Hi Friends,
Today, I have a very special video for you:
I´m interviewing Phil Allen, who interned with me when he was 19 years old. He worked his way up to become my assistant, then my recording engineer, eventually Co Writing, Co Producing and playing on many songs we recorded together! Phil has built an amazing career as a musician, recording engineer and producer: He even won a Grammy with Adele´s album of the year!
This interview will especially be valuable for all of you songwriters and producers out there:
We´re passing on a lot of the experience and knowledge we´ve acquired over the years, by working with some of the best songwriters and producers out there. – So pay close attention!
We´re discussing the work-ethic and mind-set needed to build a career in the audio industry:
Always give your best, even if the task doesn´t seem all that important at the time.
To drive this point home, Phil tells us the inspiring story of how he recorded and produced the demo for Adele´s „Someone Like You“ with Dan Wilson: In a small studio with a tiny vocal booth.
By working hard to get the feel of the song just right, this exact demo made it´s way to Adele´s final record and went on to be one of the one of the world´s top selling singles. – And win him a Grammy!
We´re also going into great detail about the psychology of being a producer:
- What´s your role and the purpose of a producer? Are you serving the artist and helping them to make the best music they can, or are you forcing your ideas on them?
- The importance of developing your ear and taste vs your technical skills.
- Give the song what it needs, don´t try to show off your skills: Sometimes simple stuff done well will serve the song better than playing at the maximum of your abilities.
- Focus on the big picture.
- And a lot more!
This is the stuff they won´t teach you at school. You´ll only learn these things with years of experience and by working with extremely talented people.
I hope you enjoy the interview and it helps you to create amazing music.
Thank you ever so much for watching.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing,
Warren