A former music teacher’s dream came true when he set up his own music studio in 2003.

The Wimbledon Guardian spoke to John Merriman to find out what’s happening this summer at Crown Lane Studio in Morden.

1) What’s life at Crown Lane like?

We’re a commercial studio, with the aim of supporting new music - some of it includes running workshops but most of the time we’re recording.

2) What’s on over the summer?

Over the summer, we’ve got a competition where every week for 14 weeks we’ll be giving away a different service - a feature to support new music in the area. Coming up we have things like releasing a song from start to finish, music videos, music branding online distribution and more - the whole shebang.

We’re giving away £10,000 worth of support for new music which is pretty exciting. That’s quite a brave thing for us, as a small studio, to do - but it’s good marketing for us and we’ll find some new talent as well.

3) Who should get involved?

Anyone and everyone - artsists old and young, artists who have always wanted to kick-start a project in music, people looking for a career in music, songwriters or people who want to go into songwriting, singers, solo artists and bands. Anything supporting new music in the area.

4) What can prospective artists expect from Crown Lane?

It’s all high calibre professional music services that you would normally get from a record label - we’re just stepping into the future now. We support artists as opposed to an artists feeling like they have to be signed and restricted by a label.

5) Why should artists choose Crown Lane?

We’re well established - we’ve been here for ten years now. We’re happy to make mistakes in terms of our business decisions to make sure we support new music. First of all, we are developing from being a traditional studio to a creative music hub.

I think the best way to explain that is we have an open-door policy after an artist has visited once, they have keypad access - they can come and jam in the piano room, guitar room, we also have a social area that musicians can use from 10am until 11.30pm at night. Studios are expensive, but here people can feel safe and supported as they develop their music career. They can use the space creatively and we can support emerging talent.

6) Who have you had in the studios?

We work with a lot of top producers, but also a lot of bands that have come out of the local area. Despite working with some big names, our focus remains on new music rather than having big credentials. We also find the reason people come here is because we don’t try to blow our own trumpet - that puts musicians off.

7) So what local bands would you recommend?

There’s an amazing band called Last of the Troubadors - they’ve just come back from playing the Isle of Wight festival. They’re really good. Anison - they’re also very good. Mayors of Miyazaki as well. They’re all from Merton.

For more information, visit crownlanestudio.co.uk or call 020 8540 5643.