My husband Kent Brainerd, who has died of cancer aged 54, was creative, but also a savvy businessman. He went from playing in a band in his 20s, to writing and producing music and building recording studios in his 30s, to developing and restoring properties in his 40s and 50s. Kent’s boundless enthusiasm for all these projects pulled people along, encouraged them and helped them grow and find their own paths.
Kent grew up in Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, one of three sons of Andrew, a tax lawyer, and his wife, Jean. Formal education never held much attraction for him, so he left school early and began a succession of random jobs while harbouring the hope of becoming a professional musician. Bitterly disappointed when a friend did not show up at an expensive recording studio session, Kent vowed to leave Chicago and pursue a career in music in England.
Arriving in London at the age of 23, Kent soon formed a band, Drum Theatre, who were subsequently contracted to CBS Records for a then unheard of advance of £200,000 and recorded the album Everyman (1987). The group’s main achievement was a No 1 hit in Italy with Eldorado (1985); they had further hits in Europe and Japan, but never progressed past 44 in the UK charts.
Kent and I met in London in 1987 when I was a postgraduate student at the Courtauld Institute. We married in 1995 in our home town, Chicago, but continued to live in London.
After Drum Theatre disbanded, Kent purchased a Fairlight synthesiser and morphed into a successful music producer and writer. However, his fondest achievement during this period was building Jamestown, a complex of 23 recording studios in east London, where musicians could collaborate or work independently.
In the 1990s Kent discovered he was talented at creating spaces, and began to redevelop warehouses in east London into flats. We became enamoured with Britain’s architectural heritage, increasingly spending our weekends exploring country houses. This eventually led us to buy Stubton Hall near Newark in 2006, turning it into a thriving wedding venue.
Kent was that rare person who was able to dream big and achieve his goals. He nearly doubled his initial prognosis of 12 months, and enjoyed life to the full in his last two years.
He is survived by me, our daughter, Georgina, and his mother and two brothers.
