One of the amazing outcomes of David Joseph’s project was just how kind, open minded and generous the people involved are. They all clearly want to help people coming up in the music world and have spent untold hours giving advice, opinions, guidance and passing on a lifetime of knowledge. Bearing in mind Phill Brown is actually a legendary producer, having worked with, among other people, Led Zeppelin and of course Talk Talk and Mark’s final album, you’d never imagine just how much he helped an encouraged David with the project and introduced key people to him.
So it was incredible to see Phill Brown mixing the work of all the collaborators in Held by Trees. I have to admit I was completely overwhelmed to see Phill listening to my contribution and making it sound so beautiful. There is some sort of majick he does with sound that is indescribable.
It is quite something to watch an old master at work like this. Hands intuitively flying over faders, tweaking here and there in ways you can’t even quite tell they are so subtle, (maybe that is a good thing that says something of the love we all put into this.
The amazing equipment I was also in awe of. I have a nice studio, built up over a lifetime of collecting gear with a lot of analogue outboard and synths, but I can’t claim that the desk was used to mix my favourite ever David Bowie track, Ashes to Ashes, which is the reference track for all I do and my starting point in mixing along with Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis, all of which Phill Brown mixed and the analogue tape machine all the parts were sent out to through that desk was also something special.
I will be meeting Phill at the launch party at the arts club in Soho, The Union, on the launch day. I’ve no idea what I might say to him, or how to thank him for making my contribution sound so beautiful and hope he will think about mixing the Unknown Replica album. I can only ask. ∞