Our Story
SLEEPY/KID Studios was founded by Tom Watkins. Tom moved to Kuala Lumpur after a successful career as a musician, a Head of Music and Performing Arts in many top UK schools, regular performer, and Musical Director for many award-winning theatre companies in England.
SLEEPY/KID Studio now mixes, engineers and masters for many of Kuala Lumpur’s top artists and studios.
Tom Watkins is a highly specialised music practitioner, working in the UK and KL music industry for nearly 20 years. In his school years he reached Grade 8 on three different instruments and performed in many events and competitions. At the age of 18 he won the “Young Musician of the Year Award” for Staffordshire, England, whilst achieving an A-level in Music and Music Technology as well as Maths and Physics, before achieving a Degree with Honours from The Royal Conservatoire in England.
After his degree, he achieved a PGCE in Music Education from Nottingham Trent University. During this time he worked as a professional pianist, toured on brass with some of the best brass bands in the world, toured on jazz guitar with a Nottingham swing band, appeared live on BBC Radio and founded 2 rock bands with whom he wrote music, sang and played lead guitar. One song that Tom wrote and performed won the ‘BBC Introducing…’ award for ‘Best New Song’ in that year. This experience led him to perform in some of the best venues in the UK, including The Royal Albert Hall, The O2 Academy, Birmingham Symphony Hall, outdoor festivals and so on.
Tom then went into teaching, and quickly became Head of Music in the first school he taught in. He was responsible for delivering all GCSE and A-level classes, as well as all groups, concerts and productions. He then went on to be Director of Music at a large school in Nottingham for 3.5 years, and then became Head of Music in one of the highest achieving schools in the UK for 4 years. At the same time, he started gigging as a pit-musician for musical theatre companies, and quickly became Musical Director for many award-winning theatre companies in the Midlands, UK. In 2017, the Long Eaton Operatic Society won the NODA ‘Award for Best Musical’ while Tom was Musical Director. Tom was in the production team for shows in The Guildhall Theatre, May Hall, Derby Theatre - and even composed the soundtrack (and performed with a live orchestra band) for an original production of the seminal play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.
Tom is now Head of the entire Performing Arts Faculty at one of the top 5 schools in Malaysia. He is also completing a Masters (MA) in Sound Engineering and Music Production from the dBs Institute, which is ran by the prestigious Falmouth University and Bristol University, a university at the forefront of progress in the arts. So far, every module has been graded as Distinction. He has formed his own high-profile function bands in KL, including 4ORTE and Elate. Specialising in weddings, corporate events and private functions, this has led Tom to perform in high-profile events across KL such as The Grand Hyatt Hotel (main ballroom), The Hilton KL, The Dome (Boathouse, Ampang), Iron Fairies, Madmen, Osteria Gamberoni, Shangri-La, Ciao, St Regis and Sunway Putra Grand Ballroom.
SLEEPY/KID Studio was built on the 39th floor of the prestigious One Central Park building in the luxurious Desa ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur. The studio has strong connections with many musicians from all areas of music, from the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), leading DJ’s, virtuosic rock musicians and musical theatre artists.
SLEEPY/KID Studio has produced work for and collaborated with an impressive roster of respected studios, such as 2AM Studios, Mile High Sounds, Super Red Music, MusicWerks and 21:05 Studio. SLEEPY/KID Studio has been responsible for mixing and mastering tracks for, and associated with as a performer for, some of Malaysia’s top artists, including Zamaera, Nadeera Zaini, Steven Borgovini (from The Fun Lovin’ Criminals) and Meliha Faisal.
Super Red Music Studio (owner):
“Tom mastered my own band’s songs. He doesn’t just push the songs to be louder, but also gave the tracks edge and colour to them. It was a pleasure working with Tom!” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Meliha:
“Love Tom’s work! Super glad I met him, he’s very great to communicate with and has managed to bring out exactly what I want in every track ❤️” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mile High Sounds Studio (owner):
“Tom shines in every role he takes on, be it as a sessionist, producer, demonstrator (he collaborated with us for the Ableton Live 11 Launch demo with Mile High Sounds), or the dynamic subject of a photo or video shoot. It’s his gift for teaching that truly sets him apart. With Tom, you’re guaranteed a reliable collaborator who brings unparalleled value to any project.” ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐