What was your first studio like? How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you? This helps so much with realising your ambitions for a record. But now with new technologies in production you can get much further down the line before you have to start reaching out to other collaborators to get involved. I usually had an end goal in my head, but lacked the skills to achieve it … I got close sometimes though. As producer you have to become a good judge of character as fast as you can, but that only comes with experience, so early production projects were quite frustrating for me. It’s not all about getting the best players you can, but getting the right blend of players for the record or project you’re working on. GREG: Main challenges were always the musicians for me. What were some of your main challenges and ambitions in terms of your approach to production when starting out – and how have they changed over time? I’d learn from other people's arrangements but adapt them for my needs. It took a while though :) … This is still something I like to do but find myself more playing keyboard parts on guitar (or vice versa) … using horns to play string arrangements etc … It’s the finessing of parts to make them work on other instruments that usually steers me in interesting directions when I arrange or produce. I had a great sax teacher at the school, who had me playing with his big band on Saturday afternoons by the time I was 16. My favourite pianist was and still is Oscar Peterson and I used to enjoy transcribing parts of his solos so I could learn to play them on sax. The school recognised this and asked me if i wanted to learn to play any other instruments. GREG: I started piano lessons at the age of 9, so by the time I arrived at secondary school aged 13 I had a solid grasp of musical theory and performance. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as a producer and the transition towards your own voice? What is the the relationship between copying, learning and your own creativity? That realisation has served me well over the last 30+ years of music making.įor most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. I loved the process involved in multitrack recording, but what I realised very early on was that the success of a recording was more about the arrangement of the music and instruments than how good your microphones and preamps were. I learned how to engineer in an analogue studio based around a 1inch, 16 track machine through a trident desk. GREG: In 1984, at the age of 17 years , I started working at a recording studio in Glasgow called Berkeley Street Studios. What was your first recording-related job - and what or who were your early passions and influences? What is about music and/or sound that drew you to it? Hue And Cry will also tour the UK this November. Website / Contact: If this 15 Questions interview makes you want to find out more about Hue and Cry, visit their facebook profile or personal website to find out more and order releases directly from them. And the book that will change you life is called Infinite and Finite Games, by James Carse. PAT: You should listen to Rain Dogs by Tom Waits about once a month. GREG: Have a look at the architecture of Zaha Hadid and the design of Giogetto Giugiaro. Current Release: Pocketful of Stones on Blairhill Records
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