The names “Abbey Road Studios” and “McCartney” are so intertwined that they are almost synonymous. The studio is located on the world-famous Abbey Road in north London, where Paul McCartney and his bandmates recorded most of their albums, eventually naming their seventh album after the road itself (the studio, then known as EMI Recording Studios, was later renamed in honor of for the album).
Now a new McCartney is making her mark on the place. Photographer-turned-filmmaker Mary McCartney, who also happens to be Paul’s eldest daughter, debuted a new documentary, “If These Walls Could Sing,” which is set to premiere on Disney+ on January 6.
McCartney (pictured above with Ringo Starr, her father Paul and Elton John at the doc’s UK premiere) sat down with diverse at the famous studio itself to discuss her transition into filmmaking, her earliest memories of Abby’s way and whether she has more film projects in the future.
When did you start working on this project?
I started working on this two years ago in lockdown mode. I was invited by John Patzek, who is an amazing Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker who did “Searching Sugarman” and “One Day in September” to name a few. And he emailed me right away, and said, “Have you thought about directing documentaries?” And I said, “Yes.” Then send me the idea.
How did the transition from shooting to film happen?
Surprisingly, it was completely normal. Because when I do lighting in my photography, in my personal work, I’ve always used more continuous lighting, which is what’s used most in movies. I am not an emotional person. And because when I shoot portraits, it’s kind of a constant light, providing a nice space for someone to feel—the subject they feel—comfortable in, so that they’re collaborative and I get something from them that they might not have given before: a look or a feel. It’s about the little unknown moment that I haven’t planned yet. And so I approached the interviews in a similar way to the documentary. I’ve done as many of them as possible in the Abbey Road studios, so when people came in to interview them, they were up in the air and made more of a reminder of their time here.
Did you do all the interviews yourself?
Yeah.
That’s a lot.
Yes, that’s a lot. Because interviewing is an art form in itself. But somehow, this is where my personal experience came into play. It’s interviewing without speaking, as encouraging as it is, but it’s getting to interview someone in some weird way through a photo. But it was a nerve wrack because I was making sure it was lit properly, checking the frame and then doing the interview. And the interviews were so important to this documentary because there’s actually a surprising lack of archive footage. Because recording in the studio – I didn’t think of that [this] I grew up in recording studios – the etiquette is you don’t really take pictures and movies, because it’s a safe play for musicians. So don’t think “someone has a camera”, you’re literally just focused on making music. So there is not a lot of pictures going on inside the recording process. So he was counting heavily on getting really good interviews.
And not people who just say, “Oh, I love Abe Road, he’s awesome.” Everyone should give their point of view. So every person I met was there for a different reason. Elton John and Jimmy Page were there to talk about their experiences as session musicians here. Then John Williams […] Much talked about movie scores that were done at Abbey Road. This is his oath. Then my dad and Ringo were there to talk about the Beatles.
Sir Paul McCartney, at Studio 2 Abbey Road, taken from “If These Walls Could Sing” (Courtesy of Disney+)
Credit: Mary McCartney (Courtesy of Disney+)
I pretty much grew up on Abbey Road Studios. What is your earliest memory of the place?
My earliest memories are of my mom and dad, they were recording here with Wings. I grew up around the corner, so we’d go in, walk around [until] They had breaks to come and see. So I remember going to the canteen and having snacks and when I walked in to reception they had this big gallery of pictures of the artists that recorded here.
When did you realize how popular the studio was?
When I realized how creative it was, I would come and always see people outside, always, on Christmas Day, every day, someone here making a pilgrimage. But also, literally every time I walk in, I feel magical. You feel good. It feels healthy to come here, I feel kind of inspired. Nile Rodgers says it [in the documentary]Musicians are superstitious. And it’s like, when people come here, it makes you want to up your game a little bit. You feel like you are in a world class place with truly amazing professional people.
When did you tell your father you were making a documentary about the studio?
I told him about it after I agreed and signed. I was with him that weekend, and I was like, ‘I’m going to do this documentary on Abbey Road called ‘If These Walls Could Sing. And I remember him saying “Oh, I love that title.” And that was good because you could see he was interested and he was really helpful, just giving me little nuggets of information and when I saw him he was like, ‘How is this documentary going? What’s going on here?” He was such a proud dad when I was interviewing him, and in the middle he kind of looked at me and said, “It’s my daughter guiding me.”
Do you plan to do more directing?
I definitely have a mistake directing the documentary, I just need to think about the next topic.
This interview has been edited and condensed for space and clarity.
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