PRESS RELEASE The Focusrite Sound for singer/songwriter sensation Ed Sheeran: “The album sounds exactly how I wanted it!” Ed Sheeran is one of the UK's most hotly tipped young singer/songwriters. Parts of the story of his rise to fame are familiar: making music from a young age, couch-surfing at friends' places, playing open mics all over the country before running out of money. But some things set him apart, like playing over 300 gigs in 2009, buying a ticket to LA in 2010 with no shows booked, being spotted by Jamie Foxx, selling 7,000 copies of his No.5 Collaborations Project EP and reaching number 1 in the iTunes chart without any label or promotion. Fast forward to Summer 2011, and Ed has deservedly caught the attention of the mainstream. His single ʻThe A-Teamʼ debuted at number 3 in the UK singles chart, before he played to a packed stage at the world-renowned Glastonbury festival. Ed's debut album, due out in September 2011, has been recorded by Jake Gosling (Wiley, Wretch 32, Mark Ronson) and Guy Massey (Beatles Remasters, The Coral, Manic Street Preachers). They have both been using Focusrite equipment on the album to great effect. Jake Gosling, album producer, explains, "I have a Focusrite Saffire interface in the studio, and I've used it on every track on the album. I'm not a really techy person, so I normally just go with what sounds good, and the Focusrite sound totally works for me. I was really happy with the recordings we got, they were just really clean and transparent, which is important for Ed's sound. The best thing was that Abbey Road loved it; they said it was one of the best mixes theyʼve heard in a while." GRAMMY and MPG award winner Guy Massey, whose coup de gras was remastering The Beatles in 2009, recorded two tracks on Edʼs album. "One track was Engineer Guy Massey recorded Ed Sheeran’s vocal and guitar using a Focusrite ISA430 MkII for tracks on his forthcoming album.