How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on at the moment?
Most of the projects I work on these days are as a mix engineer. I still like to dip into production work here and there as I really enjoy that side of record making, but mixing is my favourite part of the process.
As a mixer I really enjoy the fact that I can work on lots of different projects over the course of a year in a bunch of different styles and genres. That variety really helps keep things fresh for me and helps keep perspective.
Please tell us a bit about your musical background. How did you get started in the music industry? What was your pathway to your current role?
I went to LIPA in Liverpool to study Sound Technology and whilst I was studying, I used to run band nights at the Cavern Club so I could find artists that I could work with. As those band nights got more successful, I’d take some of the profits and use them to get into the commercial studios that were around in Liverpool at the time so I could learn how to make records. My favourite very quickly became Parr Street Studios and I was lucky enough to eventually become one of the in house engineers there from about 2009 – 2014. It was an amazing studio complex where some incredible records were made by artists like Coldplay, Blossoms, The Verve, Elbow, Pulp, Rihanna, Drake and the list goes on. It was so inspiring to be able to work in a space with such a rich history and with so many great projects coming through the doors.
I remember working on a session in Studio B Whilst Tony Platt was working downstairs in Studio A. I came back from my lunch break and found Tony in the live room of Studio B checking out how I’d mic’d the drums. He took the time to show me some tricks I could use on my setup that blew my mind, it was such a cool learning moment from an incredible engineer that really stuck with me. My time at Parr Street had a lot of moments like that and I feel very lucky to have had those experiences and opportunities. I also made some great relationships with producers like Rich Turvey and Chris Taylor (who now run Kempston Street Studios in Liverpool) who were part of the team at Parr Street during that time. We became a really close group of mates and still collaborate on projects together all the time.
My time at Parr Street was really what showed me that I wanted to be a mixer as it was the part of the job that I enjoyed the most. It was also where I was having the most success so things kind of just built from there.
What or who inspired you to follow this path?
I’ve been obsessed with music from as far back as I can remember. My parents had a pretty great record collection with albums from artists like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John etc and I would go through them to find things I loved and then play them on repeat. Around the age of 11 or 12, all my mates at school started to get pretty obsessed with music too and we’d all share new records from artists we loved. We all really got into listening to Radio 1 and would listen pretty obsessively to whatever was popular at the time. I started to teach myself to play guitar around that time too and joined as many bands as I possibly could. One of the bands had a pretty basic recording setup and we’d spend hours making demos and messing about experimenting with ideas. Eventually the opportunity came up to go into a ‘real studio’ for a week and the whole experience blew my mind. That week very quickly made me realise that working in a studio was what I wanted to do with my life.
Are there any highlights from your work that you are particularly proud of?
I’m lucky enough to have a few, but a recent one for me was mixing Rachel Chinouriri’s debut album ‘What A Devastating Turn Of Events’. Rachel is such a brilliant artist with a lot of important things to say and I think she’s an incredible source of inspiration for women like her. It’s amazing to see that she’s been nominated for two BRIT awards this year too.
What’s one tip you can share with other MPG members that could help their workflow?
Embrace technology as much as you can and invest in things that make your life easier and get the job done faster. The longer you take to get something done, the less clear perspective you tend to have on it and the more likely you are to second guess yourself. Initial reactions and gut instinct are some of the most powerful tools you have in your arsenal so whatever helps you follow and act on them quickly and efficiently is worth looking into. Things like digitally recallable analog gear and AI powered plugins that can take care of the non creative and time consuming tasks really do feel like they could be the future of audio to me. Also, Audio Movers ‘Listento’ has become a game changer for me personally, so I’d highly recommend checking that out if you haven’t already.
What’s one tip you would like an MPG member to share with you?
I’m always curious to know about how people manage their work life balance with a job that doesn’t traditionally come with an even split here. Any tips for managing this are always welcome!
Do you have any words of wisdom for people wanting to get into a similar music production role to yours?
Try to develop your own workflows and problem solving solutions based on your own taste and using the tools that you currently have. The amazing thing about YouTube and the internet is that access to information about record making is far more readily accessible and extensive than it’s ever been before and you can find videos of your heroes talking about how they made records you probably love. However, you’re your own person with your own ears working on your own records and you very likely have a different set of tools available to you. Take inspiration from other people for sure, but understanding why and when to do certain things is far more valuable than knowing that ‘X person uses this specific thing for this specific task’.
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