How would you define your main role on most of the projects you work on at the moment
Although I’d usually consider a very holistic approach to working with bands and artists in that I love producing and recording right through to mixing – these days I find myself being much more buried in mixing work. I’ve got a ton of remote mixing jobs on the go with many of my clients based either elsewhere in the UK and Europe or over in the US these days. Not that I’m complaining of course! Mixing is such a creative outlet for me and really allows me to get into the ins and outs of how to elevate the song. I’m all about that ear candy and I guess people have begun to know me for that massive ‘widescreen’, bombastic production approach to my mixes.
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?
In all honesty I got into music production and engineering out of necessity when it came to getting my band Kyros’ music out there into the world. I was like “I wanna do that.. surely it can’t be THAT hard!”. The more I watched other engineers record and mix, the more I realised that I could just do it myself and enjoy it. My first ‘proper’ recording and mix job was Kyros’ double album, ‘Vox Humana’. When you’re figuring it all out, you tend to make a lot of mistakes and have to rewind. Two steps forward, three steps back as they say. So diving in head first with a double album and having to constantly battle against silly mistakes, oversights, and just lack of uniform workflow drove me a bit insane. But thankfully it seemed to all work out and my love for engineer grew and grew. The album helped project not only my band to new heights, but landed me a job at Old Street Studios as an assistant engineer as the studio owner was a bit of a prog rock fan and admired the album. Fast forward five years and I had managed to work my way through the ranks from assistant to engineer to chief engineer to studio manager. I loved working with bands and artists and making records. It just felt so incredibly satisfying to me.
Eventually in 2023 I found it was time to move on. Never doing things by half measures, I wanted to pursue my dream of running my own place. After a number of months of back and forth, Sensible Music serendipitously came along and it all just made way too much sense to not chase the dream and make it happen no matter what. So here I am. Myself and business partner Grace Hayhurst took over ownership of Sensible back in April 2024 and since then my days have consisted of anywhere from admin and accounting through to painting walls and laying down new carpets through to client recording and mixing sessions. I’ll don’t think the creative desire to get stuck in making records will ever go. Even with the added levels of responsibility that come with business ownership.
What or who inspired you to follow this path?
There are two people who I can lay my thanks to for setting the scene for my approach to writing/mixing. First of all, Trevor Horn for his bombastic approach to production and sound design. He is probably the number one reason for why my mixes and my compositions sound the way they do. Acts like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Seal and basically all the rest of the ZTT roster have had such a profound impact on my perception of how music should and could be.
And secondly, Bob Clearmountain for his sheer attention to detail and pristine mixes. Bob is an absolute force of nature and his work ethic and sheer level of quality across the board continues to inspire me. That and he’s just such a nice guy.
Are there any highlights from your work that you are particularly proud of?
I did an EP with a small local Swedish band called Don Trevolta a few years ago and for some reason that mix job really stuck in my head. The songs are insanely good, the vibes are on point. It’s criminal to me that those guys never got more traction and the EP didn’t take off.
Beyond that, there are two yet-to-be-released projects I did with Placebo and Adam Anderson/Hurts that I’m incredibly proud of and that I’m hoping will see the light of day soon.
What’s one tip you can share with other MPG members that could help their workflow?
I am always… ALWAYS on the hunt for new tips and tricks when it comes to drum recording and production. I consider that whole side of the process to be such a special interest for me as it demands such a careful approach with such specific workflows. Especially when you’re seeking the kind of drum production styles you expect to hear in metal and pop. I wanna hear what bits of outboard people like using, and which mics and how people are approaching their drum buses. Gimme the deets!
Do you have any words of wisdom for people wanting to get into a similar music production role to yours?
