“The record business is dangerous to the health of bands and individuals.” —T-Bone Burnett

“The record business is dangerous to the health of bands and individuals.” —T-Bone Burnett

Meet the Producers Part 2: The Auteurs

The people behind the scenes who make the music sound good.

By: David Merline

Web2Carz Senior Writer

Published: September 16th, 2012



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W

hat does a music producer do? It’s not an easy question to answer—their roles depend on the musicians they’re working with, the type of music they’re producing, and their own personal style. They can be so deep in the process of writing and recording that they essentially become members of the band (as Brian Eno did when working with Talking Heads and U2), or they can be so hands-off that all they do is record a band as-is (Steve Albini takes this approach, and even eschews the title “producer”—albums he works on say only “recorded by Steve Albini”), but having the right producer can mean the difference between a classic and a catastrophe.

With that in mind, we thought we’d shed some light on some of our favorite producers, and we asked some of our friends in the industry to share their thoughts for our far-from comprehensive look at some of the people behind some of our favorite music.

Click here to read Part 1 of this series.

eno 

Brian Eno
Brian Eno (often referred to by his fans as Eno, although his full name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptise de la Salle Eno) is arguably one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century. He was a founding member of Roxy Music, he released four seminal rock albums between 1973 and 1977, he pioneered the genre now known as ambient music, and he composed one of the most famous short pieces of music of all time, the Microsoft 95 start-up music (which he composed on a Macintosh).

But it’s his work as a producer that has given Eno’s musical ideas their greatest exposure. He has produced records by bands and musicians as disparate as Devo, Ultravox, James, Laurie Anderson, Coldplay, Grace Jones, Paul Simon, Talking Heads, and U2. He also collaborated on albums by David Bowie, Genesis, John Cale, Robert Fripp, Robert Wyatt, Harold Budd, The Neville Brothers, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Sinead O’Connor, and Iggy Pop.

Eno’s approach to production tends to be more collaborative than most producers, with Eno suggesting approaches to songwriting, lyric writing, and instrumentation. Eno’s presence is most strongly heard on the records he produced for Talking Heads and U2. His influence on both bands dramatically altered their sounds, and his involvement led them to create music that was more avant-garde and more experimental than typical rock music.

“Brian Eno has always impressed me for his amazing way of using technology
to give live bands a new sound. If you listen to U2's Unforgettable Fire
and then Joshua Tree, you can hear what this great producer is all about.
He develops a new sonic characteristic to the records he produces
but doesn't harm the organic feel.”

 —Alejandro Himmelbauer
Recording Engineer, Producer, Studio Owner
Sound Machine Studios, Mexico City, Mexico
lindsey 

Lindsey Buckingham
It’s hard to think of a band that better typifies the sound of ‘70s album-oriented rock than Fleetwood Mac. And while the band has had more personnel changes than almost any band in history (there have been sixteen members of Fleetwood Mac over the course of fifteen different lineups), the man most responsible for the sound that transformed the band from a blues-based rock act to international pop superstars was Lindsey Buckingham.

Although the band’s biggest albums—Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), and Tusk (1979) were credited to various producers and the band as a whole, it was really Buckingham who shaped the sound of those records. He didn’t receive a separate producer’s credit until 1982’s Mirage, but his influence on the band’s sound is undeniable.

“I tend to admire obsessive producers, and Lindsey Buckingham seems to be
one of those. I imagine that the Fleetwood Mac Tusk sessions must have been
the first time Lindsey viewed the studio as an open playground.
His contributions to that album, as well as his creativity in shaping
its overall sound and direction are really apparent. He's also taken several risks
on his solo albums, and seems to fully understand the studio as a
musical instrument unto itself. Most admirably, his results are always
something uniquely identifiable as his own.”

—Chris Ewen
Musician, Future Bible Heroes, Cambridge, MA
nile 

Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers began his career as a session musician, first in the Sesame Street band, and then as the house band at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. But it was his 1970s band Chic that brought Rodgers to fame, and brought disco music to the Top 10.

Rodgers went on to become one of the top producers of the 1980s, working with Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, Laurie Anderson, The B-52’s, INXS, and David Lee Roth.

Rodgers’ productions are always slick, but never overproduced. In a 2006 interview, Rodgers said that the role of the producer was to “see the artist’s vision with clarity, so that when they’re going off the path you can get them back. If the car is going straight, you don’t have to steer. To me the artist always has the final word: it’s their picture on the cover of the record.”
martin 

Martin Hannett
If you think of the 1980s as being about Duran Duran, Wham!, and ridiculous hair metal bands, then you either weren’t alive then, or you were too busy watching MTV to be aware of what was really going on in music. The late 1970s/early 1980s post-punk era was one of the most diverse, creative, and impactful periods in rock music since the 1960s, and Martin Hannett was at the center of much of the great music from that time.

Although best known for producing Joy Division and New Order, Hannett worked with a host of other artists during from 1975 up till his death in 1991. Hannett worked with the Buzzcocks, OMD, U2, the Stone Roses, Magazine, Happy Mondays, The Psychedelic Furs, and others, usually working with bands early in their career—he produced the debut singles for The Buzzcocks, OMD, and Psychedelic Furs, and produced the second single for U2.

His work on Joy Division’s two studio albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer, remains his best known, and his unique recording techniques were dramatized in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People.
tbone 

T-Bone Burnett
T-Bone Burnett is the go-to producer for the vaguely defined genre sometimes referred to as Americana. His roots in folk and roots music date back to his tenure as a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review in the mid 1970s. He gained wider attention through his collaborations with Elvis Costello, and went on to worldwide acclaim as a producer for artists like Roy Orbison, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Los Lobos, Counting Crows, and Gillian Welch.

He also developed the soundtracks for the films The Big Lebowski, and O Brother, where Art Thou?

His deep knowledge of American roots music, and his experience as a musician (he’s released seven solo albums) have made him one of the most sough-after producers alive.

“I had the opportunity to work with T-Bone Burnett almost 20 years ago.
His style, creativity, and passion were all about experimenting and searching.
We would try and produce the craziest sounds & ‘noise’ from the guitar amps
and mic them in different and interesting ways. These would be mixed in
to the overall soundscape.”

—Ben Wallach
Former Recording Engineer, Hollywood, CA
kahn 

David Kahne
David Kahne helped to shape the “new wave” sound of the 1980s when he was the in-house producer for San Francisco’s 415 label where he produced records for Romeo Void, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, Rank and File, and Wire Train. He went on to produce albums for some of the biggest names in music, including Paul McCartney and Tony Bennett. Some other artists Kahne has worked with include  The Bangles, Stevie Nicks, New Order, Linkin Park, Regina Spektor, and an unknown New York singer named Lizzie Grant, who went on to rebrand herself as Lana Del Ray.

"I worked David Kahne him from around 1996 till 1999 on many projects. He has such a powerful but chameleon-like personality. One minute he's putting his foot down and taking a my-way-or-the high-way position, and the next he's adding the grooviest little sensitive guitar part to a love-song that just makes the track. Intimidatingly intelligent, musically gifted, and possessing a deep and dark sense of humor. The guy is tireless (just take a look at his discography), and that is a good thing for bands and artist everywhere...because he is out there doing it right. It was a privilege to work with him."

—Doug Trantow
Recording Engineer/Mixer/Producer, Los Angeles, CA


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