In this series, WeWork’s director of digital community selects a WeWork member to get to know better, sharing her fun findings with the rest of the community.
Chris Bailey, also known as The Boy in the Corner, makes professional podcasts for a living. Being based in London and working with some of the world’s premier talents in music has given the WeWork member quite the eclectic outlook. Read on to learn about Bailey’s favorite artists he’s worked with, his most prized vinyl find, and more.
So tell us a little bit about yourself and your business, The Boy in the Corner.
The Boy in the Corner was born about eight years ago. It came about because I’d spent a couple of years heading up Ministry of Sound’s radio station and working on some of their international radio shows. From there, I wanted to set up my own business to make independent, bespoke, high-quality radio shows and podcasts. My history before that is lots of DJing and radio work since I finished uni, which took me all over the U.K. and a little stint in Ibiza looking after a team there. Then I landed in London, and the rest is history.
Who are some of your favorite DJs and artists you’ve gotten to work with?
Some of the key clients we’ve got at the moment include Martin Garrix. He is a Dutch DJ who is very much at the top of his game—one of the biggest DJs in the world. It’s a pleasure to produce his radio show. We also work with Axtone, which is Axwell’s record label. He’s the guy from Swedish House Mafia, with a massive heritage, so we make his label’s show, “Axtone Presents.” Also, we’ve been working for a very long time with Thomas Gold. He’s based in Germany/L.A., and we’ve been producing his “Fanfare” show.
In the past, we’ve worked with Spinnin’ Records, a big Dutch record label, with Ministry of Sound, and I looked after Paul Oakenfold’s radio production for a while. And on top of that, I’ve gotten to interview over the years just a massive amount of really exciting people, from Carl Cox to Pete Tong.
What’s something about working in audio and sound that the average person might not know?
I guess how clever our ears and brain are at filtering out all of the noises that happen every day around us to concentrate on what we actually want to hear. When you’re listening to music, or trying to hear someone talk at a party, and there’s loads of other things going on around you, for example, and the way we can just zone in (or even out) on what we want to hear.
What are some podcasts you personally enjoy?
I find quite a lot of ones I enjoy on SoundCloud and Mixcloud—just crashing around on there, listening to other people’s radio shows, looking for new music and new talent—Pulse Radio, Chris Coco, and Sister, which is a new, exciting project/team for us.
What else should we know about you?
It goes with the territory, but I’ve literally got thousands of records. I’ve got a huge passion for vinyl, so I own far too many records, old radio players, anything vintage that makes noise I love. It’s massively taking up my flat—there’s over half a ton of records in it, and that was thinning it down. I only know it’s half a ton because we had to move it all recently!
My most treasured record: I’ve got an original Miles Davis Kind of Blue release, which is one of the greatest albums ever made, and I somehow managed to buy a pristine original of it. I still vinyl shop, massively, and there’s a really good store round the corner from WeWork Devonshire called Rough Trade—very dangerous on a break!
Photos: Oscar May