{"id":2013,"date":"2012-06-18T00:10:39","date_gmt":"2012-06-17T23:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arpjournal.com\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2012-06-18T00:13:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-17T23:13:00","slug":"interview-with-ben-fowler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/interview-with-ben-fowler\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Ben Fowler"},"content":{"rendered":"

The art of cutting albums often sees individuals performing roles which are\u00a0sometimes not well-defined. Could you elaborate on some of the roles you have\u00a0performed in the past?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Fowler: The bulk of my livelihood stems from being a mix engineer, although I tend\u00a0to wear many hats. These days, for example, I\u2019m happily able to produce more often.\u00a0Nowadays, people need to be able to perform a variety of tasks. In the past there were\u00a0clearer cut roles for an assistant engineer, engineer, producer, production coordinator, and\u00a0others who did different things. Often the producer will now be the engineer. I\u2019m working\u00a0from my home studio today, and I\u2019m the producer, the engineer, the assistant engineer,\u00a0the budget coordinator, and the coffee maker. You can\u2019t just do one thing anymore. There\u00a0isn\u2019t enough money to hire each of those jobs out.<\/p>\n

Given that studio recording jobs are not entirely clear cut, one would assume that\u00a0career paths are also complicated. How does one \u2018break into\u2019 the industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BF: In my case, I was lucky and caught a break. I started out as a musician. Once I\u00a0graduated with a music degree from Ball State, I found an opportunity to work at Power\u00a0Station, which is now called Avatar Studios, in New York City. Not everyone is lucky\u00a0enough to catch a break that way, however. After graduating, a number of Belmont\u00a0students are given the opportunity to intern at studios like Ocean Way, or Blackbird here\u00a0in Nashville. If you are able to go to college and begin an internship like that, it\u2019s<\/p>\n

important to work as hard as you can.\u00a0Once an individual secures an internship, being humble is a very important thing. One\u00a0thing that we usually look for, as people looking to hire assistant engineers and entry-level\u00a0individuals, are social skills. Entry-level engineers may have a number of technical\u00a0skills and DAW skills, but it\u2019s important to learn how to interact with people. I believe\u00a0schools should afford more attention to equipping students with social skills. It\u2019s not\u00a0worth very much to be an engineering wiz if you can\u2019t blend in and collaborate with the\u00a0people around you. For those of us who have been a part of the industry for awhile,\u00a0attitude is the most important quality we look for when hiring people. If you are going to\u00a0spend 10-12 hours in a room with someone, you have to make sure that they represent\u00a0you well and interact with the client appropriately. Sometimes your clients will be\u00a0superstars, and one wrong word can change everything. \u00a0Apart from attitude, it\u2019s important for people to have a drive to succeed. The lazy cats\u00a0don\u2019t make it in this industry. We\u2019re graduating more people than there are jobs for, so\u00a0only the positive, hardworking people might get a shot.<\/p>\n

The role of the producer is often understood to be intensely creative. Would you say <\/strong>that mix engineering can be understood in the same way? Do the lines between <\/strong>production and mixing become blurry at any point?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BF: Good mixing is an art form. There is certainly a technical side as well, but once you\u00a0start considering how a mix should represent a particular song it becomes totally creative.\u00a0You can make or break a song with a good or bad mix.\u00a0I think production and mixing are very separate tasks. Some people are great producers,\u00a0but don\u2019t have any interest or desire to learn the technical aspects of mixing. On the other\u00a0hand there are engineers who also have great production chops. It really comes down to\u00a0the individual, and how they choose to work. If you are a great producer-engineer, then\u00a0you will get more work of that type. Some engineers just are not cut out to be producers,\u00a0and some producers are just not cut out to be engineers. Some people may be more\u00a0technical than musical, or the other way around.\u00a0The task of the \u2018producer\u2019 can mean different things, though. Some producers have the\u00a0ability to see the whole picture. For example, in a room with 7 musicians playing, a great\u00a0producer will be able to process everything they are playing quite easily. It\u2019s just natural. \u00a0Some producers are more like businessmen. Their skills lie more in getting money\u00a0together, and work more along the lines of an \u2018executive producer.\u2019 Here in Nashville\u00a0there are producers who are great in each category. There are producers here who can see\u00a0the \u2018big picture\u2019 while being great with songs, musically excellent, technically skilled,\u00a0and can communicate with the artist and the label effectively.<\/p>\n

The key to all of this is communication and to be able to interpret what somebody is\u00a0really looking for. If an artist is looking for a certain \u2013anything- whether a vocal quality\u00a0or something specific to the song, a producer needs to be able to interpret these needs and\u00a0deliver. If a producer can communicate artistically, he will be much busier than someone\u00a0who cannot. I was very fortunate to be trained behind some of the world\u2019s greatest\u00a0producers and engineers, which is why I am able to do this today. One of the most useful\u00a0things I was taught is that different groups of people, like different casts, require a\u00a0different management style. It\u2019s important to be able to use whichever production or\u00a0engineering style that is best suited to the group you are working with. Part of a\u00a0producer\u2019s role is to also cast players, much like a television show, who work together\u00a0well and are just right for the record. A good producer needs to be able to assemble the\u00a0right team for the right record, and manage them accordingly.<\/p>\n

How important is it to be around the \u2018very best\u2019 personnel? And how does one go <\/strong>about meeting these people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BF: It\u2019s really a series of lucky events, in most cases. Certainly, the career path for\u00a0anyone who is involved in recording is like a roller coaster. Even if you have some wild\u00a0successes, there will be some low points too. No matter which \u2018hat\u2019 you wear, there are\u00a0plenty of ups and downs. In my case, it was luck that led me to be able to work with Phil\u00a0Ramone, Russ Titelman, and Tom Dowd. These guys were, to me, legendary producers\u00a0and here in Nashville we have guys like Josh Leo, Dan Huff, and many others.\u00a0As far as breaking-in goes, someone may finish school and start producing demos and the\u00a0musicians may not be very good, or the music is not the greatest. You have to be able to\u00a0bust your hump and make that recording as good as possible, so that others will begin to\u00a0take note and realize that you can deliver. Whether you are a musician or a producer\/engineer, you need to build a reputation as someone who is dependable and who has the\u00a0ability to get projects done well and on time. Create your luck by taking opportunities and\u00a0doing your best every time. Satisfaction comes with making things perfect, not the money\u00a0or anything else. Any studio musician, producer, or engineer in town would agree. The\u00a0\u201chit-and-run\u201d types of producers and engineers don\u2019t last very long in this town.<\/p>\n

Could you describe your overall approach to engineering in greater detail?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BF: I was talking to someone recently, on behalf of a Canadian artist he was representing,\u00a0who was essentially price-shopping for an engineer as well as other personnel. Instead of\u00a0choosing people based on what work they\u2019ve done, he was casting people based on\u00a0money which is something I haven\u2019t seen before. People will usually adjust their prices,\u00a0if necessary, but this individual was looking for an engineer as if he was shopping at\u00a0Walmart or Target. The sound of the record should always come first, which includes\u00a0finding the right studio. I\u2019m spoiled to be able to work at places like Ocean Way and\u00a0Blackbird. If you find the right place initially and record really good tracks you will save\u00a0money. Better equipment will be easier to use, and less time will need to be spent mixing\u00a0and fixing things in post. The performance will often be better in a better facility because\u00a0the band will be inspired because they will not be distracted by a bad headphone mix.\u00a0Better facilities have the equipment to ensure good monitor mixes for tracking dates. It\u00a0makes more sense to me to rent a high quality facility rather than having to fix everything\u00a0in the overdub stage and toil over the mixing process.<\/p>\n

What about technical details and equipment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BF: As far as equipment goes, I like to track on Neve consoles, and I prefer equipment\u00a0that is \u2018meaty\u2019 sounding. Other than that, I am not much of a gadget-focused engineer. I\u00a0know the equipment and how to use it, but for me it\u2019s all about just getting good sounds\u00a0on tape.<\/p>\n

So your approach is more organic, and about the sonic palette that is available to <\/strong>you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>BF: If it feels good, do it. I\u2019m not the kind of guy that will craft sounds by looking\u00a0through manuals. Early on when I was at Power Station we didn\u2019t have rules or\u00a0parameters, it was all about experimentation. Some tremendous sounding records were\u00a0made at Power Station because there were no limits. You weren\u2019t restricted to using one\u00a0particular piece of gear for a particular application. I\u2019ve seen some overly-technical\u00a0engineers ruin a great performance. They were still messing with gadgets, asking for\u00a0another take, or were holding up an inspired band. In some ways, you have to consider\u00a0yourself as part of the band when sitting behind a console. It\u2019s your job to take music\u00a0from the floor and get it onto tape without slowing it down in any way. There is usually a\u00a0point at which a band is inspired during a session, and it usually doesn\u2019t occur after a\u00a0multitude of performances. It usually occurs more towards the beginning of a tracking\u00a0session, and I\u2019ve seen people completely lose a great moment on tape while being overly\u00a0technical with studio gadgets.<\/p>\n

I think the key to making ground breaking records is to push the envelope somehow. For\u00a0example, you might find a way of using a mic pre that is unorthodox, or discover\u00a0something new in the mix \u2013 safe is never fun to listen to. The talent pool is so deep in\u00a0Nashville that you can easily hire different people for different projects who will deliver\u00a0something unique. Casting people for a project is truly an art, and involves creativity in\u00a0deciding to pair different musicians together, for example. I like to try and make things\u00a0interesting, in the very least, for my own listening pleasure. If I\u2019m going to be listening to\u00a0the same project consistently for 3 months, I want to be sure to be entertained by it. It\u00a0helps me stay engaged with the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Fowler is a Grammy-winning producer\/engineer in Nashville Tennessee. After receiving a degree in music from Ball State University, he began working as an engineer at New York City\u2019s legendary Power Station (now Avatar studios). Earlier in his career Fowler worked on a session with Eric Clapton which yielded 3 studio albums. Since then he has worked with artists such as Michael McDonald, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meatloaf, and Bad Company. More recently, he has worked with contemporary artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts and Paul Brandt for an impressive 8-album run. Whether producing or engineering, Fowler believes that interpersonal skills are an often overlooked key to a successful career. In the following interview he explains how his approach hinges on bringing the best out of album contributors by keeping morale high during sessions. Central to Ben Fowler\u2019s approach as an engineer is to favour the creative over the technical. He views his craft as an endeavour which is primarily artistic. As an extension of this Fowler is less concerned with how equipment is intended to be used, and more concerned with the resulting sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-2013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-editorials-provocations","tag-interviews","author-matt-shelvock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2137,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions\/2137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arpjournal.com\/asarpwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}