Joe Bull - Managing Director

Joe Bull started life in the audio industry as a trainee engineer (aka Tea Boy) at a small independent recording studio called Spaceward in Cambridge, England. His mentors were Mike Kemp and Gary Lucas who had founded Spaceward during their studies at Cambridge University. The work was very varied; typical days in the studio were 14 hours long and would usually result in a good quality master tape being produced for a range of small independent bands who wanted to put out their music as a 7" single (remember them!), or just make demo tapes to take around the record companies.

Studio work was supplemented by live gigs, with the Spaceward crew either providing the PA and mixing expertise, or occasionally recording the gig as well. Spaceward became particularly popular for providing Folk Festival sound at many UK venues. The discipline of having to create good quality sound for dozens of acts every day with no time for a sound check was invaluable. The most important discipline Joe learned from being an audio engineer was that "the show must go on" – an education in technical problem solving that was to become the cornerstone of his future work.

The studio grew into new premises (see www.Spacewardstudios.ukf.net) and prospered for many years. However, the studio side of the music industry was changing and in the mid 1980's Spaceward began to develop a video production side of the company. As there was no affordable solution to providing computer graphics, Spaceward (and more specifically, Mike Kemp) began designing a cost effective solution. Customers soon clamoured to buy this bespoke computer graphics system and Spaceward Microsystems was born as a manufacturer.

The new company grew rapidly, employing nearly 100 people and turning over about £7M, before being acquired by Avesco PLC in 1990, leaving the innovators free to move on to new things.

Joe, Mike and a few friends decided to put their hardware and software design experience back into the audio industry where their roots were and in 1991 founded Studio Audio & Video Limited. Their first product was the XS digital audio processing card, which after only a year formed the basis of what was to become the SADiE Classic. SADiE grew over many years to become one of the most popular and well respected brands in the Digital Audio Workstation market, always concentrating on the requirements of its professional and broadcast customers. After 17 years of trading, the company was sold in 2008 to Prism Sound who continue to promote the brand and products.

Joe formed JoeCo Limited to continue this pedigree of audio design, solving problems and providing solutions for music and audio people the world over. Mike Kemp and Simon Widdowson, now of www.sintefex.com, have played an important part in the design and implementation of the BLACKBOX RECORDER and their contribution is greatly valued.

Joe Bull can be contacted on Email: joe@joeco.co.uk

Joe de Bie - International Sales Manager

Joe de Bie is a veteran of the audio Industry both as a performer and practitioner, having played trombone professionally for many years before working for Ted Fletcher developing sales of the JoeMeek brand.  He then spent five years establishing the UK sales arm of Synthax. At Synthax UK Joe was responsible for building up the RME brand and  ensuring their success as the premier audio interface company that  they have become in the UK.

On relinquishing the reins at Synthax UK, Joe emigrated to Portugal to enjoy the sunnier climes of the Algarve. He instigated a complete overhaul of the sales and distribution network of Vicoustic and began to establish their place in the world of acoustic treatment material.

In Spring 2009, Joe teamed up with JoeCo to establish the specialist worldwide distribution network that an innovative product such as the BlackBox Recorder required.

Joe de Bie can be contacted on Email: joedebie@joeco.co.uk

Stephanie Sobey-Jones – Marketing and PR

With nearly 20 years experience in the music and audio technology industry, Stephanie Sobey-Jones has worked with some of the world’s leading software and hardware companies. Following a career in teaching, her first main industry role was as International Education Manager at Steinberg, based in Germany. On returning to the UK, she worked as International Sales & Marketing Manager at Sibelius, before being invited by Sweden’s Propellerhead Software to create their international education resource “Teaching Music with Reason”.

During this time, the former classical cellist also swapped the concert hall for the studio, recording with a variety of artists including Marillion, Francis Dunnery and former Simple Minds keyboardist Mick MacNeil.

In 2006, Stephanie began to specialise in marketing and PR, working with a range of clients that, to date, have included Synthax Audio UK / RME, Roland UK, Edirol Europe, Technica del Arte (LUCI), Vicoustic, Systems Workshop Distribution and Fohhn Audio AG. In 2009, she joined the JoeCo team to assist with the company’s marketing and PR activities.

Stephanie can be contacted on Email: stephanie@joeco.co.uk