How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on at the moment?
It depends. I’m fortunate as I’m very comfortable with many roles in the studio environment. For some clients I’m the recording engineer, for others I am the mix and/or mastering engineer and then there are projects where I am the producer/engineer, co-writer and play and supply background vocals to the record. I find that this keeps everything fresh and gives you the ingredients to pick and choose from when working on different projects and genres. What I love the most is capturing authentic, organic performances from singers and musicians. I get a real thrill from that, and my clients tell me they know they can rely on my ears and my intuition to push them that bit further to deliver the best performance they’re capable of.
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 started out studying psychology and wanted to become a serial killer profiler, believe it or not! The university I was at was very religious and in the end, we did not see eye to eye when it came to philosophy and the general view of the world and I was asked to pursue “other” avenues. I’d been playing guitar for a while and roady-ing for a few bands, but I’d never ever considered a career in music. It was my dad who suggested sound engineering. As a child I’ve always been surrounded by music, my mum was a prima ballerina for the Flemish Royal Ballet and my dad worked for Studer/Revox, so the house was always filled with classical music on the one hand and Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and CCR on the other.
Once the decision was made to look into this mystical world of sound, we talked to Herman Wilms at the AES European Section where he told me that ” If you want to learn about this, you need to go to the UK, more specifically, London”. I was sold there and then. As a sort of entry exam, my dad handed me an old Revox G36 which had lived in a damp basement for years and told me if I could make it work, I could go to London. Somehow I managed to restore this thing, ended up going to Westminster College under the tutelage of Stephen Hepworth, Steve Culnane, David Mellor and many more and that’s when I really caught the bug. From then on sound was all I was interested in and I managed to fold two degree courses into one.
Whilst at college I’d already started doing FOH for bands, was asked to engineer a few sessions in studios and during that time I’d also met the inimitable Mike Skeet. He introduced me to Mid and Side, Binaural and he taught me the art of classical location recording where we’d record and mix a full symphonic orchestra straight to stereo, which was an invaluable lesson in decision making, listening and score reading. It was under his watchful eye that I also built my first dummy head and my own Mid and Side mixing desk which I still have and use.
After my college degree, I went back to Belgium where I was an assistant and engineer at Galaxy Studios whilst also learning the classical guitar.
Fast forward a few years and I’m back in London on sessions, more FOH, teaching at my old college and gradually building up a client list and relationships with recording studios all over the world. Then the dreaded Brexit debacle came along so, in order to keep a foot on both lands, I’m now splitting my time between the UK and Belgium (where I’m building a small residential studio).
What or who inspired you to follow this path?
Obviously, my dad is the main reason. Without him, this would have never crossed my mind. He also used to wake me up with “Time” from “Dark Side Of The Moon” every morning. I was four! I quite quickly decided to just stay in bed and listen to all of it. The sound, the production, the music and the playing are just sensational. Maybe my destiny was already making itself known! Then a big chunk of the credit needs to go to my teachers and mentors for nurturing that passion.
Are there any highlights from your work that you are particularly proud of?
Wow, that is such a hard question. When it comes to it, we are the “backroom” crew. If it was about fame then we’d be on the other side of the control room window or on the stage.
If I have to throw out a few highlights, it would be being on the road as Sting’s FOH engineer, recording Carly Simon in her house for a Gorillas tune and rescuing a 2″ tape for Elliott Randall to then mix the song with John Belushi’s performance on it.
It’s such a thrill when you can help realise an artist’s sonic vision, translating feelings into technical actions and decisions which will then translate onto ‘tape’ and making them sound the best they can be. When that magic happens, that’s something to be proud of, whatever the project.
What’s one tip you can share with other MPG members that could help their workflow?
When recording, dare to make decisions. DAWs give you the possibility to hang on to absolutely everything. A lot of people just put off the decision-making process to the very last moment. They’ll still be digging into the playlists during the mixing process and not even making a final call on a mix or sending stems to be mastered. Having hundreds of takes, a gazillion versions of song structures definitely muddies the waters. Make informed choices, believe in your work and help the artist believe in their music. If you think something is ok but not amazing, throw it out, it’s eating up hard drive and, more importantly, mental space.
What’s one tip you would like an MPG member to share with you?
How to clearly define project parameters so we don’t get ripped off. We’ve probably all been there. A project comes along and you really believe in it. Everything about it excites you so you steam ahead and get working and then when the time comes you don’t get paid. How do you define the rulebook for this project, set out well defined terms and conditions without coming across as a bureaucratic job’s worth.
Do you have any words of wisdom for people wanting to get into a similar music production role to yours?
Put in the work and time. Keep an open mind. Keep learning, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Take risks, on paper it may be so wrong, but if it sounds good, it is good. Take the majority of the YouTube video tutorials with a truckload of salt. It’s not because this person says this is the only mic for this particular instrument, that this is gospel. Treat it as a jumping off point and then experiment. There are no rules in audio! If there’s a technique that is only used in EDM, go and use it in Rock and see what happens. And don’t do the preset thing. Make your own sounds. Every sound, every instrument is its own thing. There is no one preset that will work on everything. Respect the music and put your heart and soul into it to support the artist’s passion and vision.
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