Luke May – Full Member

How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on at the moment?

Artist development would probably sum it up in one, but to dive a little deeper I write, track, produce and mix records for most of my clients. More often than not I’m also contributing to the performance whether it be guitars, bass, backing vocals and programming drums, Ambience, synths etc. I really do enjoy educating small bits a long the way and up-skilling the artists I work with, I feel it leads to a really good relationship where clear communication gets easier and the artist feels super involved and not overwhelmed by too much technicality.

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?

It’s probably a pretty normal path for a lot of producers, but I started in bands as a kid at school and have been in bands ever since. My mum was a great inspiration to me when I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot but we definitely had music in our house and she was working as an Americana promoter in the UK so we always had boxes of CD’s turning up and it would fascinate me that all these records even existed, I started to pick the guitar up and write songs aged 6 and never really stopped. I studied Music Production at college and university whilst I was trying to make it as artist myself, which I think helped me really understand my role in support of artists nowadays. In 2019, whilst studying my degree, me and two other students built an artist development studio in central Brighton, which gave us the opportunity to learn so much from building, acoustic design, engineering and developing a business as well as other artists, After 3 and half years building the company I exited in 2023 and have since been freelancing and continuing to develop artists.

What or who inspired you to follow this path?

I have to really go back to my roots and say my mum, she was always so supportive and could see that I had the drive for it. However to expand a little further, my love for audio engineering and production came a little later, I didn’t actually like being in the studio at all until I was about 23. That’s when I started to pay interest, it was the idea of a world in music with ever expanding knowledge and rapid growth and trying to chase that sound on the records I loved that inspired me. If I had to name names of inspiration, Andrew scheps was definitely a big one and my uni lecturers were all awesome specifically Paul ‘Win’ Winstanley, Ally Jowett and Josh Harrison.

Are there any highlights from your work that you are particularly proud of?

I always feel like the best is yet to come, I think it’s what kind of drives us all in this industry, its definitely some of the unreleased work I’m working on now with the artists (Cliché). Ash Dodd – song’s that make my friends cry EP I think was a great record that I’m super proud of, Ash is a great artist and definitely one to look our for! South Lanes Studios is definitely a highlight because building a place where people felt they could develop their talent, skills and community is always a humbling thought, and it’s great to see it still flourishing with great talent. I’ve had some great runs with library music as well, specifically Sony Extreme and the track ‘Dive Back Into Love’ has been on some great syncs like Love Island for years now.

What’s one tip you can share with other MPG members that could help their workflow?

If you teach your artists along the way with what you’re doing, even from the small bits of why you’re choosing a plate over a spring verb or why we went for the valve mic on vocals instead of the ribbon, I think it really helps build communication and trust between the artist and producer.

What’s one tip you would like an MPG member to share with you?

How are you approaching the subject of both immersive audio and AI into your workflow?

Do you have any words of wisdom for people wanting to get into a similar music production role to yours?

Just keep going, Create community, compete, but be humble and be kind because nobody likes to work 8,10,12 hour days with a….