run to the ocean
0:08:41 > 0:08:46# Cos that's where I'll be, yeah
0:08:46 > 0:08:49# Won't you just save me?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53# I'm begging, please. #
0:08:54 > 0:08:57And so the first day comes to an end.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Now, if you want to get to Maida Vale Studios,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06the nearest Tube stop is actually a station made famous
0:09:06 > 0:09:08by Welsh songstress Duffy.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14# When I get to Warwick Avenue
0:09:14 > 0:09:20# Meet me by the entrance of the Tube... #
0:09:20 > 0:09:22On a beautifully sunny November day,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25I got here a little early to have a nose around the building,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28where literally hundreds of famous artists have recorded,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31including the aforementioned Duffy.
0:09:32 > 0:09:38# I'm leaving you for the last time, baby
0:09:38 > 0:09:41# You think you're loving... #
0:09:41 > 0:09:43As well as the two studios we're in,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48there is this massive studio, home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56And from this very studio came the first broadcast performance
0:09:56 > 0:09:58of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00MUSIC: Carmina Burana
0:10:00 > 0:10:02So Simon Cowell has this place
0:10:02 > 0:10:08to thank for that very annoying entrance music on The X Factor.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18I always imagined that the world-renowned Maida Vale studios
0:10:18 > 0:10:21would be posher than it actually is.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Despite it being a little bit rough around the edges,
0:10:23 > 0:10:29you really get the sense that many a musician, radio presenter, conductor
0:10:29 > 0:10:33have trodden down these corridors and you really feel the amount
0:10:33 > 0:10:35of history within the building.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Well, I've given you a massive build-up now, boys.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51This is Fleur De Lys and Paent, which is Welsh for paint,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53so put lots of "emulsion" into it!
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Sorry.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58HE SINGS IN WELSH
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Whoo!
0:12:51 > 0:12:53HE SINGS IN WELSH
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Our next unsigned Welsh act is Castles,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42who come from Rhosgadfan near Caernarfon
0:13:42 > 0:13:46and on the day that Wales played Serbia in a World Cup qualifier,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50bass player Calvin was wearing that unlucky away shirt
0:13:50 > 0:13:51and it was a draw.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Just saying.
0:14:06 > 0:14:13# Hear the wind through the trees
0:14:13 > 0:14:19# You've been away too long
0:14:19 > 0:14:26# Hear the wind through the trees
0:14:26 > 0:14:32# You've been away too long
0:14:40 > 0:14:44# Fading away out of time
0:14:44 > 0:14:49# You make away from all the things that hold you down
0:14:49 > 0:14:54# You don't hang around
0:14:54 > 0:14:58# Picking up the broken pieces
0:14:58 > 0:15:01# Letting go of all I know
0:15:01 > 0:15:03# I find them
0:15:03 > 0:15:07# Nothing really goes
0:15:10 > 0:15:16# Nothing really goes without you
0:15:31 > 0:15:37# Nothing really goes without you. #
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Maida Vale was also home to the BBC's radiophonic workshop -
0:16:00 > 0:16:06most famous for recording the theme to Doctor Who and I've been told
0:16:06 > 0:16:09that it was recorded in room 13.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14I've found room 15 and I found room 12...
0:16:15 > 0:16:19(..but I can't seem to find room 13.)
0:16:19 > 0:16:22I think it might be in here.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26DOCTOR WHO THEME PLAYS DISTANTLY
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Oh! Can you hear me?
0:16:29 > 0:16:30OK.
0:16:30 > 0:16:36Back now to the big space that is Maida Vale Studio 3.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41With one of their more gentle tracks, this is Newport band Casey.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05# Sleep seems to evade me
0:17:05 > 0:17:09# I just spend the whole night pacing
0:17:09 > 0:17:16# In the hallway where I used to hear your footsteps on the floor
0:17:19 > 0:17:26# I've been so low and maybe I've been thinking about us lately
0:17:26 > 0:17:32# But I guess that doesn't matter any more
0:17:32 > 0:17:37# I just called to say
0:17:37 > 0:17:43# I'm sorry darling, but I've been wasting my time
0:17:43 > 0:17:47# Running teeth out of my head
0:17:47 > 0:17:51# Trying hard to swallow
0:17:51 > 0:17:57# The sweetest sentiments that I can't express
0:17:57 > 0:18:04# I know that you told me to leave you alone
0:18:07 > 0:18:12# But you're just still the only one I've ever
0:18:12 > 0:18:18# Sorry darling, but I've been wasting my time
0:18:18 > 0:18:23# Running teeth out of my head
0:18:23 > 0:18:27# Trying hard to swallow
0:18:27 > 0:18:33# The sweetest sentiments that I can't express
0:18:33 > 0:18:40# I know that you told me to leave you alone
0:18:44 > 0:18:51# But you're just still the only love I've ever known. #
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It's our third and final day at Maida Vale
0:19:38 > 0:19:43and the first act in Studio MV4 with a song inspired by time spent living
0:19:43 > 0:19:47in Australia and west Wales - this is Danielle Lewis.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57# I'll always remember
0:19:57 > 0:20:01# The summer in December
0:20:01 > 0:20:08# We drove to Burley Head in a car in silver-grey
0:20:10 > 0:20:14# Walked out to the water
0:20:14 > 0:20:19# Hello, early riser
0:20:19 > 0:20:25# Kids take boats to school as the waves begin to break
0:20:27 > 0:20:34# Will you keep me warm when I'm back at home?
0:20:34 > 0:20:38# South Wales
0:20:38 > 0:20:42# The west coast sun where we came from
0:20:42 > 0:20:48# The west coast sun where we belong
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# The west coast sun where we came from
0:20:51 > 0:20:56# The west coast sun That's where we came from
0:20:56 > 0:21:01# When I think of Australia
0:21:01 > 0:21:07# It's you I remember put colour in my heart
0:21:07 > 0:21:12# And sunshine in the dark
0:21:14 > 0:21:21# Looking over Newquay from the window I grew in
0:21:22 > 0:21:29# Tracing out a path down to Cardigan Bay
0:21:31 > 0:21:38# Will you keep me warm when I'm back at home?
0:21:38 > 0:21:41# South Wales
0:21:41 > 0:21:44# West coast sun Where we came from
0:21:44 > 0:21:48# The west coast sun Where we belong
0:21:48 > 0:21:53# The west coast sun Where we came from
0:21:53 > 0:21:58# The west coast sun That's where we came from
0:22:01 > 0:22:08# Will you keep me warm when I'm back at home?
0:22:08 > 0:22:15# Now I'm back in old South Wales
0:22:15 > 0:22:19# The west coast sun Where we came from
0:22:19 > 0:22:23# The west coast sun Where we belong
0:22:23 > 0:22:28# The west coast sun Where we came from
0:22:28 > 0:22:32# The west coast sun That's where we came from
0:22:32 > 0:22:36# West coast sun Where we came from
0:22:36 > 0:22:40# The west coast sun Where we belong
0:22:40 > 0:22:45# The west coast sun Where we came from
0:22:45 > 0:22:50# The west coast sun That's where we came from. #
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Next, an act who have surely got the most inspired name
0:22:56 > 0:23:00for a Welsh band with a retro electronic sound.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02They're called Anelog -
0:23:02 > 0:23:06named after a little village right at the end of the Llyn Peninsula.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10They themselves come from Denbigh, but it's a clever name all the same.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30# Are you scared, are you scared, are you scared
0:23:30 > 0:23:34# Are you scared of the future?
0:23:34 > 0:23:38# Because it's all up ahead and I think I can make it with you
0:23:45 > 0:23:52# Hands on my hips and we're heading out into the stars
0:23:52 > 0:23:55# Elevating, creating a world all of ours
0:23:57 > 0:24:00# And are you scared, are you scared, are you scared
0:24:00 > 0:24:04# Are you scared of the future?
0:24:04 > 0:24:07# But I don't care, I don't care, I don't care
0:24:07 > 0:24:11# I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care
0:24:16 > 0:24:20# Dance, dance, dance Dance if you want to
0:24:20 > 0:24:23# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:24:23 > 0:24:26# And take a chance, chance, chance if you want to
0:24:26 > 0:24:29# Dance, dance, dance if you want to
0:24:29 > 0:24:32# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:24:32 > 0:24:34# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:24:34 > 0:24:38# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:24:44 > 0:24:51# Oh-h-h
0:24:51 > 0:24:57# O-h-h
0:25:00 > 0:25:04# Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
0:25:04 > 0:25:07# Dance, dance, dance, dance
0:25:07 > 0:25:11# Dance, dance, dance, dance if you want to
0:25:11 > 0:25:15# And take a chance, chance, chance if you want to
0:25:15 > 0:25:19# Dance, dance, dance, dance if you want to
0:25:19 > 0:25:24# Dance, dance, dance, dance. #
0:25:42 > 0:25:46So, my three days here at Maida Vale has nearly come to an end.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50I'm sure that being in this iconic building
0:25:50 > 0:25:53has inspired our bands to perform at their very best.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56So, let's have one last performance.
0:26:02 > 0:26:08# Hey, tell the world that I'm ready to go
0:26:08 > 0:26:12# I'm ready to leave this old town
0:26:12 > 0:26:17# Because this day won't end
0:26:17 > 0:26:20# You know I've lost it all
0:26:20 > 0:26:23# But I'll be fine without you
0:26:23 > 0:26:27# Because I'm try-try-try-trying
0:26:27 > 0:26:29# To be whatever I was before
0:26:29 > 0:26:33# But it's oh-oh so silly before I was yours
0:26:33 > 0:26:36# And I'm try-try-try-trying
0:26:36 > 0:26:39# To be whatever I was before
0:26:39 > 0:26:43# But it's oh-oh so silly cos before I was yours
0:26:43 > 0:26:46# I thought I was yours
0:26:46 > 0:26:50# I thought I was yours
0:26:59 > 0:27:04# Hey, hey, hey
0:27:04 > 0:27:07# Don't let me go
0:27:07 > 0:27:10# I'm ready to find my own way
0:27:10 > 0:27:15# Because when you said to me
0:27:15 > 0:27:19# Well, I said goodbye so many times
0:27:19 > 0:27:23# I'm caught up in try-try-try-trying
0:27:23 > 0:27:25# To be whatever I was before
0:27:25 > 0:27:30# But it's oh-oh so silly cos before I was yours
0:27:30 > 0:27:35# And I'm try-try-try-trying to be whatever I was before
0:27:35 > 0:27:40# But it's oh-oh so silly before I was yours
0:27:40 > 0:27:44# I thought I was yours I thought I was yours
0:27:48 > 0:27:53# Can't find me anywhere Now you can't find me anywhere
0:27:53 > 0:27:58# After all it's more comfortable to sit with a bottle and forget it all
0:27:58 > 0:28:02# But I'm a man
0:28:02 > 0:28:07# Or am I mine?
0:28:10 > 0:28:17# Hey, tell the world that I'm ready to go
0:28:17 > 0:28:21# I'm ready to leave this old town. #
0:28:30 > 0:28:32HE SIGHS
0:28:32 > 0:28:35HE WHIMPERS