You're originally from Newfoundland. You were taking psychology in school, and then you took a totally different turn into engineering.
Yeah. I always had an interest in music, ever since I can remember. I feel becoming a recording engineer/ producer is something that one trains for their entire life, and even once they become one it will forever be a learning experience. How many other careers on the planet give that opportunity? I did go to Recording Arts Canada, but I view it rather as a waste of time and money. The benefit of it was introducing me to Bob – as he was one of the lecturers – so I wouldn't have been an unsolicited resume when the time came. Prior to RAC, I did some university in other fields to appease my folks – psychology, philosophy, and naval architecture – but from childhood I trained to be a musician; classical piano and every instrument I could get my hands on. I started messing around with equipment and electronics – it also helped that my dad is an electrician who loved teaching me. I became involved in the sound system and music program crew at church. Growing up in the early '90s, I was mostly buying rock albums, and I loved them. I started dissecting sounds and effects, and anything I heard I'd wonder about. I knew from reading album credits that this was something I wanted to have my name in. The older I get, the more I look back on life and see so many scenarios that prepared me for this career. Scenarios that are worth so much more than formal education.
You studied naval architecture?
Boat building and oil rigs. I thought it was fun and I enjoyed it, academically, but I knew where my heart was. I'm so anti-recording school now, but it did give me opportunity and connection. My goal was to take a class and move back to Newfoundland to start my own studio, but I felt the need to send out some resumes here. I did that, and Bob Doige called me back. Grant Avenue was right in the middle of doing a Gordon Lightfoot record, when Gord had had a stomach aneurism. I never did move back to Newfoundland to start my own place. I got involved in a lot of projects here pretty quickly.
Grant Avenue has always had a high quality standard of engineer. What does Bob look for in engineers?
People will automatically assume that you get hired based on a course or great technical knowledge in this field. When they hired me, Bob said one of the biggest turn offs about my resume was the fact that I had taken a recording course. It took me a while, maybe a couple of years here, before I realized where he was coming from on that. The reason he hired me was because I had classical piano training; I knew how to read music, and that's a great skill to have. I knew how to solder; also a very good skill to have in this business. And psychology; that's the biggest reason he hired me, as I had one or two years of basic psychology knowledge. That is needed on a daily basis. He could have taught anybody how to learn the console and the gear. You can learn that from a book. But how to deal with people, deal with artists – with a singer who's having a bad day – and then how to deal with all the dynamics that are going on in a band itself – you need to be able to navigate that.
You've been here for how many years?
It'll be 18 in September 2020.
You're the longest-standing engineer here, right?
Other than Bob, yeah.
Could you describe the vibe of the studio?
I could write a book about that. When these guys [Bob Lanois and Daniel Lanois] decided to move the studio here in the '70s, at the time they were recording in their mom's basement in Ancaster [Ontario, Canada]. They outgrew that situation. They were working on projects with Raffi and Bruce Cockburn there. I'm sure it was a huge pain for them to convert this building from a house into an operating recording studio. They had to move plumbing and electrical. The number of miles of cable in this building for audio is insane. Their decision to put it here has made a huge impact on how people feel about it and why they like to come here. Aside from the history, the feeling when you walk in the front door is like you're coming home. Making music is such an intimidating process for a lot of people; even people who have been doing it for a long time. If they can do it in an environment that feels like their own living room, it takes down that wall. We feel sight line and body language among band members is important. The layout of the studio allows everybody to see each other's faces and read each other's body language. That certainly adds to the musicality of a performance. That has a lot to do with the charm of this place. We are pretty steadfast in that it's all analog gear, for the most part. That went out of fashion after some time, but it's back in trend and has come full-circle with the resurgence of vinyl and whatnot. We're finding that people are wanting to come here because of our old tube microphones, as well as the analog console. Most of our outboard gear is analog. Strange as it probably sounds, I feel this place is a living, breathing thing. Anybody else who has worked here probably feels the same way. It's so embedded in our fibers, at this point. We have been operating here since 1976, and I hope it stays that way for another 42 years or more.
