I first met Matt Starr a couple of years ago when making Ace Frehley’s Album ‘Space Invader’. Matt came down and played at my Studio, Spitfire. What impressed me most was not only his incredible talent, but his effortless way he integrated with everyone, he listened to everyone’s suggestions and brought his A Game!
I have a small drum kit here at Spitfire, a 1964 Ludwig kit. Matt brought his kick pedal and a couple of cymbals, set up quickly, didn’t complain about anything and was incredibly easy going!
Being easy going and adaptable is a huge deal for musicians, every Producer, Engineer and Artist will have different requirements and being able to change your style or approach easily is a huge deal!
I have used Matt on many sessions since this one, no matter what the genre he really delivers!
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Enjoy the Video!
Many Thanks
Warren
Warren, you have a knack for posting what I need just when I need it.
Aw shucks thanks @plap-disqus-13f320e7b5ead1024ac95c3b208610db:disqus! I really appreciate that! So glad to be able to help!! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
An extremely good video Warren and thanks again as usual. Work Ethic…so true. (been kinda burnt out lately from peripheral stuff going on but…the video is a motivator.)
Kind of a funny aside. When Matt spoke of how “Mom & Dad” knew friends that had a restaurant and he went to work there to buy “A Snare” and so on. I kind of had the same experience but with a slant. Like Matt, my mom just wanted to make sure her boy was okay and would constantly be making similiar suggestions. So I thought “well yeah Mom’s right and I do need to earn a paycheck…” so I went to work in restaurants and clubs that featured music. Live bands, or other solo or duet types of groups. Sure enough work hard, practice like crazy and eventually I’d get the opportunity to get on stage and do some playing. And since I worked hard to get better and improve, when the opportunity would show up, I very often could convert my formal job situation, yep you guessed it, to a gig at the same place. No getting around having to earn a living, but a little ingenuity and strategy can go a long way.
Another aside. The Beatles worked 12 hour gigs in Hamburg long before they even met George Martin. By the time they met George Martin, they had “Earned their Bones” as Pros. I recently saw a video of them playing at “The Cavern” I believe in 1962…at that point in their careers I believe they had already done a year in Hamburg. You could see it in the manner they carried themselves on stage in that tiny little place, that they knew exactly what they were doing. Both musically, and Professionally. All the stage personalities were developed, everyone knew their relative parts in the band. Ringo might have been knew to the band, but he too had spent a lot of time with Rory Storm so he was no ameteur either by any means. Again like you emphasize…work! Or Work Ethic is so important.
Thanks for a great interview. And thanks to Matt as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQEmt2UiOto – check this tv report on Ozzie song writers and Mike Chapman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OelF_QTHsGw – Vanda & Young Australian legends of Rock & Roll
Warren & Matt, Thank you for the therapy.
Thanks for posting this link @plap-disqus-43ec517d68b6edd3015b3edc9a11367b:disqus!! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Yes! Great tips. Ha ha, the 2nd kit I owned was a Maxwin! 😉
Thanks @plap-disqus-3b8a614226a953a8cd9526fca6fe9ba5:disqus! Yes the Maxwin!! So many people must have started on them! Have a marvellous time recording and mixing, many thanks Warren
Be easy to work with, but don’t be afraid to work with difficult people. Some of them are geniuses. I have just read the wildest story about how the the first Digital Delay
was invented. Many digital delays have come and gone, some great, some
not so great, some total crap. But this coveted piece of studio gear has
no proper modern equivalent, or plugin, that has really nailed it. It
was designed by a couple of aerospace engineers named Mark Crabtree and
Stuart Nevison in 1976. Now stick with me here, this is where it gets a
bit convoluted. Factory Records co-founder, Tony Wilson:
“It was 15 years later, when some guy stopped me and said, ‘I want to
thank you. One of your partners changed my life.’ When I realised it was
AMS, I said, ‘No, you changed his life by giving him that equipment.’
He said, ‘Don’t you know where it came from?’ I had no idea it came out
of Martin’s head. Martin goes and meets these guys in a car park on the
moors above Burnley [Lancashire, England], and tells them the sound he’s
imagining [while he’s] off his head on fucking drugs. He drives back to
Manchester at midnight. Meanwhile they drive back to their shed and
they build the world’s first digital delay machine, the AMS digital
delay, which is the most important outboard equipment of the last 50
years.” The ‘Mad Genius’ Producer was Martin Hannett. He was best know
for his work with Joy Division, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark and New
Order. He had described the sound as ‘walls rushing in and out’, and so
these two aerospace engineering geniuses went and built it for him.
Amazing! You can read the full article at Tape Op . com. and/or watch
some of Andy Serkis’ performance as Martin Hannett in the film ’24 Hour
Party People’ . . . here’s some excerpts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGA6rmsnDkQ