Show Notes
Mastering is the final part of the album-making process – where the songs are fine-tuned and all the elements are shaped into a cohesive whole. Cicely Balston is one of the UK’s breakthrough young talents. They’ve worked across leading London studios like Gearbox, Air and now the legendary Abbey Road, with its iconic zebra crossing out front.
Cicely has a hugely varied list of credits and has put their finishing touches to everything from punk to alt-pop to UK jazz, and from up-and-coming bands like Witch Fever to legends like David Bowie's back catalogues, as well as some of the most memorable film soundtracks of the past few years.
Cicely’s ear for detail has been numerous times at the UK’s Music Producers Guild Awards. They won Mastering Engineer of the Year in 2023 and 2025, and also this year, they were part of the team that took home the award for Best Original Score Recording for their work on the very memorable thriller-comedy Saltburn. Cicely’s approach to listening goes way beyond the technical. Their finely-tuned intuition can elevate a track from great to unforgettable.
Studio Radicals is a new podcast series that meets the musical visionaries who are shaping the sounds of today, from leading artists and producers to composers and engineers.
For more information and to see portrait photography, videos and playlists from the series, visit dcsaudio.com/studioradicals and instagram.com/dcsonlythemusic.
CREDITS
Studio Radicals is co-produced by dCS Audio and host Kate Hutchinson.
Audio production, editing and sound design: Holly Fisher.
Video: Sophie Fisher.
Theme music: Anna Prior.
Photography: Olivia Sofia Ferrara.
Video editing: Jess Vincent.
Thanks to: Lucy Launder and Peach Kazen.
More from Studio Radicals
This time we’re heading to the California coast with electronic visionary Suzanne Ciani. Her home studio overlooks a stunning bay, and has inspired many Grammy-nominated albums of meditative analogue synthesizer and neo-classical piano music. In the 1970s, she pioneered electronic music with her trusty Buchla modular synth, envisioning bold new horizons for where the sound could go, and designed inventive sounds for the advertising world, such as Coca Cola’s infamous “pop, pour and hiss”. She has returned to her Buchla in recent years, and uses the stage like a studio: she performs innovative shows in quadraphonic sound, manipulating and live mixing sound in real time.
In this episode of Studio Radicals, host Kate Hutchinson is in Miami, Florida, with Maria Elisa Ayerbe, who Billboard magazine named one of the songwriters, producers and engineers who is “Blazing New Paths for Women in Latin Music”.
Ramera Abraham is an award-winning vocal producer, recording engineer and songwriter who really gets great pop music. She has created arrangements and/or engineered for the likes of Victoria Monet, Little Mix, Jade Thirlwall, Arya Starr and Ivy Queen, and has also assisted on songs by Adele, Jess Glynne and Elton John. She won Vocal Producer of the Year at the 2023 MPG Awards and, as well as working with big names, helps up-and-coming musicians to find their voice.
Hannah Peel is a Northern Irish musician, producer, composer and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster based in Yorkshire, England, who blends electronic and classical music across her many film and TV soundtracks and solo albums, including 2021’s Fir Wave, which made the Mercury Music Prize shortlist.
Ebonie Smith is a Memphis-born, LA-based engineer, producer and artist who The Fader called “one of the most meticulous minds behind the boards.” She has worked on smash-hit albums and theatre soundtracks, including Hamilton: An American Musical, Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy and Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, and is behind the non-profit organisation Gender Amplified, which aims to help more women and gender-expansive individuals into music production.