Canberra lost a musical trailblazer last year with the death of Alan Hodkinson, founder of Glo Audio - Canberra's first professional music recording studio. Those who knew him reported that it was a project of love, passion and commitment and a source of support to many burgeoning musicians in our area.
Born in the UK, Alan had started drumming when he was 9 years old and saw many legendary performers at a young age. Later during his studies at Birmingham University, Alan jammed with a young Spencer Davis, however, Alans' preference for jazz drummers led him to a period where he played in a number of clubs in a quartet with UK free-jazz pioneer Evan Parker.
During the early days of computing Australia was short of expert programmers and, in 1967, Alan was recruited in the U.K by the Australian Government and, together with his wife, Rona, emigrated to Canberra where Alan's expertise as a software developer and engineer lead to a long and successful career in the Australian Bureau of Statistics and then in his own company - Visasys.
Alan had converted a garage at the rear of his house, in suburban Waramanga, into a sound-proof space for him to practice drums. It was during recording of some drum tracks that Alan's need for a better equipped recording studio gained momentum. In 1973 the conversion of Alan's drum studio into Glo Audio studios began.