FACILTIES FRIDAY: BUILDING A WORLD OF SOUND
Tucked away on a quiet residential street in Formby, BHP Sound Post is making waves in the world of sound.
Operating out of a refurbished garage, the studio is a small but growing part of the Liverpool City Region’s screen infrastructure, delivering audio post-production across television, film and advertising.
At its core, BHP Sound Post focuses on the stage where projects are brought to life sonically. From re-recording and dubbing mixes to sound editing, ADR and voiceover, everything is handled in-house once picture is locked. “Shows come to me once they’re edited and I dub all the sound on, clean up the dialogue, add music in, all sorts of different stuff really,” says founder Jay. “We literally just get dialogue, and then we just build a world around it.”
That work takes place in a studio he built himself. “This used to be the old garage, and I’m a former electrician, and I just built it and wired it myself,” he explains. “It’s just grown over the last five years since I’ve been trading.”
The space was developed during the pandemic, when working from home became unsustainable. “I had a studio in the house, in a spare room, and with COVID and working from home it just became a lot,” he says. “This space was needed – it just had an old bag of bag of cement in it and I was just like, right ok, let’s do it.”
Completed in 2021, the studio quickly found its footing as production activity picked back up. “Then came a post-COVID boom, people were just throwing work at you,” Jay recalls.
Technically, the space has evolved alongside demand. What started as a stereo setup now meets broadcast standards. “I used to just do things in stereo, but now I do things in 5.1 surround sound, which is pretty much standard now for a TV show.”
Jay’s route into the industry began far from post-production. Originally a musician, he spent decades playing in bands before being introduced to film sound through a friend. “I was a rock musician. I played in bands for a couple decades,” he says. “A friend of mine said, ‘I’ve got this little indie film, do you want to do the sound on it?’ I just absolutely loved it. It just lit a fire under me.” After training at the School of Sound Recording in Manchester, opportunities began to build quickly, including work with Lime Pictures that continues today.
That experience, combined with a mix of freelance and independent work, has led to a growing list of credits. These include Jimmy McGovern’s Time 2, which Jay highlights as a standout. “That was great, what a fun show to do,” he says. “It was a big, high-end TV drama shot and set in the region.”
His portfolio also includes Andy and the Band, Play for Today for LA Productions, and ongoing work on Homes Under the Hammer and Hollyoaks, alongside independent features and commercial projects.
Despite this breadth, Jay is clear about the challenges facing audio post-production locally. “There’s so much talent in the region, but especially audio post can be so London-centric,” he says. “There’s a real desire to keep all aspects of post-production in the region, but it can be a bit of a hard gang to crack.”
He’s equally direct about how sound is perceived within the industry. “It can be weird with sound. Given that it’s 50% of the experience, I think it’s always undervalued,” he says. “It’s one of the last things that’s done, but it’s one of the most important things. Sound really does help tell the story.” For Jay, that storytelling lies in the detail. “It’s not just the dialogue; it’s the sound effects and the world building – which I just love doing”
Looking ahead, his focus is on growth. Expanding beyond the current space into a larger facility with multiple rooms is the long-term aim. “I’d like to move into bigger premises eventually and have a few edit rooms,” he says. “I think I’ve got a foothold in the industry; I’m just trying to push it now.”
For now, BHP Sound Post continues to operate as a quietly effective part of the region’s screen and sound infrastructure, a reminder that high-quality post-production doesn’t always sit in large facilities or city centres, but can be found in carefully built spaces driven by skill, adaptability, craft and genuine passion.
Find out more about BHP Sound Post here – https://www.bhpsounddesign.com/