Beyond just audio nerd questions I’m wondering. As someone who’s mostly just been a bedroom producer I’m curious what things in your career you think contributed to where you are now? Getting to work with such amazing artists and collaborators is the dream honestly.
Awesome question. Honestly I feel so grateful to get to work on music I love. From an engineering perspective, I think the thing that’s most appreciated in the studio is keeping the session running without drawing attention to the fact that I’m doing a lot to keep it running. While watching great producers, I’d say the biggest thing is keeping the ideas flowing. If you feel stuck, take a break by starting something new or pulling up a different song. Come back with fresh perspective and if you need to hammer away at something, do it outside of the session.
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Everyone’s journey is different and there’s no ‘right’ way.
In terms of ‘milestones’ I was lucky enough to get a place on a great sound recording course (Tonmeister Course, University of Surrey) and an internship at Real World for Peter Gabriel. I worked my way up through Real World from making tea to head engineer over the course of 10 years and eventually got the opportunity to engineer on bigger projects - Harry Styles, Peter Gabriel and The 1975!
In terms of knowledge gained, I think learning how to best support an artist and producer in the making of a record, while not being a big presence in the room in the key. Engineering is a position that requires a lot more than knowledge of gear and Pro Tools - being able to read the room is vital.
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