Introduction

Welcome. You're listening to links at Bain and Gray, a catalogue of podcasts centred on all things business support in the workplace. Our aim is to bring you interesting and relevant content that will keep you up-to-date and thriving in your role.

Cressida: Hello, I’m Cressida from LINKS, and today I’m joined by Eddie Circum and Alice McCall, the creative forces behind Dae Studios. Welcome to you both! It's such a pleasure to have you here. Let me fill our listeners in: Dae Studios is a multidisciplinary studio specialising in design and production of visual solutions, bringing ideas to life. Very exciting! I can’t wait to hear more. So, let’s start with the basics—how did you two meet?

HOW THEY MET

Eddie: Hi! Alice and I met back in 2018 at Soho Farmhouse. We were both running member events there, curating and programming about 30 events a month.

Cressida: A month? Wow, that’s a lot of events.

Eddie: Yeah! It ranged from small workshops to big events like New Year’s Eve parties, Guy Fawkes Night, and more intimate dinners.

Cressida: That sounds huge!

Eddie: At the time, Alice was running the Cook House. She can tell you more about that.

Alice: Well, I was managing the cooking school at Soho Farmhouse, and we also did pop-up dinners with chefs. Eddie and I would collaborate a lot on those events—he’d handle the music, and I’d focus on the food.

Cressida: That sounds like quite the mix of roles! So, you were both there for a while and then decided to branch out on your own to create Dae Studios. How did that transition happen?

STARTING DAE STUDIOS

Eddie: Yeah, we were both really good friends by then. I left Soho first, and Alice stayed on for a while. I started doing immersive theatre, dining events, and set dressing for film and TV. Once Alice left, we began collaborating more on bigger projects.

Alice: We always fantasised about doing this full-time, so when we both went freelance, those bigger projects started coming in, and it just felt natural to work together.

COMPLEMENTING EACH OTHER

Cressida: It’s clear you complement each other well. Is there a shared skillset or work dynamic that makes your partnership work?

Eddie: Creatively, we’re very aligned. We recently had some other creatives join us on a project, and we realised just how much we’re on the same page with ideas and tastes.

Alice: We’re definitely both grafters. A lot of people think event work is glamorous, but it’s really about heavy lifting, loading vans, and getting hands-on.

Cressida: It’s hard work, for sure!

Alice: Exactly! Eddie’s also a real hands-on guy—he’s great with the physical aspects of the job, like driving the vans and building things. I’m more on the design side.

Eddie: Yeah, Alice is the tech saviour. I can’t deal with spreadsheets—I'm a bit of a tech dinosaur!

Alice: And I can’t drive a lorry, so Eddie's definitely the hands-on one there.

THEIR EARLY JOBS

Cressida: Interestingly, you both crossed paths years ago, even before Dae Studios. Can you tell us about that?

Alice: It was my first job in London, and Eddie had already worked for Damien Hirst’s company, Science. I knew of Eddie—people would talk about her.

Eddie: Yeah, I had left to work in costume for film and TV by the time Alice joined, but I did cross paths with her once or twice.

Cressida: That’s so interesting. And now you’re working together!

BIGGEST INSTALLATIONS

Cressida: I have to ask—what’s been your biggest installation to date? Those hanging flower decorations on your website look incredible. How long do those take to create?

Eddie: One of our biggest projects was for the RHS Flower Show. We created these giant flower clouds for the festival stage, which was a huge physical job, and we also dressed the entire Hampton Court Flower Show that year.

Alice: Yeah, that was massive. And we also had our collars featured in The Times—front-page stuff!

Cressida: That must have been a real 'we've arrived' moment.

Eddie: It was, but unfortunately, our names didn’t get credited in the photo! It’s a good lesson in making sure your PR company gives you the proper credit.

CREATIVE PROCESS & INSPIRATION

Cressida: What’s your favourite medium to work with? Where do you get your creative ideas?

Eddie: I love working with new challenges. Every project is different, and we get to experiment with new materials all the time.

Cressida: So, how do you get your briefs? Where do those creative challenges come from?

Alice: It varies, but usually, a client will come to us with a specific request, like, “Can you make a man out of moss?” or they’ll give us a rough theme and budget, and we’ll find a way to make it happen. We love the challenge of working with materials we haven’t used before.

Eddie: Last year, we made giant mushrooms. We worked with a blacksmith who built the frames for us.

Cressida: That sounds like a real engineering challenge as well!

Alice: It’s a lot of problem-solving, and we’ve got a great team of freelancers who help us bring our ideas to life.

CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS

Cressida: Who inspires you? Any artists you particularly align with?

Eddie: I’m a big fan of Shona Heath’s work with Tim Walker. They create these surreal, otherworldly sets for fashion and beauty shoots, and I love that freedom of imagination.

Cressida: Tim Walker is amazing.

Eddie: Exactly! I’d love to reach a point where we can just let our imagination run wild with no limits.

MILESTONES & FUTURE PLANS

Cressida: Do any milestones in the creation of Dae Studios stand out? Was there a point when you realised, “Yes, this is going to work!”?

Alice: Every small win feels like a big one. We know we can be creative, but building the business side—getting those meetings, pitches, and collaborations to come together—has been a rewarding challenge.

Cressida: What do you have coming up? Any exciting projects on the horizon?

Eddie: We’ve got some big projects lined up, including RHS again this year, which will be our third year working with them. We're also dressing spaces for retail installations and working with private members’ clubs on event series.

Alice: We’re also hoping to work with Tatton, which is another RHS show.

Cressida: That’s an impressive list! Anything you haven’t done yet but would love to?

Eddie: Liberty’s Christmas window would be a dream project.

Alice: Selfridges would be amazing too. We’d love to do big retail windows.

Eddie: I’m also a huge fan of Louis Vuitton’s current work with artist Yayoi Kusama. It’s incredible to see that kind of scale, and I’d love to do something on that level.

Cressida: Kusama is amazing—her work is so immersive.

Alice: Exactly! We love creating immersive spaces, and that’s something we try to do with every event we work on.

REFLECTION ON THEIR JOURNEY

Cressida: What’s one thing you wish you had known before starting Dae Studios?

Eddie: I wish I’d trusted my gut earlier. I always worked in creative fields, but I didn’t fully allow myself to embrace it. Now I realise you can make creativity your job.

Alice: I also wish I’d known more about business management, taxes, and spreadsheets before starting. Some schools don’t really teach those practical skills.

Cressida: I can relate!

FORMAL TRAINING & SKILLS

Cressida: Did you have formal training for what you do now?

Alice: Not directly. My degree was in art history, but all the other jobs we’ve done—whether in artist studios or hospitality—have given us the skills we use today.

Eddie: Exactly. Everything we’ve done along the way has led us to this point. All those different experiences come together in Dae Studios.

Cressida: Well, thank you both for coming in today. I really admire what you do, and I wish you continued success. It’s lovely work, and we need more of it in the world.

Alice: Thank you!

Eddie: Thank you!