I never wanted to be anything but a record producer – it’s the best job in the world! I grew up in the cultural wastelands of Essex, a long haired rock obsessed misfit fascinated by the sounds that made up the records I loved so much.
I started making the tea at Powerplant Studios in Willesden & Maison Rouge Studios after basically prostrating myself before Robin Millar, the amazing producer who owned the studios, & begging for the opportunity! 9 months later 4 skinny punks called the Manic Street Preachers on a little indie label walked in to make their debut single Motown Junk & my life was never quite the same again. Christ knows what they thought of this dodgy metal kid that made floods of tea for them, but this was it for me – having done loads of sessions for dodgy remixers & bad 80’s soul music, suddenly the amps were on 10 & I was in hog heaven! Although I didn’t yet have my indie or punk credentials I did share a love of Guns & Roses with them & we soon hit it off, so when they wanted a little Hammond organ & I was the only one around that knew where the D chord was, I was more than happy to pick up my first credit. They went off on tour & I went back to the bad 80’s soul & remixes, but gawd bless ‘em they always stayed in touch & came back again to do their next single You Love Us, again with a smattering of largely inaudible Eringa organ! They went off & got their big Sony deal & Powerplant went bust & I was off to make the tea at the Kinks studio Konk, but they still stayed in touch & kindly asked me to play all the simpler keyboards on Generation Terrorists.
Meanwhile I was sneaking as many bands thru the back door at the studio as I could to hone my recording chops, and when in 1992 they came back to me & asked if I’d be interested in producing their second album, I was either too stupid or too egotistical to be intimidated & so I was thrown in at the deep end at only 21 with no real experience! That album ended up in the top 10 & suddenly I had start. Next thing I knew they’d asked me to play keyboards on tour with them – not based on any stunning ability I should add, I was a mate, I was cheap, & I could play Hammond just a tiny bit better than Richy could play guitar!! A whole new perspective opened up to me on the road. Standing next to the drum kit & the amps every night & feeling the adrenalin rush of the gig, I suddenly understood why bands were always chasing the excitement & the feel of live for their records & I couldn’t wait to get back in the studio & try to capture the feeling. I played with the band for a year on & off, but it was never where I felt most comfortable & I retreated to my domain duly revitalised. I carried on working with the Manics including producing tracks on Everything Must Go, This Is My Truth, Lipstick Traces, both their number 1’s (If You Tolerate This, & Masses Against The Classes), Know Your Enemy album, & most recently the new album Send Away The Tigers, which is a massive return to form & I consider my best work yet.
In between all this I have worked with Idlewild, (3 Albums & counting!), Dykeenies, Kubichek, Milburn, Ash, 3 Colours Red, Lowgold, Ocean Colour Scene, Johnny Boy, Kylie , Tom Jones , Supergrass, Suede, South, Haven & millions of others and have loved every minute of it!
More recently I have been developing an idea I had to start recording in unusual acoustic spaces not usually used for recording. I set about amassing a lorry load of vintage & modern recording equipment & have now recorded 7 or 8 albums this way. I recorded Idlewild in an old church in Fyfe, Dykeenies, Engerica & Starky in a magnificent Georgian mansion in Wales, Ocean Colour Scene in a huge converted barn in Scotland & so on. There are so many great spaces out there, it seems a shame not to use them if you can. The mansion in Wales that I’ve used 3 time is particularly good, it has 3 amazing drum rooms at least, including a 3 floor high hallway – pure Led Zepplin!! Bands love the beating the odds vibe of it all & it really gets a team spirit thing going on. I love the idea of an album being a snapshot in the life of the band – really capturing where they are at that moment in time & this method seems to really help that feeling. Its definitely not the only way I work – I still love studios too much, but it is another way of getting it done, & mostly it’s a lot cheaper too!
My other big obsession is guitar amps – ebay has a lot to answer for - & I have amassed a collection of 15 or more vintage to modern, from a ’57 Watkins Westminster thru a ’67 Selmer Treble’n’Bass, ’73 Hiwatt Custom 50, ’75 Marshall Super Lead right up to super modern Diezel Einstein & many others. I just got bored of bands having crap amps – so I had to get some & it just spiralled a bit! I love the way amps blend together to get different tones….nerd alert (!)
I believe there are 2 schools of record production – there’s the old school guys who have a sound all of their own & apply it to everything & tell the band how its going to be & then there’s the 5th member school – the guy who tries to think like the band – knows all their reference points as well as they do & tries to make the sound that the band have in their heads come out onto record. I come from the second school – I don’t want to dictate how it should be, I want to capture what’s special about the band. I’m still old fashioned enough to believe there’s a bit of magic when a great band play all together & I want to get that feeling onto record by whatever means necessary!
I have been very lucky over the years to work with some amazing musicians & great songwriters, long may it continue!
Tonight.... London's new hottest 4 piece play Hoxton Bar and Kitchen London-N1 with a free gig to support the release of their debut single...Get on down tonight!
G'day Dave, how are ya buddy??? hope you are well mate.. things are good here in oz.. getting into summer now so plenty of bbq's and beers in the sun!! loving it!!
well mate, we miss ya here... if you want to come holiday my house is always open to ya, haha.. say hi to the family for me..
Judging from ur pics, u have some very weird and wonderful recording techniques! Classic. It obviously works as Send Away The Tigers is immense. Anyway, all the best from Ireland
