This Is Where It Was Recorded
The Astoria is a house boat turned recording studio owned by David Gilmour, former guitarist with Pink
Floyd. It is moored on the River Thames near Hampton Court. Gilmour purchased the boat in 1986, because he "spent half of
[his] life in recording studios with no windows, no light" but on the boat there are many windows, with beautiful scenery
on the outside".
The boat was built in 1911 for impresario Fred Karno, who wanted to have the best houseboat on the river. He designed it so that there could be an entire 90-piece orchestra playing
on the deck of the ship.
The two most recent Pink Floyd albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell were recorded
on the boat, as well latest David Gilmour solo album On An Island. It
was also used for mastering the sound of Pink Floyd live albums Delicate Sound of Thunder and P•U•L•S•E
as well as the P•U•L•S•E VHS/DVD, David Gilmour's Remember That Night DVD and forthcoming live album,
Live in Gdańsk.
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the house boat on which
David Gilmour's Astoria
recording studio is
situated, was owned, at
one point, by this
reknowned comic.
The riverside garden where
Astoria is moored
was
part of Garrick’s
House and
is reached via a tunnel/grotto
(supposedly designed by
Capability Brown) under
the
road. But it is private—there
is no public access, so
you
can only see it from the
Surrey bank
a 2005 British television series that
featured David Gilmour as the
special guest on this particular
episode
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