The Process of Production

This week, we take a trip to 123 Studios in Peckham, south London, to interview the studio's owner, Brett Shaw.

We speak to him about how his production skills are built on a foundation of engineering expertise, working on sprawling album projects, building your own preamps, and what it’s like recording the vocal for a multi-platinum Grammy-winning single.

Brett started his music career as multi-instrumentalist in the band South, who signed to Mo' Wax  in the late 90s, a cult record label founded by UNKLE’s James Lavelle, who co-produced the band’s debut album.

After the band, Brett set up his own recording space, engineering the vocals on many hit records, including multi-platinum mega-hit 'Rather Be' by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynn, which went 4x platinum, wining a Grammy and Ivor Novello awards.

In recent years, Brett’s collaborated with the band Foals to produce their double album ‘Everything not saved will be lost’, and worked from the ground up with Florence and the Machine to produce their album ‘High Is Hope’ - both records earned a Mercury nomination.

Other credits with Mura Masa, Gorillaz, daughter, Swim Deep and Kindness round out an impressive resumé.

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

This week we have a somewhat self-congratulatory moment, and celebrate making it to double figures in episodes. It might not seem like a lot, but the podcast is well and truly off the ground now, and it’s time to appreciate that before we dive into our next round of interviews (we have a lot of great guests coming your way).

For a bit of fun, we pose each other the questions that we pose to the guests in our regular features. So that’s the session food-tip, our thoughts on the most important tool at your disposal as a producer, and the ‘Fast Five’, where we speak about our favourite gear in five key areas of music production. We take the time to go pretty deep on our answers, so it’s more of a ‘Not-so Fast Five’ this time! And apologies if this episode is a little more techy than usual.

In another cause for celebration this week, Celine Cairo released ‘Pirouettes’, a song that Lawrence and Bob wrote together with her last year. The song was playlisted on Spotify’s New Music Friday in Celine’s native Netherlands, as well as in Germany and Switzerland.

Also, check out Tequisha’s debut EP, which Bob worked on, that was also released on Friday.

And a cheeky link to Bob’s experimental electronica solo record, mentioned in the episode.

We hope you enjoy this (admittedly slightly indulgent) episode, and please get in touch with any of your own answers to our regular features, especially if you have a niche one that no one’s covered yet.

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

We speak to Chris Sheldon, an Engineer, Mixer and Producer who has worked on some of the most influential rock records of the last 30 years. After serving an apprenticeship at various London studios through the 80s he produced the million selling debut album, troublegum, by cult british rock band Therapy! A couple of years later his relationship with super-producer Gil Norton led to him producing the Colour and The Shape for the Foo Fighters. Not content with 2 of the greatest rock records of the nineties on his CV, he started the noughties by returning to the production chair for the first 3 albums by multi platinum rock trio Biffy Clyro (Personal favourites of this podcast) as well as other records by Oceansize, Feeder and My Vitriol. Into the twenty-tens he’s stuck mainly with mixing, but returned to his first love of engineering to work alongside Giles Martin, George’s son, on the Elton John film musical Rocketman.  We heard about all of this and more, but started with that incredible Foo Fighters record and how Dave and Gil built their relationship with Chris as well as how it’s legacy still resonates through the years.

Click here for a playlist of Chris’ work

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

Our first ever in person interview this week, and what a pleasure it was to spend some time in the company of Sam Chadburn, AKA Sam Interface. From Drum and Bass officianado and die hard clubber to intercontinental producer and platinum mixer - Music has already taken Sam on some incredible adventures. And you feel from listening to this interview that there's still much much more to come. 

Click here for a playlist of Sam’s work.

Sam Chadburn, also known as Sam Interface, is a producer, mixer, and DJ based in London. Born in Glastonbury, Sam was a crate-digger and music obsessive from a young age. He moved to Bristol as soon as he could, and immersed himself in the city's Drum and Bass scene and club culture. Early track ‘Get Lo’ produced with his crew ‘Interface’, saw him breakthrough to a wider audience after it was picked up by legendary DJ Andy C, while his collab Bright Lights with Die and William Cartwright also became a cornerstone of the early 2010s Drum n Bass sound.

Sam met longtime creative partner Keshav on the Bristol scene, whose roots in Trinidad led to a fruitful series of collaborations and productions with some of the biggest artists in the carribean.

A working relationship with Toddla T gave Sam his breakthrough as a mixer - the track ‘Boasty’ featuring Idris Elba, which Toddla produced, and Sam mixed, was a huge hit, and certified platinum in the UK.

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

This time, we speak to Rob Ellis, whose role as drummer and then co-producer with PJ Harvey led to rich and creative career, working with stars like Thom Yorke, Anna Calvi and Marianne Faithful. We hear great some great stories on what it was like recording these maverick artists, and Rob's refreshingly holistic approach to the recording process.

Click here for a playlist of Rob's production work

When DRY, the debut album by PJ Harvey, that he had co-produced and played drums on became a global hit, and a touchstone of early 90s guitar music, Rob Ellis was catapulted into 10 years of arranging and producing for a wide variety of artists including 60s legend Marianne Faithful. At the turn of the millennium Rob returned to work on production with Ms Harvey for what would become the Mercury Award winning album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. This kicked off another rich vein of work for upcoming and established artists such as Torres, Anna Calvi (who’s debut album brought Rob another Mercury nomination) and 2:54.

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

We talk to producer Liam Howe about songwriting methods, lyrics, nurturing new artists, seeing the big picture, and producing an album with only 1gb of data available!

Liam Howe’s band the Sneaker Pimps broke through in the 90s with their self-produced debut album Becoming X, scoring a hit on both sides of the Atlantic with their track 6 Underground.

Having always aspired to be a producer, Liam has helped launch the careers of multiple stars, including Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, Ellie Goulding, and Lana Del Rey. Not to mention producing the debut album for Lawrence’s first band, Official Secrets Act!

The first new music from the Sneaker Pimps in nearly 20 years is out July 9th 2021, it’s the first single from forthcoming album “Squaring The Circle”.

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like the podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

This week we talk to Sam Klempner, a songwriter, producer and mixer who works out of his studio in Chiswick, West London. He describes the role of a producer as a "musical midwife" and we talk about what that means to him.

Having started out assisting top-class mix engineer James Reynolds, Sam then took a role working with songwriting and production trio TMS, who are behind some of the biggest hits of this century.

After this unparalleled education in the pop music production process, it was inevitable that Sam would branch out on his own. He has since worked on tracks with artists like Paloma Faith, James Arthur, Little Mix, and K-Pop giants BTS.

We have a great discussion about songwriting sessions in pop and the different ways they can work, both remotely and now that we can finally get in the room together. We hear how it feels to hear your vocals played out at Wembley Stadium, some pearls of wisdom on living life for now, and why Nando's is the best session food.

This will be our final episode before we switch to a new release schedule of an episode every two weeks. Thanks for supporting us so far, please keep sharing the podcast with your music friends to help us grow!

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like to podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

This week, we celebrate the easing of lockdown in the UK and the possibility of doing more face-to-face sessions, and begin a campaign for sessions to start earlier in the day. This is at the instigation of our guest, George Reid. As an artist, he found fame as one half of electronic pop duo AlunaGeorge, who were shortlisted for the BBC Sound of 2013 poll, as well as receiving a nomination for the BRITS critics choice award. They soon became part of the pop vanguard of the early ‘10s, thanks in no small part to George’s distinctive and esoteric RnB production style. George has since turned his talents to working with other acts out of his home studio in New Malden, including producing Spice Girl Mel C and remixing Coldplay.

Click here to listen to a playlist of George’s work

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like to podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you

This week to talk to Laura Bettinson about how she’s moved from being a one woman pop-powerhouse in Femme, to a producer, and editor, of cutting edge dance music. We hear how she dealt with working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich in one of her first ever studio sessions, and how a life changing trip to Mexico lit a touch paper under her creativity that led to her stripping away her process to its bare bones, with massive success. We also get the inside track on how to make quality Chinese cuisine.

Click here for a playlist of Laura’s work

The Process of Production is presented by Lawrence Diamond and Bob Matthews.

Lawrence cut his teeth playing and writing in Indie bands before finding international success and touring the world with his band CITIZENS! During that time he worked with a host of revered producers including Liam Howe, Mark Ralph and Alex Kapranos. Since the band ended in 2016 he’s been using that experience to help other artists develop their careers as a writer and producer while continuing to release his own music under various different guises.

Bob learned his trade as the producer and multi-instrumentalist in Electronic Pop duo Alpines, whose career spans 3 albums, releases on major and indie record labels, shows with Florence + The Machine, The xx, Emeli Sandé, and a top 20 hit 'Tidal Wave' in collaboration with Sub Focus. In recent years he has turned his focus to producing other acts and has a studio in Chiswick in West London.

If you have any feedback or questions, please email us: [email protected]

Follow The Process of Production on Instagram @processofproduction

If you like to podcast, please consider giving us a review on your podcast provider of choice! Thank you