Rekognition Sound Upgrades With Genelec 8351b Monitors

Nestled within the creative heart of London's Metropolis Studios, ReKognition Sound is the personal space of renowned producer-engineer Sean Genockey. Co-founded with Jesse Wood, the studio serves as the HQ for their ReKognition Sound label and reflects Genockey's belief that "engineering should be invisible — your job is to facilitate greatness, not hold it up." To underscore that ethos, the studio's monitoring system has recently been upgraded with a pair of Genelec 8351B three-way coaxial monitors.

With over two decades in the industry, Genockey's journey has spanned global tours with his band Moke, collaborations with artists like the Manic Street Preachers and Suede and a long apprenticeship under producer Dave Eringa. Now, he's channelled all that experience into building a hybrid studio that eliminates hesitation and captures instinct in its purest form.

ReKognition sits directly beside Metropolis Studio B – which Genockey regularly uses for live tracking – and serves as a precision-focused mixing and finishing space. It's here that he crafts records for artists including Craig Silvey, NewDad, Futureheads, Jasmine Rodgers, Scott Matthews, Jace Everett, and Ronnie Wood. "Ronnie's amazing, full of energy," says Genockey. "We've done all his recent solo work in this room. It's a space where you can react fast and keep that magic alive. The moment you stall an artist, the take's gone."

With clarity as his north star, Genockey built the studio around gear that empowers, not distracts. The front end is intentionally simple: great mics, Neve-style preamps, a few compressors and trusted vintage pedals. "The magic isn't in the plugins, it's in the players," he says. "My job is to get it right at source, fast, and then not get in the way."

This philosophy is exactly why the Genelec 8351Bs are now central to his workflow. "I grew up in studios with massive full-range mains. This little setup gives me that same confidence. It's forensic, but it still feels like music. You're not distracted by dips or harshness, you can think about emotion and instinct." Having been calibrated by Genelec's Andy Bensley using GLM software, the system has changed the way Genockey trusts the room. "Andy came in, did the full sweep with GLM and suddenly I wasn't second-guessing myself anymore. I can make big decisions fast and I know they'll hold up."

For Genockey, too much modern production leans on correction rather than feel. "So many multitracks I get now are rescue jobs. Nothing's phase-aligned, the fundamentals aren't there. People are hoarding knowledge too — mic techniques, signal chains, like it's all a secret. But I came up in a world where everyone shared what they knew. That's how we got better."

By grounding his process in intuition and experience and by trusting a monitoring setup that gives him total accuracy, Genockey creates space for honesty in music. "Whether I'm handing off stems to someone in Nashville or mixing something Craig Silvey started, I know it's solid. What I hear is what they'll hear."

At ReKognition, there's no time for overthinking, just a constant return to feel, trust, and the truth in sound. "The artist walks in, we talk about what we're trying to capture, and we just go," Genockey says. "No fiddling, no fuss. Just music."

For more information, please visit www.genelec.com