Steve lillywhite biography

Born inLillywhite grew up just outside of London in Egham, England, in a very musical family. Both parents played instruments and encouraged all three of their children to do so as well. His own playing, however, would drop off as he became more and more drawn into the engineering aspect of studio work. Soon enough, however, he became an engineer himself.

While Lillywhite had very little autonomy at Phonogram doing whatever work was required, the studio did offer a perk for its workers: on the weekends, employees could use the studios for their own projects. Lillywhite used them for his first forays into production, helping an unknown band then called Tiger Lily make demo tapes.

The enterprise turned out to be a lucrative one. When Island Records signed a deal with the band — now Ultravox — on the strength of the demos, they also invited Lillywhite to help with the production. Lillywhite continued to work with Island after the Ultravox debut, and was eventually offered a position as a producer with Island Artists.

Although the position offered opportunity and credibility, he soon felt cramped by the affiliation; he and the label agreed to terminate the contract. So … I decided to branch out on my own. All in all, Lillywhite had spent two years with the label. He and a friend briefly tried to manage their own label, XS Records, but it never produced anything notable.

Lillywhite has worked independently ever since, moving from label to label according to the location of an artist or a band. The solid foundation of Ultravox, Siouxsie, and XTC established Lillywhite as a key player in the postpunk alternative rock sound coalescing at the turn of the new decade. Lillywhite rode that wave into the s, his name value rising as his production credits grew.

Gabriel wanted Lillywhite to handle the production of his third solo album. It was an ideal example of a clear production — both in terms of sound and access to the artist and his songs. His laid-back production helps siphon off the pretense so that Bang! The difference also reflected a steve lillywhite biography shift in Lillywhite's style, as Billboard's Marilyn Gillen noted when she wrote that "Steve Lillywhite doesn't do that drum thing anymore" in A similar quality would lend itself to Vauxhall and I, the solo release by Morrissey, the former lead singer of British art-rock band the Smiths.

Consequently, although Lillywhite was no longer associated with the trademark Lillywhite sound, he seemed nonetheless to still have an identifiable voice. Possibly in a bid for that ever-evasive transparency, the producer announced in that he would tackle a wholly fresh challenge: an English country singer named Bo Walton. Began working in music industry as tape operator with Phonogram's Marble Arch studios, ; remained with Phonogram advancing to engineer, c.

Selective Works As producer Ultravox, Ultravox! Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel, Geffen, Psychedelic Furs, Psychedelic Furs, Columbia, U2, Boy, Island, U2, October, Island, Thompson Twins, Set, Arista, Big Country, The Crossing, Mercury, U2, War, Island, Rolling Stones, Dirty Work, Columbia, Talking Heads, Naked, Sire, Pogues, Peace and Love, Island, Pogues, Essential Pogues, Island, World Party, Bang!

Source: Grammy. Sources Billboard, February 1, ; March 26, Melody Maker, January 24, ; February 25, Musician, March How do you maintain that? Arrested development. Honestly, I think that whenever you're in the studio, life is on hold. I'm probably 25 years younger than I actually am, mentally, because of that. Also, I don't treat it like a job.

In a job, you have your work, your sleep, and your play. For me, and you know this too, I never get that awful Monday morning feeling, which is great.

Steve lillywhite biography: Steve Lillywhite was.

But then, you never get that elation of Friday night either, where work's finished. You miss out on both of those. It just is. You just do your thing, and a holiday comes. I never want to be complacent. I used to sit in my little room when I was 17, and I'd look through the glass window at the people in there, and there was a certain arrogance.

I'd think, "I'm never going to be like that. What concessions do you make as you're helping create a song? What if someone in the band wants to sabotage a song in a way, like, "Not too big! Not too hot! That used to happen a bit more. In the early days U2 had a song called "Pete the Chop," that seemed like it might be a hit. We never finished it because Bono felt that they didn't want to have that in their career yet.

I listen to people who take the records to radio as well. I live in the real world, so I'm aware of that stuff. I don't live in a utopia where good just means good, and bad just means bad; but I feel that the parameters of my beliefs can work within the formats. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I had something to offer. I also wouldn't do someone's album if I didn't think that I had something to offer.

It's not what I've done before, but how I feel now. I hate it when artists say to me, "Steve, I'll do whatever you want me to do. WhatIwantyoutodoisto give me ten ideas, and I'll help you get something great.

Steve lillywhite biography: Stephen Alan Lillywhite CBE is an

When I'm producing a record, the ones I look back at and like the best are the ones I didn't really plan out, where the mistakes happened. That's also joined to a memory; the memory of that mistake and the fact that you were man enough to leave it in fills you a little bit with pride. Well, when the band says, "Oh, we've got to fix that," and you say, "No, that's brilliant.

Especially now, with how they look at music, instead of listen to it. I'm always listening. I don't look at the screen, ever. Part of that is because I really don't know how to work it. But I have people who do, and who know what the computer does. I have no interest in typing. I should take a Pro Tools course, because I'd like to at least be able to sit there and do a little fiddling on my own, if I wanted to.

I think I was quite honorable back in the day when Pro Tools came out, because so many producers learned it on an artist's budget. I didn't want to do that because I felt it was immoral. I stayed pretty Luddite and analog. I mix with a computer now, but I always come through the desk because I like the sound of it. I'm also building my mix up right from the very beginning, and that is a tactile thing.

I've got ten fingers. I've never made a record where I haven't sat between the speakers with my hands on the faders. If it wasn't for studio culture, I wouldn't be here. I really am a tape op. I've made great records in toilets, and I've made terrible records in the most expensive studios in the world. I miss studio complexes where you tend to get cross-fertilization, where you have different bands in different rooms and they all meet at dinner.

You get the most ridiculous friendships! That's how we got Paul Weller to play guitar on Peter Gabriel's third album, because he just happened to be doing The Jam in the same studio. So, once you're mixing, you have an engineer helping; but are you still pushing and moving faders around? The way I've developed with Pro Tools is that I balance all the time.

I'll live with it for a bit and say, "Yeah, I like that. The next time we put that song on, it comes up. All I have to do is set the fader level. I'll take photographs of the starting points of the faders, and then I'll do the rest by hand. That's how I mix. When you say 'replicate it,' you're talking about taking those EQ steves lillywhite biography and recreating them I've done those tests and they really sound good.

Then I'll do some manual fader rides; if I like those rides, I'll replicate them. But I'll always mark my starting points. I'll be building up a mix manually; but the next time I put that song on, I just get the photographs out. I never use console automation. It's a pain! It's always owning you — you're never owning it. You always have to own what you're doing.

You may have the best desk in the world; but if it's owning you, you become smaller than what you are. You become timid. I don't want to be timid.

Steve lillywhite biography: Stephen Alan Lillywhite CBE (born 15

As I say, I have my theories. I don't ever listen to records that I've done, because there's nothing else I can do with them! Archived from the original on 24 September Archived from the original on 25 June Retrieved 26 June Archived from the original on 3 February The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 February Archived from the original on 22 July Rolling Stone.

Retrieved 25 March Archived from the original on 5 May Retrieved 20 September The London Gazette Supplement. Irish Examiner. Archived from the original on 2 June Retrieved 16 July Archived from the original on 26 February The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 April Billboard Japan in Japanese. Retrieved 12 January The Irish Times.

Retrieved 14 August The London Gazette 1st supplement.