Inside the Saffron Sessions: dBs students get behind the desk at Real World Studios

Celebrating 10 years of progressive action in music technology, Bristol-based non-profit Saffron collaborated with Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to create Saffron Sessions, a live video series spotlighting eight boundary-pushing artists rooted in Bristol and the South West.

The project was supported by a group of partners across the music and audio industries, including dBs Institute of Music, Focusrite, Hoare Associates, PRS Foundation, Audio-Technica and Solid State Logic.

As part of the collaboration, Saffron worked with dBs to bring women and non-binary students on board as apprentice sound engineers, working alongside Grammy-winning head engineer Katie May and her team in one of the UK's most celebrated recording spaces.

Behind the desk at Real World

For the dBs students involved, the experience at Real World was a chance to work in a professional studio environment where they were trusted, supported and taken seriously from day one. That meant something different to each of them.

Paloma Faingold, studying BA (Hons) Music Production and Sound Engineering at dBs, came away from the sessions with a renewed sense of what's possible.

“Working with Saffron and Real World Studios was an otherworldly experience for me as it provided me an opportunity to showcase my skills and make them concrete. Working with so many women, non-binary and trans artists was a really warm and welcoming experience seeing as the industry tends to be very male dominated. It made me realise that despite the under-representation of women there are still many opportunities and communities in which we can showcase our skills and talents”

Kate Maguire, studying MA Innovation In Sound, felt a similar shift.

"It's made me realise that I can do it… that I AM doing it! It makes those dreams feel less far away. I've never been in a studio with a lead engineer who's not a man. This has been a really nurturing vibe, everyone's really supporting each other with their fullest heart and care for each other's craft."

dBs Managing Director Hannah Phipps said the partnership reflects something the institute feels strongly about.

"Partnerships like this one matter so much to us at dBs Institute of Music.The women engineers from dBs who have worked with Saffron have come back more skilled, but also more alive to the possibility of what the industry could look like if we refuse to accept the way things have always been. Change this deep takes community, and it takes showing up consistently for each other over time. Saffron understands that. They have been doing it for ten years. We are proud to stand alongside them, to learn from them, and to be part of a moment that says loudly and beautifully: these engineers and artists belong here. They always did."

Saffron Sessions

The sessions captured performances from Yushh, Grove, Holysseus Fly, Manami, Sarahsson, Babealicious, t l k and My Midnight Heart, with many tracks exclusive or unreleased. Each video pairs a live performance with behind-the-scenes footage, giving viewers a window into the artists' processes and the collaborative studio culture Saffron built around the project.

The creative environment was deliberately open and supportive. Artists brought experimental ideas to life in the space, including a polished sheet of metal tuned and played with a vibrator, and a fruit bowl rigged with plastic balls as a tactile MIDI controller.

dBs and Saffron: building a fairer music industry together

Around 95% of professional music producers and engineers are men. Saffron Sessions is a direct response to that gap, showing what becomes possible when underrepresented creatives are given space, resources and trust.

"Studios like Real World represent the pinnacle of recording in the UK," said Saffron founder Laura Lewis-Paul. "For our community to take up space there, on their own terms, feels powerful. We're not just showcasing talent, we're working to reshape the whole creative ecosystem in which music is made."

Partnerships like this one with Saffron reflect something central to how dBs approaches music education: representation matters in every studio, stage and classroom.

When the vast majority of the industry looks one way, the path forward can feel abstract for students who don't fit that mould. Saffron Sessions offered something concrete: a professional studio environment where women and non-binary engineers weren't the exception; they were the team.

For dBs, building a fairer music industry means creating these experiences while students are still learning, not leaving it to chance once they graduate. It means connecting students with organisations actively reshaping industry norms, and making sure the next generation of producers and engineers see people like them already doing the work at the highest level.

Screening at Strange Brew

Ahead of the online rollout, Saffron hosted a screening party at Strange Brew in Bristol on 30th March to debut the series to a live audience. The venue was packed, with all eight performances screened to a fully engaged crowd. The energy in the room was tangible, with the audience locked in throughout. During the interval, Saffron founder Laura Lewis-Paul reflected on 10 years of Saffron and the ongoing need to create pathways for women and non-binary people into the music industry.

New releases will be dropping every two weeks, with a short documentary, limited-edition vinyl compilation and printed zine of behind-the-scenes photography and reflections all on the way. Get a taste of what's to come: