Show Notes
Producer, mixer and engineer Cameron Craig joins Kevin Paul to discuss his traditional path into the music industry, share advice for newcomers looking to break in today and to shed light on the work of the Music Producers Guild and its positive impact on the industry. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:40 - Route Into The Industry 04:22 - Career Progression At Flagstaff Studios 06:56 - Learning As An Assistant 09:52 - The Blurring Of Engineer And Producer Roles 14:06 - Moving To The UK 17:52 - Setting Up As A Freelancer 19:42 - Technology Changing The Industry 25:01 - Working With Inspiring Artists 26:58 - The Music Producers Guild 30:09 - Lobbying For AI Consent 33:54 - Benefits Of Membership 35:46 - The Future Of The MPG 37:44 - Tips For Getting Into The Industry We’d like to thank Neil Pickles and the management at Pierce Entertainment for letting us record this episode at their studio. https://www.pierce-entertainment.com/ Music Producers Guild The Music Producers Guild is a not for profit organisation that was started by producers, mixers, recording engineers, re-mixers and programmers and is run by volunteers from within the industry. Their aim is to support members in their careers, campaign for the rights of music industry workers, promote diversity within the industry and to celebrate the achievements of members via the annual MPG Awards. https://mpg.org.uk/ Cameron Craig Biog Cameron is a two time Grammy award-winning Producer-Mixer-Engineer. A hugely impressive credit list notably also includes several albums with U.N.K.L.E., along with names like Adele, Annie Lennox, Bjork, Tina Turner, Baxter Dury, Grace Jones, Joe Strummer, Duffy, Amy Winehouse and many more.
His work has encompasses an enormous spectrum of musical styles including indie, dance, film soundtrack and orchestral recording, picking up a Grammy award for "Album of the Year" for his part in recording Adele's 25 and collecting another Grammy award for "Best Engineered - Non classical” in 2008 for his contribution to the Suzanne Vega album Beauty and Crime also recording the orchestra on Duffy's Grammy and Brit award-winning Rockferry album.
Other notable accolades are Grammy nominations for Annie Lennox’s Nostalgia album that he mixed, Bjork’s Biophilia album that he recorded a track on, a nomination for MPG’s Recording Engineer of the Year 2015.
Having started out in his native Australia he achieved great success with many multi-platinum albums and a nomination for ARIA Engineer of the year in 1995 to his name. It is then Cameron decided to move to the UK to further his career.
Cameron is an Executive Director of the MPG and sits on the board of UK music representing the MPG to the wider music community. https://www.cameroncraig.info Kevin Paul Biog Kevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.
After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.
In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, C
More from People & Music Industry
Cameron Craig of the Music Producers Guild and Chris Cooke of CMU discuss the new MPG Producer Deals Guide, explaining how producer agreements are changing and what producers need to understand about points, royalties, expenses and publishing. They explore the issues facing both established and unsigned artists, and why agreeing terms clearly and putting them in writing is essential. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:18 - Who are CMU? 01:03 - The Producer Deals Guide 03:51 - The Changing Industry 09:35 - The Producer Contribution 18:45 - Unsigned Artists 21:02 - Addressing The Matter Early 25:00 - When To Get A Publisher 26:31 - Managing Multiple Works 33:04 - Covering Expenses 38:17 - PPD And Net Receipt Deals 44:55 - Written Agreements Music Producers Guild The Music Producers Guild is a not for profit organisation that was started by producers, mixers, recording engineers, re-mixers and programmers and is run by volunteers from within the industry. Their aim is to support members in their careers, campaign for the rights of music industry workers, promote diversity within the industry and to celebrate the achievements of members via the annual MPG Awards. https://mpg.org.uk/dealsguide Cameron Craig Biog Cameron is a two time Grammy award-winning Producer-Mixer-Engineer. A hugely impressive credit list notably also includes several albums with U.N.K.L.E., along with names like Adele, Annie Lennox, Bjork, Tina Turner, Baxter Dury, Grace Jones, Joe Strummer, Duffy, Amy Winehouse and many more.
Michael J. Morgan joins Sam Inglis to discuss the practical challenges of working freelance in the audio industry, from setting rates and finding clients to building relationships and developing a sustainable business. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:28 - Business Mentoring For Freelancers 07:43 - Modern Career Paths For Audio Engineers 09:51 - The Right Time To Go Freelance 13:19 - The Benefits Of Specialising 16:30 - The Role Of A Manager 21:24 - The Importance Of Networking 26:44 - Utilising Social Media Wisely 32:25 - Setting The Right Price 40:53 - Streamlining Your Workflow Michael J. Morgan Biog Michael J. Morgan is a business coach for audio engineers and founder of The Business of Mixing, where he helps mixers, mastering engineers, producers, and other audio professionals build stronger, more sustainable freelance businesses. He has worked with approximately 500 audio professionals, including engineers behind records by Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Tame Impala, and others. His work focuses on understanding the market, positioning, pricing, client relationships, and the business systems behind a long-term career in audio. Michael has also led research and strategy work with pro-audio companies including PMC Speakers, oeksound, and OHMA Microphones, and has shared his work with audiences through Sweetwater, Mix With The Masters, Sound On Sound, and a number of industry podcasts. https://mixing.biz https://www.instagram.com/mixing.biz Sam Inglis Biog Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006). Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Gérard Assayag talks to Nick Rothwell about his pioneering work in creative AI and computer music at IRCAM, exploring co-creativity, computer-aided composition, musician–machine interaction and the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and musical performance. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:51 - Background Story 03:18 - Working at IRCAM 05:33 - Computer Science 09:26 - Music Presentation Software 13:13 - Co-creativity with OMax and Somax 16:37 - Exploring Creative AI with REACH 23:45 - Generating Symbolic Scores 28:34 - Music As A Prompt 31:23 - Improtech Workshop Festival #ircam #openmusic #OMax #Somax #Improtech Gérard Assayag Biog Gérard Assayag is Research Director at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, where he founded the internationally recognised Music Representations team. He also directed IRCAM's Sciences and Technologies of Music and Sound (STMS) laboratory, and led the development of influential computer music software including OpenMusic, Antescofo, Orchidea, OMax and Somax. Assayag is a co-founder of the Sorbonne University Institute for Music Sciences, the Sorbonne Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the French Society for Computer Music, the International Society for Mathematics and Computation in Music, and the Journal of Mathematics and Music. His research focuses on computer languages and algorithms for music, computer-aided composition, and creative AI for musician–machine interaction. He is the recipient of a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for REACH (Raising Co-Creativity in Cyber-Human Musicianship), an international project exploring creative AI for music. He also performs live as a generative electronic musician using the AI tools he has developed. https://www.ircam.fr/en/people/grard-assayag https://www.facebook.com/iIRCAM https://www.ircam.fr/www.instagram.com/ircam_paris Nick Rothwell Biog Nick Rothwell is a composer, performer, software architect, coder and visual artist. He has built media performance systems for projects with Ballett Frankfurt and Vienna Volksoper, composed sound scores for Aydın Teker (Istanbul / Kapadokya), Shobana Jeyasingh, AWA Dance, Luz&Mannion Dance (Flamenco) and Undercurrent Theatre, programmed physical media sculptures with Simeon Nelson and Rob Godman, live coded in Mexico and in Berlin with sitar player Shama Rahman, collaborated with the body>data>space collective in Prague, Paris and Dresden, written software for Studio Wayne McGregor, Beinghuman in Kathmandu, the Pina Bausch Foundation and Nesta's FutureFest, consulted for Tate Modern, and developed algorithmic visuals for large-scale outdoor projections in Poland, Estonia, the Cambridge Music Festival and Lumiere (London / Durham). He has taught design at CODE Berlin and currently runs the Computer Science undergraduate course at University of the Arts London.
Tony Platt talks with Paul White about his career highlights, developing his recording techniques and memorable sessions with Bob Marley, AC-DC, Gary Moore and Uriah Heep. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:27 - Contacting Studios 06:23 - Learning By Watching 08:59 - Tape Operator At Trident 11:19 - Moving To Island Studios 12:57 - Becoming An Engineer 14:56 - A Different Recording Era 15:58 - Recording Bob Marley 17:25 - Using Spill As An Advantage 20:26 - Recording Techniques 23:04 - Memorable Sessions 26:13 - Taking Time To Develop Bands 28:42 - From Analogue To Digital 33:54 - Incorporating Analogue 35:51 - Analogue Emulations 39:05 - Expanding Into Different Genres 41:56 - Current Music Projects 42:37 - AI In Music
Music producer Ben Hillier reflects on his journey from orchestral percussionist to studio producer, from assisting on recordings to working with Elbow, Blur, Depeche Mode and Nadine Shah, sharing insights on feel, creativity and making records from his distinctive straw-built studio. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 02:36 - The Studio Design 03:56 - Recording Orchestras 08:51 - From College to Assisting 16:03 - Being A Good Engineer 20:08 - Recording Elbow 28:40 - Working With Blur 35:19 - Encouraging Creativity 40:35 - Engineering Depeche Mode 43:36 - Getting Feel Into Electronic Music 50:12 - Collaborating With Nadine Shah 57:46 - Being A Good Producer 59:20 - Creating A Good Studio Environment 1:01:13 - Choosing Which Projects To Work On 1:07:34 - Preferred Tools And Workflows