Nigel Godrich was born in Westminster, London, the son of a BBC sound supervisor. He was educated at William Ellis School in North London, where he shared classes with his friend and future Zero 7 member Henry Binns. Originally a musician (a guitarist inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa), he became interested in sound engineering and studied at the School of Audio Engineering. After graduating, Godrich became a junior staff member at the Audio One studio complex, working primarily as a "tea boy".