Nov/Dec 2011
Welcome to issue #86 of Tape Op.
While interviewing Bob Weston in 2000 for Tape Op #18, one of his comments took me by surprise. He told me, "Some bands just assume I won't record them. They assume I'm too busy, that I'm too expensive or that I only approach bands. When I hear that someone's afraid to call me, or assumes they can't call me, I can't even believe it." I'd always assumed since Bob worked on records that my friends and I bought and listened to that he was a hot commodity in the studio and that he was able to pick and choose projects to suit his taste and timeframe. The reality is that he was (gratefully) taking most any job that came down the pike in order to keep busy.
People's perceptions of how busy, inaccessible or picky a producer/engineer might be are often skewed. Most of us are easy to contact (see Vance Powell's, "People wonder how to find me and I say, 'Google me!'" in #82). Many folks are far more affordable than their
credits might lead you to believe. And everyone needs work; no matter how "cool" their job may appear. I recently talked to a good friend of mine who had a number of weeks work disappear overnight when a record label changed their mind on a band, and he's the kind of producer whom you might assume was always busy. We all live mostly day-to-day in this business (those of us crazy enough to attempt to make it a full time job) and what keeps clients coming our way is word of mouth, our back catalogs and musicians who wish to work with us. So to all the artists out there who admire the work of anyone on the other side of the glass, please consider that we might be much more available than you assume and that we'd be happy to work with you on any project.
