WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 Hi, you're listening to Guy Fletcher from Dire 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.360 Straits, and you're also listening to my weekly 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:07.240 mixtape with Brian Colburn. Have a lovely day. 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.719 Welcome to my weekly mixtape, a podcast that 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:24.579 takes the classic mixtape approach to building 00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:27.519 a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.399 On tonight's special Song Dive edition of the 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.240 show, I'm joined by Dire Straits' Guy Fletcher, 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.140 who spent the last decades as well with Mark 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:39.479 Knopfler's solo band. Guy is an incredible music 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.679 producer as well as accredited Dolby Atmos engineer, 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.240 something I'm very excited to talk a little bit 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.820 more about. Guy, thank you so much for joining 00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:50.380 me on My Weekly Mixtape. It's a pleasure, Brian. 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:52.920 Good to be here. Well, before we dive into things, 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.079 I'd like to start by asking you my first time 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.640 guest question. And that is, Guy, what does the 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:01.880 word mixtape mean to you? Oh, well, it's a collection 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:04.980 of one's favorite songs, isn't it? It's the stuff 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:07.879 you want to listen to when you're doing whatever 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:11.579 you're doing, driving or vacuuming. I don't know. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:13.900 Yeah, it reminds me of when I was a kid, you 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:16.980 know, cassette tapes and just putting all your 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:21.430 favorite stuff onto tape into one. format. Yeah. 00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:24.670 A lot of fun. Yes. And today I get to talk about 00:01:24.670 --> 00:01:27.030 a lot of the songs that you have recorded on 00:01:27.030 --> 00:01:30.349 that made a lot of my mixtapes growing up. Now, 00:01:30.430 --> 00:01:33.129 Guy, your tenure with Dire Straits began on the 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:36.230 1985 album Brothers in Arms, but you worked with 00:01:36.230 --> 00:01:38.909 Mark prior to that on a few soundtrack albums 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:42.810 being 1984's Cal along with Comfort and Joy. 00:01:43.469 --> 00:01:45.609 Could you talk about how your musical relationship 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:48.590 with Mark came together and then evolved into 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:51.590 your role with Dire Straits? Yeah, we got together 00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:56.329 in, yes, it was 83, I think. And he was looking 00:01:56.329 --> 00:02:00.209 for somebody to work with him on these two soundtracks 00:02:00.209 --> 00:02:02.430 he was planning on doing, Cowl and Comfort and 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:05.129 Joy, because he'd just bought this thing called 00:02:05.129 --> 00:02:07.189 the Synclavia, which was a very state -of -the 00:02:07.189 --> 00:02:09.650 -art digital music system. And he needed somebody 00:02:09.650 --> 00:02:14.050 to, A, operate it, and B, you know, realize his 00:02:14.050 --> 00:02:17.729 musical ideas. And that's exactly kind of what 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:19.990 I do. I took one look at it and thought, well, 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:23.110 how hard can it be? So I skimmed through the 00:02:23.110 --> 00:02:25.969 manual and figured out the essence of it. And 00:02:25.969 --> 00:02:28.009 yeah, we set to work pretty much straight away. 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:30.889 He played me a lot of the stuff that he was into 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:32.969 at the time. There was a lot of JJ Cale and some 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:36.849 Dylan stuff and some blues things. And I was 00:02:36.849 --> 00:02:39.389 very much into the same sort of stuff. So we, 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:43.169 you know, we hit it off straight away. And, yeah, 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:45.770 pretty soon we realized that we had a good working 00:02:45.770 --> 00:02:48.930 relationship together and he could, you know, 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:51.150 get his stream of ideas down. Because at the 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:53.449 time, well, I mean, he's always had an incredible 00:02:53.449 --> 00:02:57.669 stream of, yes, ideas. He's very prolific, obviously, 00:02:57.729 --> 00:02:59.889 with his songs, but his music, you know, his 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:03.250 musicality is it just pours out of him. And I 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:05.849 was I was sort of the facilitator and enabled 00:03:05.849 --> 00:03:10.479 him to to record it. Now, diving into the Brothers 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:12.900 in Arms album, Money for Nothing was the song 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.719 that introduced me to the band, given my age, 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:18.400 before my father could take that opportunity 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:21.400 to bring me down the Dire Straits rabbit hole, 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:24.099 if you will. I've always wondered if the song's 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:28.000 main introduction was recorded prior to Sting's 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.080 involvement or how that collaboration came together. 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:34.840 Yeah, the intro to Money for Nothing was, yes, 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.000 it was put on the track after the main track 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.740 was recorded, I seem to recall. Sting came in 00:03:40.740 --> 00:03:43.759 a little after that. The track was actually, 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.340 at one point, it was in the bin. We weren't going 00:03:46.340 --> 00:03:49.500 to carry on with it. Really? And Neil Dorsman, 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:52.560 the producer, who Neil just did a fantastic job 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:56.360 on that album, by the way, Neil and I said, because 00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:58.300 Mark was getting a bit fed up with it, the band 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:01.460 weren't really inspired by it. And Neil and I 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:03.319 said, come on, let's go back in the studio after 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:07.199 dinner. This is one evening. And Neil said, get 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.280 on the Yamaha synth, the DX1. And I'm hearing 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.680 some kind of dinosaur sound. So I came up with 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.300 this sound and did this sort of what I call the 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:18.819 crash sound, which features all the way through 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.899 the main body of the song. And Mark heard it 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:25.279 the next morning and his enthusiasm for the track 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:27.920 was revived. And he put his guitar on right that 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.959 day. And then the track just, everybody sort 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:33.060 of started to get excited about the track again. 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.879 And the intro did, yeah, that came about a little 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:38.579 later. And then, of course, Sting just happened 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:42.699 to be on the island on holiday and our paths 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:45.480 collided. The coincidences started to happen. 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:49.319 And yeah, he found himself on the song. And yeah, 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:51.980 the next thing you know, we've sort of built 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:55.319 this, what's become an epic, but we didn't, we 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.040 had no idea at the time that it was going to 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:00.209 do what it did. indeed the album you know we 00:05:00.209 --> 00:05:03.389 were just making another album um we didn't really 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:06.870 expect it to be what it became well i guess in 00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:09.629 a case of poetic foreshadowing money for nothing 00:05:09.629 --> 00:05:12.610 complete with the i want my mtv opening lyrics 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:15.689 became a huge staple on wouldn't you guess it 00:05:15.689 --> 00:05:19.329 mtv when the band was making this music video 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:22.810 was there a sense that you were treading some 00:05:22.810 --> 00:05:25.769 new ground visually because this was one of the 00:05:25.769 --> 00:05:28.810 more unique video concepts of the entire decade 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:32.149 yeah i think when we saw the first animation 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:35.949 yeah we definitely thought this is this is different 00:05:35.949 --> 00:05:40.129 in a really good way it's um i remember being 00:05:40.129 --> 00:05:42.029 excited about it obviously i wasn't involved 00:05:42.029 --> 00:05:44.310 in the production of the video we were pretty 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:46.449 busy at the time because as soon as we finished 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:49.269 the album we started the tour so we were really 00:05:49.269 --> 00:05:51.959 kind of swept away Without really thinking too 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:54.240 much about the album's success, you know, the 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.199 next thing we knew, it was, we seemed to be number 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.600 one everywhere. It didn't really hit us until 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:01.860 long afterwards because we were just so busy. 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:04.660 And, you know, the band had been so busy before 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.180 my involvement. I mean, the number of gigs Mark 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:10.120 and the band had done, you know, just trying 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.120 to get themselves, get a foothold in, trying 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.800 to find some sort of success. You know, the band 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.459 worked very, very hard and it's very easy to 00:06:18.459 --> 00:06:21.160 forget that. the amount of work that went in 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:25.019 in the early days. But yeah, we just got swept 00:06:25.019 --> 00:06:27.939 away on this wave of success. And obviously the 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:31.100 MTV link hyped it to a massive degree. And it 00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:33.759 was a great time to be involved in music video. 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.220 Well, in 70 plus episodes of my weekly mixtape, 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.519 I've only been able to ask this question one 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:42.980 other time. And that was to Bill Gibson, who's 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:45.600 the drummer for Huey Lewis in the news. Money 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.509 for nothing, both the song. and accompanying 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:52.850 video were parodied by Weird Al Yankovic as Beverly 00:06:52.850 --> 00:06:55.589 Hillbillies, the video of which was included 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:59.329 in his feature -length movie UHF. Growing up 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:02.009 listening to all the music Weird Al was parodying, 00:07:02.029 --> 00:07:05.149 I've always wondered what the actual artist's 00:07:05.149 --> 00:07:08.790 thoughts were on his renditions. So were Dire 00:07:08.790 --> 00:07:13.089 Straits a fan of Beverly Hillbillies? Yeah, we 00:07:13.089 --> 00:07:16.199 loved Weird Al. And when he, when he did Money 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.600 for Nothing, we just thought, fantastic. Mark 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.920 and I actually played on it. He approached us 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:23.500 and yeah, we added a couple of, he played his 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:26.139 guitar and I played that sound that features 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:29.040 on the track. Yeah, we absolutely loved it. In 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:31.100 all my years of listening to Weird Al, I did 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:33.279 not know you played on that track. That is so 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:37.689 awesome. A little known fact. Well, Diving Back 00:07:37.689 --> 00:07:40.790 to Brothers in Arms also featured one of my personal 00:07:40.790 --> 00:07:43.290 favorite Dire Straits songs, which is Walk of 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:46.110 Life, a song that's been covered by countless 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:49.050 artists, including Shooter Jennings, who recorded 00:07:49.050 --> 00:07:52.670 a country version back in 2007. This song features 00:07:52.670 --> 00:07:56.569 your keyboard part as the lead melody. And while 00:07:56.569 --> 00:07:59.509 the song features a lot of tasty guitar fills, 00:07:59.829 --> 00:08:03.889 there's no actual full blown solo sections, which 00:08:03.889 --> 00:08:05.790 was something that was very prominent throughout 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:08.889 the 80s musically. Was that the band's original 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:11.310 intent or was that kind of how the song unfolded 00:08:11.310 --> 00:08:13.689 in the studio? No, I think that's how the song 00:08:13.689 --> 00:08:17.509 was written. Mark feels strongly about the fact 00:08:17.509 --> 00:08:20.470 that the song should be complete before it's 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:23.949 recorded. Obviously, things do change. Money 00:08:23.949 --> 00:08:26.839 for Nothing certainly changed. Walk of Life was 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.079 always that kind of finger -picking style of 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.379 electric guitar playing, and it never really 00:08:33.379 --> 00:08:35.279 needed anything else. I mean, it's obviously 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:39.759 such a catchy tune and a wonderful lyric. But 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.980 yeah, it didn't change in any way. That track 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:47.480 just kind of happened very naturally. And again, 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:49.580 yeah, that sound came from that same synth again, 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:53.120 the Yamaha DX -1, which is pretty prominent throughout 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:57.399 the whole album. That big sound. Now, after the 00:08:57.399 --> 00:08:59.860 success of Brothers in Arms, you worked on the 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:02.659 soundtrack to the 1987 film The Princess Bride 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:05.059 with both Mark Knopfler and Willie DeVille, who 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:09.779 we sadly lost in 2009. For folks my age, mid 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:13.720 -40s, that movie is our childhood treasure. And 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:16.840 I think the score and soundtrack play such a 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:20.399 pivotal role in selling the movie's fairytale 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:24.100 atmosphere. In terms of scoring this movie, Were 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:26.460 the songs written after the movie was filmed 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:29.299 or were you working in conjunction with the filming? 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.919 Because they're so cohesive together. No, we 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:34.940 weren't working. I mean, obviously, Mark wrote 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:38.580 all the music for that. And I performed, I think 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:41.399 it was 98 or 99 percent of it because it was 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:43.559 done on the Sinclair. There were only a couple 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:47.120 of things that weren't Sinclair, which was Mark 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:49.899 played a nylon guitar. But the songs weren't. 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:53.340 Obviously, they were written to the scenes. as 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:57.620 in any normal film. But it is a completely unique 00:09:57.620 --> 00:10:00.559 soundtrack, isn't it, in the way that it does, 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.120 like you said, lend itself to the fairy tale. 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:08.659 And it sort of happened by accident because nowadays 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:13.159 scoring is done with samples and the technology 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:16.679 available now means that composers can recreate 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:20.120 the orchestra and then record it with real players 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.929 when the budget allows. in the case of princess 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:27.190 bride we were planning on doing just that but 00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:30.789 for one reason or another we didn't and rob reiner 00:10:30.789 --> 00:10:33.710 loved what we were doing and it has that sort 00:10:33.710 --> 00:10:38.029 of unreal bad sample sound to it because if you 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:40.009 if you listen to the sounds the actual samples 00:10:40.009 --> 00:10:42.669 they're not that great they're pretty sort of 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.460 sucky strings as i call them um i don't really 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:48.899 they don't really lend themselves they don't 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:51.200 really compare to the real thing at all but it 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.799 really really helped as you said it really helped 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.799 the atmosphere in the movie that the whole fairy 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.159 tale that whole other worldliness of it and it's 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:01.600 i've never come across another soundtrack that 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.059 sounds like that so i think that does have you 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:07.200 know i'd like to think it played some part in 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.519 its you know cult success because it certainly 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:15.070 does have that doesn't it? I mean, for me, it's 00:11:15.070 --> 00:11:17.169 a big movie because it's, it's the time that 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:19.190 I got together with my wife who I'm still married 00:11:19.190 --> 00:11:23.029 to now. So we, we were working in LA and yes, 00:11:23.149 --> 00:11:25.509 we kind of got together around that time. And 00:11:25.509 --> 00:11:28.289 when I took her to see one of the screenings, 00:11:28.289 --> 00:11:30.529 Princess Bride, it was, it was quite a special 00:11:30.529 --> 00:11:33.149 moment. So, yeah, so it's, it's, it's very big 00:11:33.149 --> 00:11:35.970 in my heart that, that movie. And obviously, 00:11:36.149 --> 00:11:41.980 yeah, I love it. Same here. Well, Looking at 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:45.519 Dire Straits' final studio album, 1991's On Every 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:48.159 Street, I'd like to first talk a little bit about 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.320 Heavy Fuel. And I apologize in advance, Guy, 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:53.419 but this is where my musical nerdom is going 00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:55.960 to come into play here. I hope this isn't too 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:59.919 deep in the weeds. I like a nerd. Recently, the 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.659 song came up on one of my streaming playlists, 00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:05.620 and I immediately realized it sounded different. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.240 And when I pulled out my original CD, because... 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:12.159 On Every Street was one of the first five CDs 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:14.480 I purchased with my own money. I listened to 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:19.279 it hundreds of times. I realized there's an extra 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.720 four measures of music before the second and 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:25.399 third verses on any subsequent later productions 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:28.779 of the album, but not the original release. Was 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:31.000 the longer version the band's original intent, 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.860 or was there an alternate take that was a label 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:36.480 decision or something? No, no. The original would 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.480 have been the longer version. I'd forgotten about 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:40.860 that. Yeah, I think they were just edits done 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:44.799 for the original release. Yeah, that's a good 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.159 point. I'll have to go and listen to that. I 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.200 do remember it vaguely. I didn't do the edits, 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.659 but Chuck Ainley will have done them. Yeah, I 00:12:53.659 --> 00:12:56.789 remember shooting the video. That was a lot with 00:12:56.789 --> 00:13:01.389 Randy Quaid in Sheffield Arena in the UK. That 00:13:01.389 --> 00:13:05.009 was absolutely hilarious. That it was. Well, 00:13:05.090 --> 00:13:07.629 the other song I want to talk about from On Every 00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:10.389 Street is The Bug, which a year later was covered 00:13:10.389 --> 00:13:13.049 by Mary Chapin Carpenter, whose version became 00:13:13.049 --> 00:13:17.149 a huge country hit, peaking at number 16 on Billboard's 00:13:17.149 --> 00:13:19.970 Hot Country Singles and Tracks. Earlier, I had 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:22.669 mentioned Shooter Jennings covering Walk of Life 00:13:22.669 --> 00:13:25.840 as well. Is there a musical correlation between 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:29.240 the country genre and Dire Straits that makes 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:33.200 these interpretations translate so seamlessly? 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:36.100 Yeah. Well, obviously, Mark is very much inspired 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:39.820 by country, what I would call original country. 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:42.500 The time he spent in Nashville, particularly 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:45.399 when we were working with Chet Atkins. Yeah, 00:13:45.460 --> 00:13:48.799 I mean, his musical history goes back a long 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:54.460 way into the Americas. A lot of Mark's songs, 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:58.600 if not all of them, are influenced both by folk 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:03.600 music over here and folk music in America and 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.980 country too. So yeah, there's definitely a big 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:09.580 pull. And I think around that time especially, 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:14.039 he was writing stuff that was very easily coverable 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:17.320 by country artists. I mean, you could argue that 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.669 that album is... Kind of a country album. Certainly 00:14:20.669 --> 00:14:22.570 a lot of people called it that, although we never 00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:26.350 did, but yeah, quite a few of those tunes are 00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:30.110 essentially just country tunes and yeah, good 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:33.450 songs too. So that's why they get covered because 00:14:33.450 --> 00:14:37.149 they're good songs. Completely agree. Now you 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:39.970 had brought up Chet Atkins recording with Mark 00:14:39.970 --> 00:14:41.789 and I want to talk about the neck and neck album 00:14:41.789 --> 00:14:44.889 for a second, if you don't mind on that is a 00:14:44.889 --> 00:14:49.730 cover of a cover as yakety acts. is a cover of 00:14:49.730 --> 00:14:53.090 Boots Randolph's Yakety Sax, only the version 00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:56.149 you guys recorded in 1991 featured an updated 00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:59.149 arrangement with new lyrics by Merle Travis. 00:14:59.490 --> 00:15:02.210 I'd love to hear about the dynamics of working 00:15:02.210 --> 00:15:05.750 with both Mark and Chet together and what the 00:15:05.750 --> 00:15:08.090 two of them brought out of each other musically 00:15:08.090 --> 00:15:11.610 on that album. Wow, it was a wonderful experience 00:15:11.610 --> 00:15:16.129 to be in any room with both of them because they 00:15:16.129 --> 00:15:20.429 really hit it off. Chet was fascinated by Mark's 00:15:20.429 --> 00:15:24.950 thumb. I remember that. He used to comment on 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:26.590 the size of Mark's thumb and couldn't believe 00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:30.090 how he could do what he did with it on the guitar. 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:34.269 And obviously Mark's love of Chet and his music 00:15:34.269 --> 00:15:37.309 and his history throughout the early Nashville, 00:15:37.389 --> 00:15:39.809 when Chet was producing in Nashville, Mark was 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:43.850 massively influenced by that. And a huge admirer 00:15:43.850 --> 00:15:46.549 of Chet. So when they got together, it just seemed 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.250 like a match made in heaven. And of course, they 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:52.629 became very close friends. And, you know, it 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:55.450 was such a sad moment when we lost Chet. But 00:15:55.450 --> 00:15:58.389 working with them was so much, it was just so 00:15:58.389 --> 00:16:00.850 much fun. Chet was a very funny man and very 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:03.909 generous, very warm and incredibly talented. 00:16:04.070 --> 00:16:06.370 And, you know, hearing the two guitar players 00:16:06.370 --> 00:16:08.769 together, because they didn't play the same. 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:12.440 They complemented each other beautifully. And 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:16.460 because Mark understood that genre and Chet certainly 00:16:16.460 --> 00:16:19.740 understood Mark and loved, you know, I suppose 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:24.120 the more rock and roll side of where Mark was 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:27.320 coming from. Yeah, the making of that album was 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.100 a lot of fun. We made it in several different 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:31.740 places. Some of it was done in Nashville in Chet's 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:35.559 house and some of it was done in London in Mark's 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:40.330 old studio, which was in a little muse. awful 00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:44.190 place really but since then we've we've moved 00:16:44.190 --> 00:16:47.169 on a long way and obviously mark built his wonderful 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:49.169 british grove studios which is where we record 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:52.950 now but we did make a lovely album and yeah it 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:57.190 was a wonderful very happy time well you recently 00:16:57.190 --> 00:17:01.029 compiled and mixed the 2023 dire straits live 00:17:01.029 --> 00:17:05.410 box set which included the unreleased 1979 rainbow 00:17:05.410 --> 00:17:08.789 theater show Without getting too deep into the 00:17:08.789 --> 00:17:11.109 technical aspects of studio mixing, though I 00:17:11.109 --> 00:17:13.950 could probably talk about that all day, given 00:17:13.950 --> 00:17:18.210 the live recording limitations in 1979, at least 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:20.990 in comparison to what's available now, how many 00:17:20.990 --> 00:17:23.529 audio channels were you working with on this 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:26.970 mix? And did you face any challenges in that 00:17:26.970 --> 00:17:30.890 project that maybe wouldn't be prevalent in this 00:17:30.890 --> 00:17:33.410 day and age, considering we're working with pretty 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:38.279 much limitless digital options? No, it was well 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:40.779 recorded. It was as simple as that. It was done 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:44.599 by, I don't know who the engineer was. I can't 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:47.119 remember, but it was done on the Manor Mobile, 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.559 which was a very busy, popular mobile recording 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:55.000 unit. It was just 24 tracks, just two inch analog. 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:58.799 And when I put the first tracks up, I just thought 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.319 this is going to be absolutely fine. It wasn't 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.099 a problem. It got a bit, you know, because it 00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:06.890 was the last night of the tour. And there were 00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:08.849 some guest artists. It got a bit crazy at the 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:10.609 end. There was one, I think, one of the encore 00:18:10.609 --> 00:18:14.349 numbers, there are two basses playing. Oh. And 00:18:14.349 --> 00:18:18.470 which I kind of had to sort of skirt around because 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:22.509 it was pretty messy. But, you know, overall, 00:18:22.670 --> 00:18:25.390 it was just really well recorded. And when you've 00:18:25.390 --> 00:18:28.829 got good source material, there's really no excuse 00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:32.049 for not making a great mix. Obviously, though, 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:34.710 yeah, there was a bit of... You know, a bit of 00:18:34.710 --> 00:18:38.309 spill, as always. But it was a lovely big, you 00:18:38.309 --> 00:18:40.750 know, the Rainbow was a great room to record 00:18:40.750 --> 00:18:43.009 in. And, you know, the guys who did it knew what 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:46.430 they were doing. So I was kind of blessed to 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:49.069 have the opportunity to do that. Yeah, I really, 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:52.990 really enjoyed it. Well, now I'm excited to dive 00:18:52.990 --> 00:18:55.630 into the track that's the feature of our episode 00:18:55.630 --> 00:19:42.500 today, Going Home, themed from Local Hero. The 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:45.420 track was originally recorded in 1983 for the 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:49.140 soundtrack to the movie Local Hero, but in 2024, 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:52.440 the song has been given a total overhaul and 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:54.940 has been re -recorded for the benefit of charity 00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:58.700 as it aids both Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:02.019 Cancer America. Before we dive into the song 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:05.220 itself, how did the charitable nature of this 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.210 song come about? Well, it was an idea. The idea 00:20:09.210 --> 00:20:11.589 didn't come from us. It came from a chap called 00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:15.049 Peter Bradley, who is heavily involved with the 00:20:15.049 --> 00:20:17.430 charities and in particular the Buddy Holly Foundation. 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:22.269 And he and a guy called Mike Reed, a DJ in London, 00:20:22.529 --> 00:20:27.349 came up with the idea of using that track to 00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:30.049 try and generate some money for Teen Cancer America 00:20:30.049 --> 00:20:33.630 and Teenage Cancer Trust. They went ahead and 00:20:33.630 --> 00:20:35.390 recorded a little version of it in Nashville. 00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:39.160 This is before our involvement. And then they 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:41.940 sent it to Mark and I and asked if Mark would 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:46.079 like to play on it. And he said, well, yeah, 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:48.640 I'll play on the bits that they've got right. 00:20:48.819 --> 00:20:53.900 And so we did. I recorded his guitar. And then 00:20:53.900 --> 00:20:56.160 I thought, well, hang on. There's more to this 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.359 because the track that they recorded was great. 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:01.700 And they just didn't have a very good intro. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:05.779 The intro was kind of free time. it didn't really 00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:08.099 go and it meandered a little bit and it occurred 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:11.420 to me that if it had the proper intro like the 00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:15.859 original it would be much more playable on for 00:21:15.859 --> 00:21:19.180 players to come on board so we had recorded that 00:21:19.180 --> 00:21:22.539 track an instrumental version or coincidentally 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:26.220 for the local hero musical which we started working 00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:30.180 on in 2016 and we and mark was insistent that 00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:33.170 he wanted to record demos with the band of all 00:21:33.170 --> 00:21:35.190 the songs they were completely unused we never 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:37.450 used them never released them they were just 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:40.210 demos and of course we recorded going home and 00:21:40.210 --> 00:21:42.549 i thought well if i can just tag that on so i 00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:46.130 spent a day doing a big multi -track edit tagged 00:21:46.130 --> 00:21:48.970 it on the front of their version and said there 00:21:48.970 --> 00:21:51.910 we go now we've got a track and the charities 00:21:51.910 --> 00:21:54.710 said you've got to produce it so that's when 00:21:54.710 --> 00:21:58.269 i became the producer and then as soon as that 00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:00.730 was done mark play a little bit more on it and 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:03.680 Suddenly everybody wanted to be involved because 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.099 Mark had become involved. So all our mates wanted 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:10.019 to pile in. So Townsend and Clapton showed up. 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.420 Albert Lee was one of the first to come on. And 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:16.019 so I recorded a lot of them at British Grove 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:19.019 at Mark's studio. And then as word spread and 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:23.480 as people were asked, I had an influx of, it 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.519 just became more and more players. And of course 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.539 the track, which was originally three or four 00:22:28.539 --> 00:22:31.940 minutes long. had to be extended. So, so each 00:22:31.940 --> 00:22:36.980 stage I would edit and extend the track kind 00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:40.599 of, I had an inkling that it would be quite big 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:42.759 in terms of the number of players. So I prepared 00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:46.259 myself for, for, you know, six, seven minute 00:22:46.259 --> 00:22:48.559 track. I wasn't quite, wasn't quite expecting 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.440 the 10 minutes that the version is, but once 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:57.259 we got Ringo on board, and zach his son also 00:22:57.259 --> 00:22:59.839 i had quite a lot of drums to play with so i 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.119 i was able to have enough material to extend 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.980 you know i never repeated anything in the track 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:08.660 it was always always fresh because there was 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:11.599 just so much stuff to come from come to use but 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:14.640 you know it was you know probably the biggest 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.160 editing job i've ever undertaken but you know 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:19.619 by the same token it was done over a two and 00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:23.480 a half year period so the thing evolved in a 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:27.519 nice way Just to give listeners a small sample, 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:30.799 you had over 60 musicians on the track without 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.180 going through the entire list, because that could 00:23:33.180 --> 00:23:35.839 probably take as long as the song itself. Ronnie 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:40.319 Wood, Jeff Beck, Alex Lifeson, Slash, Bruce Springsteen. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.259 You mentioned Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Peter 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:46.839 Frampton, David Gilmour, Tony Iommi, Brian May, 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:50.589 Tom Morello, obviously Mark and yourself. Did 00:23:50.589 --> 00:23:53.849 you ask each artist to play through the song 00:23:53.849 --> 00:23:56.930 in its entirety and then mix their different 00:23:56.930 --> 00:24:00.130 guitar parts together? Or were the artists tasked 00:24:00.130 --> 00:24:03.990 with tackling specific segments in the song? 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:08.690 No, pretty much. I didn't ask anybody to play 00:24:08.690 --> 00:24:12.109 anything specific apart from a couple of instances 00:24:12.109 --> 00:24:14.309 where I thought something would be really good. 00:24:15.109 --> 00:24:17.230 most of the play what nearly all the players 00:24:17.230 --> 00:24:19.609 i just said play as much as you want or as little 00:24:19.609 --> 00:24:22.809 as you want wherever you want and i'll work it 00:24:22.809 --> 00:24:26.210 out leave it to me to work out because and i 00:24:26.210 --> 00:24:28.569 i had explained to a lot of them that the track 00:24:28.569 --> 00:24:31.589 was being edited it was it was so if you play 00:24:31.589 --> 00:24:34.849 in section c it may not actually end up in c 00:24:34.849 --> 00:24:37.390 it might end up in e you know because i obviously 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:39.509 had to had to number or letter all the different 00:24:39.509 --> 00:24:44.099 sections so so i created a lot of stems the usual 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:48.140 drums, bass, guitars, keyboards. And I had two 00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:50.599 or three main guitar tracks that I would keep 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:53.859 updating as the track evolved. And I would say 00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:56.059 to players, take those two guitar tracks out 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:58.460 and then just play wherever you want. Don't worry 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:00.480 about if something gets in the way, take it out 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.900 and I'll put it together. And they pretty much 00:25:03.900 --> 00:25:06.720 came to me one at a time. So I was able to find, 00:25:06.980 --> 00:25:10.180 I was able to make it work. It's not like I amounted 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:12.400 a whole load of stuff and I had to deal with 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:16.680 it. I dealt with each individual player pretty 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:19.319 much as soon as they'd done it and then mixed 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:23.640 the track. So at each stage, the track got mixed 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.380 as if it was finished because I figured that 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:29.099 was the only way to do it, finish it at each 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:31.779 stage and then open it up again and then mix 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:34.220 it again. And as a consequence, there are 52 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:38.940 different mixes of the track. But it seemed to 00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:42.319 me the only way to keep it from being crowded. 00:25:42.859 --> 00:25:45.779 The one thing I didn't want to do was to have 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:51.480 it become a mess. And it's close because there's 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:56.180 so much going on. But I think it's worked out. 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:59.240 And there was a lot of great material that I 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:02.039 was given that had to go by the wayside just 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:04.680 because it just didn't. There wasn't space for 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:08.000 it. So creating space was the name of the game, 00:26:08.059 --> 00:26:12.240 really. And, of course, Jeff Beck. was one of 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.380 the major contributors. It was his last recording, 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:17.500 sadly, as Dwayne Eddy. Dwayne Eddy. It's also, 00:26:17.619 --> 00:26:23.140 very sadly, his last recording. And from a listener's 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:26.079 perspective, it truly feels like you took all 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:30.319 60 musicians into a room and were just, it sounds 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.339 so seamless as if they're all playing the song 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:36.900 together. That's an insanely difficult musical 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:40.440 picture to paint. But what you did is very vivid. 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:44.099 You hear each guitarist complimenting each other 00:26:44.099 --> 00:26:46.839 and telling that story musically. It truly feels 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.400 like you were pointing at them one by one in 00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:51.339 a live. Thank you. You know, a lot of it was 00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:54.500 to do with Sonics. And I was very keen to have 00:26:54.500 --> 00:26:57.339 each player's sound come across as much as what 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:59.779 they play, because all of these players have 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:02.960 their own unique sound. I'm a big fan of. of 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.039 every one of them i mean they all have a sound 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.400 and i was very keen to to make sure that that 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.740 you could hear and distinguish their sound that 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:16.940 was my kind of you know when i picked up on something 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:19.819 that gilmore played there was a couple of licks 00:27:19.819 --> 00:27:22.099 that he played because he gave me loads and loads 00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:24.079 of stuff But there are a couple of licks that 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.500 I just said, that's David Gilmour. It's unmistakable. 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:29.859 So those had to go in. So there were, you know, 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:32.359 I'd give them a big red mark and they were the 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:34.420 ones that would go in. And it was the same with 00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:36.460 everybody else. You know, Frampton did an incredible 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:39.759 job. He gave me so much stuff, so much, you know, 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:42.920 multi -layering, you know, the end section is 00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:45.640 pretty much built around Frampton's contribution 00:27:45.640 --> 00:27:49.200 and Brian May as well. Just very typical, very 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.759 much them. Have you thought about alternate mixes 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:55.240 in some kind of album form with all different 00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:58.119 versions of the song, given all this source material? 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:02.420 I've thought about it, but it's just kind of 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:05.720 too, well, it wouldn't be the same. I mean, you 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:08.039 could do another mix and it would be another 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:11.299 version of it that would be completely unique 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:15.359 stuff because there is so much stuff. But I don't 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:18.500 think, I think it would dilute it. I think what 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:21.589 we have is. You know, I'm reluctant to use the 00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:23.890 word classic, but it keeps getting banded about. 00:28:24.109 --> 00:28:27.470 It's it is what it is. It's a lovely melody. 00:28:27.630 --> 00:28:30.349 It's a lovely piece of music. And which is why 00:28:30.349 --> 00:28:33.329 it worked in the first place. So it was a good 00:28:33.329 --> 00:28:36.769 idea. And I was just very happy to make it happen. 00:28:37.329 --> 00:28:39.470 Well, off the top of your head, do you have a 00:28:39.470 --> 00:28:41.789 rough percentage of how many artists you worked 00:28:41.789 --> 00:28:45.210 with in person versus remotely at alternate studios? 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.009 I think there were only about 12 of the players 00:28:48.009 --> 00:28:51.190 came into British Grove. to record in person 00:28:51.190 --> 00:28:55.849 um although no maybe a few more because because 00:28:55.849 --> 00:28:58.789 there's mark's entire band are on are on it as 00:28:58.789 --> 00:29:03.430 well so yeah different stages yes obviously they 00:29:03.430 --> 00:29:06.750 they played on it four years before the track 00:29:06.750 --> 00:29:11.049 was even conceived so because their contribution 00:29:11.049 --> 00:29:14.269 came from an early recording so yes yes yes it's 00:29:14.269 --> 00:29:17.430 kind of odd but yeah so i suppose about 16 maybe 00:29:17.430 --> 00:29:22.230 17 people out of however many it is 65 i've lost 00:29:22.230 --> 00:29:26.069 count any of those sessions bring out like a 00:29:26.069 --> 00:29:28.130 memory like oh my god we're doing this here in 00:29:28.130 --> 00:29:31.630 person yeah absolutely all of them albert lee 00:29:31.630 --> 00:29:34.630 was just so sweet and everything he played was 00:29:34.630 --> 00:29:38.210 just so albert pete townsend came in and he had 00:29:38.210 --> 00:29:41.349 this little tiny amp and i just thought oh hang 00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:44.680 on as that's i want pete townsend i want his 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:47.880 sound i want his big sound and as soon as he 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:49.700 played the first chord mark and i looked at each 00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:53.019 other and went yeah okay that's pete incredible 00:29:53.019 --> 00:29:57.220 sound from this little this little twin eric 00:29:57.220 --> 00:30:01.940 gave me a whole top to bottom pass on acoustic 00:30:01.940 --> 00:30:06.240 and on electric and i just thought i just you 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:08.099 know it was like all my christmases had come 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:10.480 up once everything you could just do the track 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.180 just listen to eric to be honest with you, because 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:15.799 everything he played was beautiful. And he kept 00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:17.779 saying to me at the end, you know, are you sure? 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:19.700 Do you want more? Do you want more? Because I'm, 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:22.200 you know, I'm a bit out of practice. I just said, 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:28.019 God, Eric, just get out of here. Perfect. And 00:30:28.019 --> 00:30:31.039 Ronnie Wood came in quite late on. They were 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:33.299 just about to start rehearsals for the, or they 00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:36.539 were getting together for their tour and gave 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:39.880 me a few big chords and it just instantly sounded 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:42.839 like the Stones, which was. exactly what we wanted 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:45.279 exactly what mark and i would mark was there 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:50.019 when ronnie came in yeah and it was yeah it was 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:52.339 a lot of fun most of the day when these guys 00:30:52.339 --> 00:30:54.359 came in was most of the day was spent chatting 00:30:54.359 --> 00:30:57.160 and catching up because you know all these guys 00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:59.940 know each other and you know when pete comes 00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:02.859 to the studio we have lunch and we spend the 00:31:02.859 --> 00:31:05.759 afternoon talking usually about recording gear 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:09.259 geeky stuff that you know all about So, yeah, 00:31:09.339 --> 00:31:11.299 it's friends catching up as much as anything. 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:14.779 Well, along with the musician roster that you've 00:31:14.779 --> 00:31:16.980 assembled, you also brought on board Sir Peter 00:31:16.980 --> 00:31:19.940 Blake, who designed the cover art for the Beatles' 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:22.859 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to create 00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:26.720 the artwork for the CD single and album and digital 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:28.900 artwork. How did he become involved with the 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:31.859 project? Well, he was asked very early on by 00:31:31.859 --> 00:31:36.970 the people who conceived the idea. And he very 00:31:36.970 --> 00:31:41.789 graciously said yes. So he knew about it at the 00:31:41.789 --> 00:31:44.910 very beginning, two and a half years ago. He 00:31:44.910 --> 00:31:46.569 was struggling with his health at the time, so 00:31:46.569 --> 00:31:48.549 he didn't get around to doing anything for quite 00:31:48.549 --> 00:31:53.589 a while. But as soon as we saw what he did, it 00:31:53.589 --> 00:31:57.470 was just perfect. It was just exactly what the 00:31:57.470 --> 00:32:02.349 project needed. And we had a little launch playback 00:32:02.349 --> 00:32:05.359 at British Grove where... A few of the players 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:08.119 came, Joe Brown, Joe Namatrading, Ronnie Wood, 00:32:08.339 --> 00:32:12.400 Albert Lee was there. And Sir Peter came to that. 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:14.900 And so we did a little photo shoot. And it was 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:18.660 just, yeah, it was lovely. Well, for those listening 00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:20.680 who don't know this, as I mentioned at the top, 00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.940 Guy is an accredited Dolby Atmos engineer, which 00:32:23.940 --> 00:32:26.680 as an audio guy, I'm excited to learn a little 00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:29.359 bit more about. Can you maybe explain at like 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:33.400 a top level what Adobe Atmos music mix is for 00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:36.059 those who might not be familiar with it? Yeah, 00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:39.440 it's really an immersive mix. It's a mix that 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:42.920 comes from, instead of coming from stereo speakers, 00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:46.740 comes from multiple speakers all around you or 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:51.319 multiple sound sources. So the advantage is that 00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:55.619 the track becomes more open. You can kind of 00:32:55.619 --> 00:32:58.960 get inside it a little bit more. Well -recorded 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.519 pieces of music obviously benefit greatly from 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:04.380 the technology. So if you take a lot of care 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:06.579 with an album and you spend a lot of time getting 00:33:06.579 --> 00:33:09.700 sounds, when you do an Atmos mix, you can really 00:33:09.700 --> 00:33:12.619 kind of feature those sounds more, like particularly 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:16.099 guitar sounds. We spend a lot of time working 00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:19.099 on the sounds on Mark's records, not just the 00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:22.680 lead guitar, the acoustics. all the other incidental 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:25.299 instruments, and you can really hit them out 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:29.160 and enjoy them with Atmos mixes. Of course, the 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:32.619 problem with Atmos is to listen to it properly, 00:33:32.779 --> 00:33:36.339 you need a lot of loudspeakers. That is changing 00:33:36.339 --> 00:33:39.359 because I'm involved with a system called AirSound, 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:43.460 AirSound Spatial, which is a way to listen to 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:46.099 true Atmos from two, three, or four speakers. 00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:50.660 So it's very new. We're developing it now. We've 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:52.819 done a couple of demonstrations and everybody's 00:33:52.819 --> 00:33:56.279 been completely blown away. So you're hearing 00:33:56.279 --> 00:33:58.420 it here first. Keep your ear out for air sound 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:01.480 because the potential for consumers to be able 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:03.759 to listen to Atmos, to me, is very exciting. 00:34:04.299 --> 00:34:06.960 To make it affordable. Because, I mean, most 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.340 artists are doing the mixes now. It's just that 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:11.239 people aren't really able to hear them properly. 00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:12.940 You know, you can hear them with the Apple headphones 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:15.880 and it's okay. And you can hear them with soundbars. 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:20.019 But it's not true Atmos. You know, I think anything 00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:23.260 we can do to get it to the consumer is going 00:34:23.260 --> 00:34:25.260 to be a fantastic thing because it is a really 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:27.900 enjoyable way to listen to music. It's my, it's 00:34:27.900 --> 00:34:30.239 our new favorite. Mark is totally in love with 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:33.960 it. That and vinyl. It's, I mean, it's a, you 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:37.119 know, it's a good record sound, fantastic on 00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:41.780 vinyl and in Atmos too. Having seen feature films 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:44.079 using Dolby Atmos, you truly feel like you're 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:47.340 being surrounded. by the sound as well as what 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:49.380 you're seeing on screen, but for music, just 00:34:49.380 --> 00:34:53.019 the sound. Is your mindset different when you're 00:34:53.019 --> 00:34:56.320 mixing the song for Atmos versus a regular stereo 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.480 recording that would just come through a CD player? 00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:03.679 Yes and no. No in that the main thing to focus 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:07.199 on is the song still. It's very easy to pick 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:10.820 it apart and for it to lose its cohesion, to 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:14.420 lose the glue, because tracks work. partly because 00:35:14.420 --> 00:35:16.699 of the glue that they have with stereo mixes 00:35:16.699 --> 00:35:20.380 when you when you master a song you you're kind 00:35:20.380 --> 00:35:22.579 of giving a little more glue with a little limiting 00:35:22.579 --> 00:35:25.360 a little eq to make it sort of pump a little 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:29.960 bit more that kind of disappears with atmos because 00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:33.719 you don't really need to do that so you have 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:35.900 to sort of find other ways to give it a little 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:38.500 bit of excitement if it needs it so you know 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:41.719 it's it's very difficult to it's very easy to 00:35:41.719 --> 00:35:45.360 get it wrong i think um and really i think for 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:49.840 me the rule is just keep it keep the stereo as 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:52.860 your guideline and you know everybody mixes atmos 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:56.119 is this does it the same i'm sure the stereo 00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:58.880 is what you're trying to you're trying to maintain 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:03.420 what the stereo achieves but make it more immersive 00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:06.880 and more enjoyable and that kind of happens naturally 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.539 just when you start to spread things out and 00:36:09.539 --> 00:36:12.420 use the format It kind of happens by itself. 00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:14.880 You just have to be a little bit careful and 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:17.739 a little bit subtle with certain things. But 00:36:17.739 --> 00:36:19.840 it's a lot of fun when you've got nicely recorded 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:23.039 material. And obviously with keyboard sounds, 00:36:23.340 --> 00:36:27.000 which is my domain, I love being able to pull 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:29.019 keyboard sounds apart because so much of what 00:36:29.019 --> 00:36:32.139 I do is combination sounds. You know, I don't 00:36:32.139 --> 00:36:34.840 just have a sound. It's often three or four sounds 00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:38.110 to get that sound. And they may not all come 00:36:38.110 --> 00:36:40.769 from a keyboard, but with Atmos, you can play 00:36:40.769 --> 00:36:42.949 around with pulling those apart and actually 00:36:42.949 --> 00:36:45.369 being able to identify the elements a little 00:36:45.369 --> 00:36:49.050 more. You can get quite geeky about it, but essentially 00:36:49.050 --> 00:36:53.369 the main thing is the song. The song is the main 00:36:53.369 --> 00:36:57.750 thing you have to keep in mind. Do you see Dolby 00:36:57.750 --> 00:37:00.889 Atmos being the silver bullet that finally puts 00:37:00.889 --> 00:37:03.750 an end to the loudness wars that have been happening 00:37:03.750 --> 00:37:06.329 over the last two decades in music, the brick 00:37:06.329 --> 00:37:08.809 walling? Do you think that this could be the 00:37:08.809 --> 00:37:12.050 solution that brings people to quality sounding 00:37:12.050 --> 00:37:15.889 music versus just loud? Well, I hope so. It's 00:37:15.889 --> 00:37:17.550 already starting to happen. I mean, most of the 00:37:17.550 --> 00:37:20.869 stuff I'm listening to in Atmos kind of doesn't 00:37:20.869 --> 00:37:22.670 sound like it's brick walled anymore because 00:37:22.670 --> 00:37:26.079 what's the point? it doesn't work when you brick 00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:30.460 wall something in atmos well some things do but 00:37:30.460 --> 00:37:35.800 um yeah it's i'm enjoying listening to the way 00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:38.559 people are doing mixes and and i'm enjoying listening 00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:42.179 to the way people are experimenting with with 00:37:42.179 --> 00:37:45.340 dynamics because atmos gives you the dynamics 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:48.679 gives you the back so you're right to sort of 00:37:48.679 --> 00:37:51.519 bring that up the the dynamics that we've lost 00:37:52.590 --> 00:37:55.469 Mind you, popular music was never very dynamic 00:37:55.469 --> 00:37:58.769 because you've got to get it to sound good out 00:37:58.769 --> 00:38:01.610 of a transistor radio. So get rid of your dynamics. 00:38:02.389 --> 00:38:06.389 But obviously, you know, my background is very 00:38:06.389 --> 00:38:09.630 much about arrangement and working with Mark, 00:38:09.730 --> 00:38:13.090 you know, diastrates. We took a lot of care in 00:38:13.090 --> 00:38:16.010 arrangement and dynamics particularly, particularly 00:38:16.010 --> 00:38:19.030 on our live shows. Dynamics was a big part of 00:38:19.030 --> 00:38:23.489 it. So, yes. To be able to explore that more 00:38:23.489 --> 00:38:27.190 is a very cool thing and people are doing it. 00:38:27.610 --> 00:38:30.489 Well, for you personally and with Mark in his 00:38:30.489 --> 00:38:33.489 band, are there any projects that you have right 00:38:33.489 --> 00:38:38.710 now that are going to follow up going home? God, 00:38:38.949 --> 00:38:41.389 we've done so much work in the last couple of 00:38:41.389 --> 00:38:43.610 years and it's all suddenly come out at once. 00:38:44.170 --> 00:38:47.170 I kind of got no idea what's around the corner, 00:38:47.309 --> 00:38:50.630 which has been great because I'm actually, for 00:38:50.630 --> 00:38:53.389 the first week, This week and last week, I haven't 00:38:53.389 --> 00:38:56.250 actually had anything to do. I'm mixing a couple 00:38:56.250 --> 00:39:00.389 of albums for some friends of mine, bands who 00:39:00.389 --> 00:39:03.849 want their albums done in Atmos. But apart from 00:39:03.849 --> 00:39:06.369 that, it's suddenly all very quiet. So I'm actually 00:39:06.369 --> 00:39:09.349 spending some time doing some acoustic treatment 00:39:09.349 --> 00:39:11.469 in my room, which I meant to do 20 years ago. 00:39:11.769 --> 00:39:14.230 So I finally found time to sort of do something 00:39:14.230 --> 00:39:18.550 like that. So to answer your question, there's 00:39:18.550 --> 00:39:21.159 nothing. that I can mention that's coming up 00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:23.079 in the pipeline, but there's bound to be some 00:39:23.079 --> 00:39:26.179 stuff just around the corner. I know Mark wants 00:39:26.179 --> 00:39:30.059 to record more music. So yeah. Well, congratulations 00:39:30.059 --> 00:39:33.599 on Going Home Guy. The single came out amazing. 00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:36.300 It is such a great cause that you're doing it 00:39:36.300 --> 00:39:39.500 for. And this has been an absolute honor. Thank 00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:41.940 you so much for joining me on My Weekly Mixtape. 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:45.250 It's a pleasure, Brian. Thank you. And for those 00:39:45.250 --> 00:39:47.630 listening, remember, you can find my weekly mixtape 00:39:47.630 --> 00:39:50.690 on almost all the social media haunts at my weekly 00:39:50.690 --> 00:39:53.429 mixtape. You can also head to my weekly mixtape 00:39:53.429 --> 00:39:56.369 dot com to check out the full catalog of my weekly 00:39:56.369 --> 00:39:58.710 mixtape episodes. And if you like what you're 00:39:58.710 --> 00:40:00.530 hearing on the show, you can help me out by either 00:40:00.530 --> 00:40:03.010 telling a friend. leaving the show a five -star 00:40:03.010 --> 00:40:05.489 review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming 00:40:05.489 --> 00:40:09.010 a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash 00:40:09.010 --> 00:40:12.449 myweeklymixtape. That's all for this week. Thanks 00:40:12.449 --> 00:40:15.030 again for listening, and until next time, enjoy 00:40:15.030 --> 00:40:15.530 the tunes.