People & Music Industry Sound On Sound

Producer and Engineer Tim Bran talks us through his early career at Island Records, being invited to tour as a session musician, recording London Grammar and setting up his own collaborative tech and studio projects.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction
01:22 - The Early Days At Island Records
04:58 - Musical Taste
06:33 - Informative Years In The Bunker
08:10 - Being Invited To Tour
10:40 - Rez Rocket Surfer - A Virtual Band
15:47 - Developing Artist Management Skills
21:17 - Being Diplomatic In A Team
24:20 - Taking Chances And Being Creative26:10 - Working With Roy Kerr And London Grammar
31:42 - Collaborative Projects And Learning New Techniques38:07 - Being Respectful Of Other Talent In The Room41:07 - Mixing During The Recording Process45:17 - Dealing With Demo Love47:14 - Favourite Hardware And Software52:54 - Avoiding Dither And Delay
Tim Bran BiogTim Bran began his production career in his own studio in Guernsey where he grew up. He then worked in the legendary Fallout Shelter Studios at Island Records in London where he collaborated with artists such as Julian Cope, Mica Paris, Omar and ex-Big Audio Dynamite band Screaming Target (with whom he formed an alliance and created the seminal dub/ambient band Dreadzone later on). He toured for ten years then decided he needed to be in his home from home- the studio - so gave up touring and dedicated himself to production and writing.
He co-produced London Grammar’s debut album If You Wait with his production partner Roy Kerr as MyRiot and has worked with artists such as Birdy, Paul McCartney, Rae Morris, La Roux, KT Tunstall, Halsey, The Verve, Imelda May and Primal Scream. Recently his work includes Haevn, Abby Sage, Axel Flovent and Wild Rivers.
Today, Tim Bran continues to make waves in the music scene, working with both established and up-and-coming artists. With each project, he brings a fresh perspective and a dedication to pushing musical boundaries, ensuring that his influence on the industry remains as vibrant as ever.
http://www.echobeachmanagement.com/artist/tim-bran/
Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica. After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.
He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Award

Guy Massey talks about his training at Abbey Road, how this gave him the confidence and experience to become freelance and how he enjoys blending new technology with traditional recording spaces.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:28 - Getting Into The Industry03:51 - Learning At Abbey Road05:12 - Studio Etiquette06:58 - Being Sensitive To Artist Needs10:44 - Blending Modern Technology And Traditional Spaces14:08 - Learning To Be A Good Engineer16:40 - Working With Constrained Budgets18:00 - The Curiosity Of Experimentation19:07 - Confidence In Your Abilities23:26 - What Makes A Good Producer27:40 - Fixing Self-Produced Tracks29:03 - Time Taken To Do A Mix33:13 - Recommended Practices35:30 - Preparing For A Session
Guy Massey BiogHailing from Merseyside, Guy’s love of music started at an early age, fuelled by his grandparents musical heritage and siblings record collections. He played guitar in various bands in and around New Brighton and Liverpool during the 80’s and 90’s, falling in love with Indie guitar music. His love of playing was soon superseded by the actual recording of the bands he was in and his time at The University Of Manchester studying Geology happened to coincide with the vibrant Madchester scene, re-igniting his love of music.
A move to Guildford to do a Diploma in Recording at The University of Surrey resulted in a placement at Abbey Road Studios in 1995, where he remained for 10 years, working with many great artists, engineers and producers. This experience gave him the confidence to go freelance in 2005 and set up his own room in North London in 2010.
Recent credits include the Kylie Minogue albums Tension including the song Padam Padam (which earned him a Grammy), Turin Brakes, the Score for Los Frikis, Lady Blackbird for Black Acid Soul, Rita Ora and The Divine Comedy.
https://www.guymmassey.co.uk/
Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica. After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.
He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.http://www.kevin-paul.com/

Catherine Marks talks to Kevin Paul about her traditional route into the industry as an assistant to Flood and Alan Moulder, plus her tips for how to approach a mix and get the best out of a track.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:29 - Getting Started In The Industry04:22 - Working With Flood08:50 - The Modern Studio Career Path 12:43 - Developing People Skills16:21 - Working With Alan Moulder18:57 - The Mixing Assistant Role22:26 - Working With Poor Recordings23:42 - Finding The Vibe Of A Track29:00 - Mixing Hardware And Software30:33 - Duration Of A Mix31:44 - Getting Feedback From The Artist33:16 - Checking The Mix34:13 - Performance Over Quantisation36:37 - Things To Avoid
Catherine Marks BiogCatherine Marks is an internationally renowned Producer and Mix Engineer, with over 17 years in the industry. Catherine won MPG Breakthrough Producer of the Year in 2016, MPG Producer of the Year in 2018, Heavy Music Awards Producer of the Year in 2020 and, in 2023, Catherine was named Producer of the Year at the MBW A&R Awards.

Catherine produced and mixed Wolf Alice’s GRAMMY nominated ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’, mixed GRAMMY award-winning album ‘MASSEDUCTION’ by St. Vincent, and has produced/mixed six Top 10 UK Albums, including ‘therecord’ with supergroup boygenius in 2023, which achieved UK #1 album status and was nominated for 7 GRAMMYs.

Cementing herself as a global leader in production, Catherine’s credits include: Wolf Alice, Foals, Manchester Orchestra, boygenius, The Killers, St.Vincent, Oscar Lang, The Wombats, Palace, The Mysterines, Frank Turner, Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes, Alanis Morissette and The Amazons.
https://www.catherinejmarks.com/
Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica. After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.
He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.http://www.kevin-paul.com/

In this episode Kevin Paul talks to Record Producer and Mixer, Danton Supple who gives a fascinating insight into learning his trade at Sarm and Westside Studios during the 1980s and how he approaches the different roles of Recording Engineer, Producer and Mix Engineer.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction01:04 - Getting Started In The Business07:47 - Technical Training09:17 - Working in Different Countries10:49 - The Move To Westside Studios13:25 - The Art Of Engineering 19:06 - Working Alongside A Producer23:10 - The Role Of A Producer24:50 - Pre-Production Meetings And Rehearsals33:20 - Visualising The Whole Project34:59 - Working With Coldplay37:07 - Preparing For The Mix40:10 - The Process Of Mixing43:13 - Preferred Monitors44:16 - Getting A Mix To Work45:28 - What's On The Mixbus49:30 - How Long To Spend On A Mix58:28 - Favourite Plug-ins01:01:12 - Structuring A Recording Session01:02:36 - Breaking Up Mixing Sessions
Danton Supple BiogDanton is a London based Record Producer and Mixer with almost 40 years experience in studios and studio production with a diverse and successful range of artists as engineer, mixer and producer including work on 3 Grammy Winning and 5 Grammy Nominated projects.
Having trained as a recording engineer at the legendary Sarm Studios under producers Trevor Horn, Steve Lipson and Julian Mendelsohn he moved to Westside Studios to work with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Going freelance in 1994 he worked with producers Phil Spector, Steve Lillywhite, Gil Norton, Mike Hedges, Steve Osborne, Flood, Ken Nelson, Paul Oakenfold, Brian Eno, Hugh Jones, Chris Hughes, Mark Saunders and Ian Stanley.
He moved into production and mixing soon after with projects including Amy MacDonald, Soulsavers, Coldplay, Ian Brown, Morrissey, Oceansize, Starsailor, Lucie Silvas, The Devlins, Kylie Minogue, Patti Smith, Electric Soft Parade and The Doves. Recent projects include Alabama 3, Skinny Living, The Horn, Autoheart, Canadian band Around Joshua, Glowie, Deco, Oh Baby and Waiting For Smith.
Danton is now based at RAK Studios (https://rakstudios.co.uk), St Johns Wood, London@dantonsupplehttps://www.dantonsupple.com/
Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.  After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.
He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the

Roland Lamb talks to Nick Rothwell about the inspiration behind the ROLI Seaboard, the challenges faced when creating a new type of instrument and the three product ranges from ROLI, the Seaboard, Block System and LUMI.See the Show Notes for further details.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:40 - The Origins Of ROLI 07:41 - Part Of The Keyboard Family12:26 - Challenges Of Constructing The Seaboard 17:34 - The First Products Launched18:12 - From Integrated Sounds To Controllers And Soft Synths 22:59 - Standardising MIDI Polyphonic Expression25:32 - The ROLI Block System28:33 - LUMI for Education And Performance30:30 - Improving Playability With The Seaboard Rise 233:08 - The Next Generation Of Blocks
Roland Lamb BiogRoland Lamb, CEO of Luminary ROLI and inventor of the Seaboard, is a trailblazer in music technology. The Seaboard, blending a keyboard's familiarity with advanced digital capabilities, redefined musical expressiveness. Lamb's leadership at ROLI focuses on innovating music creation tools, merging artistry with technology. His groundbreaking work, recognized through various awards, continues to influence the music industry, shaping new ways musicians interact with instruments and expanding the horizons of musical expression.https://roli.com/
Nick Rothwell BiogNick Rothwell is a composer, performer, software architect, coder and visual artist. He has built media performance systems for projects with Ballett Frankfurt and Vienna Volksoper, composed sound scores for Aydın Teker (Istanbul / Kapadokya), AWA Dance, Luz&Mannion Dance (Flamenco) and Undercurrent Theatre, programmed physical media sculptures with Simeon Nelson and Rob Godman, live coded in Mexico and in Berlin with sitar player Shama Rahman, collaborated with the body>data>space collective in Prague, Paris and Dresden, written software for Studio Wayne McGregor, the Pina Bausch Foundation and Nesta's FutureFest, and developed algorithmic visuals for large-scale outdoor projections in Poland, Estonia, Cambridge Music Festival and Lumiere (London / Durham).https://cassiel.com/

In the first part of the brand new Kevin Paul MixBus Series, Kevin chats to producer engineer Gareth Jones about his impressive career at Mute Records and Hansa Studios in Berlin, working with bands such as Depeche Mode, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Erasure and Goldfrapp.
Chapters00:00 - Introduction01:16 - The Studio02:14 - Getting Started As A Mix Engineer05:19 - Innovative Recording Techniques08:01 - Keeping Clients Happy10:24 - Mute Records and Depeche Mode16:12 - Recording Andy Bell 18:01 - Mixing In The Box23:13 - Current Analogue Kit24:20 - Recording The Leisure Society25:59 - Working With Rough Mixes27:50 - Listening To Music And Working In 96kHz32:34 - Music Industry Education38:00 - Workflow41:18 - Favourite Studio Gear42:36 - Things To Avoid
Gareth Jones BiogBritish Music Producer, Mixer and Engineer Gareth Jones has been a pioneer in the use of digital equipment, combining digital tools with analogue recording techniques and synths since the 80’s. Jones has produced five albums for electro-pop pioneers Depeche Mode and six albums for synth-pop superstars Erasure as well as multiple titles for Wire, Einsturzende Neubauten, Diamanda Galás and more.
Trained at the BBC, Jones launched his career during the New Wave era, mixing early singles for Madness and John Foxx. Moving to Berlin in 1983, he worked at the legendary Hansa Studios for 10 years recording and mixing Depeche Mode, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Wim Wenders soundtracks and more. More recently Jones has remixed tracks for Erasure and Goldfrapp among others.
His production room is now located at Strongroom Studio in London. A Logic Pro guru, Modular Synth geek, Ableton Live enthusiast,  and a JAMES assessor, Jones was a frequent lecturer for the Red Bull Music Academy and has appeared at Moog Fest. His own musical projects include ElectroGenetic, Nous Alpha, Spiritual Friendship, Sunroof and QUINQUIS
http://www.garethjones.com/
Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.  After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.
He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.http://www.kevin-paul.com/