Producer Interview
Gavin Monaghan
Gavin Monaghan certainly has a credible appreciation for all things original. In October, he came South a few hundred miles from Wolverhampton's great Magic Garden;
Gavin's own studio which focuses on the ever-important process of bringing through the most exciting and individual new bands around. Of course, he made the trip to try out
another one of the country's most innovative tracking rooms, The Pool.
With Gavin came the one-and-only Editors, one of several fantastic West-Midlands bands which Gavin has recently lured under his creative wing. It sounded like one hell of a session, so read on to hear all!
MILC shines a light on Gavin Monaghan.
Producer Interview
Victor Van Vugt
Another interview, with another fantastic producer! Meet Victor Van Vugt, the Australian record maestro who lives in New York, and every now and then
spends some time in Europe extending his illustrious award-winning career, glistened by credits with artists ranging from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to Athlete.
Victor was last at Miloco in Autumn 2007, recording the debut album by The Rushes in The Garden. So, being the scrounging in-house info addicts we are, Milc seized the opportunity to talk to the man himself, and asked him about his intriguing career working with some of the greatest artists of the past two decades
You can read it here first! Victor Van Vugt talks to Milc!.
Producer Interview
Flood and Alan Moulder
Shortly after the official unveiling of Assault & Battery 2, Miloco's MILC magazine sat down with super producers Flood and Alan Moulder to discuss their latest creation and
wondrous careers. Here is where you can read the full interview!
We've opened them up about all sorts of things - their vision and inspirations behind the studio, favourite bits of tackle from their artillery of analogue gear, thoughts and predictions on a new model for the recording industry, and even what they think of their new mates at Miloco. Oh, and of course we had to give them a light and healthily inquisitive grilling on a handful of their globally-succesful works...
It's not everyday you get to read the first-hand thoughts of two of the most influential producers in the world, so strap in and enjoy, Messrs Flood and Alan Moulder.
Producer Interview
Markus Dravs
Miloco meets Markus - the witty, charming co-producer of the latest offering from those
studious Oxfordian globetrotters, Coldplay, who have, with Markus, rolled out of Miloco's Musikbox and Yard
studios on the ascent to the monumental release of 2008's biggest musical event, Viva La
Vida.
Here, we've got the full low-down from Markus on the sessions with the band and long-term collaborator Brian Eno, plus previous studio encounters with such unknowns as Arcade Fire and Bjork.
Follow the link to read Markus's interview with MILC! Miloco meets Markus.
Producer Interview
Dave Eringa
Before The Pool (Miloco Eight) was built, the space it now occupies was simply a large room full
of stored equipment, most of which was Dave Eringa's. Had his collection expanded much more in that time,
then the Southwark Council planning application department would almost certainly have ranked first
in 'The most stressful workplace in South-East England' watchdog.
However, the room became a studio, and the gear went to find a new home. We sincerely hope it found one as it is a fantastic collection of equipment, heard on many great records Dave has worked on over the years, including those by the Manics, Idlewild and Kylie Minogue, plus many others which were constructed within the various Miloco studios. In 2007 Mr Eringa was again regularly spotted applying his musical panache to many new and exciting records with us, including that by the hot new Scottish band The Dykeenies.
Follow the link to hear Dave talk about his gear, career, sheer revulsion for moody Welsh horses and so on. Meet the delectably charming Mr. Dave Eringa
Producer Interview
Ben Hillier
Scurry through the garage at Miloco's Leroy Street site, and you come across a magical,
Narnia-like wonderland of musical creation. Swap the pine trees for gadgets, fauns and beavers
for the hippest bands around, and Aslan the lion for Ben Hillier the producer, and oh joyous day, you have discovered
The Pool!
In the summer of 2007, a year after this fantastic live tracking room was unveiled, MILC and Ben Hillier (the man central to the studio's creation), pulled up a pew to reflect on the room's first year of action. We discussed the vision Ben had for the studio, the artists and producers who have been wooed by its creative powers, plus other elements of Ben's already-illustrious career including his work with Blur, Elbow, and producers such as Flood and Gil Norton.
Step this way to shake the maestro's hand and listen to a chronicle or two: Ben Hillier
Producer Interview
Gareth Jones
By acting as a major cog in the engine that propelled Depeche Mode and Erasure into global stardom in the 1980s, and the
rise of German industial 'noise' music working alongside Einsturzende Neubauten and Palais Schaumburg, Gareth Jones
has firmly established himself as a leading producer in both the German and UK music scenes. Over the years he has
produced and engineered Interpol, Madness, Orbital, Inspiral Carpets, Nick Cave, Moby, Skunk Anansie, The Futureheads
and Embrace to name very few. He also built The Garden studio while working with John Foxx (of Ultravox
fame, and the then-owner of the studio) as his engineer. The Garden is of course now Miloco 4.
Throughout Miloco's history, he has worked in our various studios with the likes of Sheep On Drugs, The House Of Love, Philip Boa, Sons And Daughters and Erasure themselves. Having very recently reinforced his long-term relationship with Miloco whilst producing the debut album for the fast-rising Southend band, These New Puritans, we thought it was about time we paid a tribute to the master himself. Step this way to find out what happened when MILC met Gareth Jones
Producer Interview
Eric Drew Feldman
He was in Captain Beefheart. He was in Pere Ubu. He produced the first couple of Frank Black solo albums (and is due
to do the next) - it might well have assisted him in acquiring the 'extra Pixie' gig as seen on his lengthy CV.
Other production credits include dEUS' In A Bar, Under The Sea, not least to mention the mighty PJ Harvey,
whom he also tours with when taking up his position as the leader of the kNIFE and fORK band. More recently he became acquainted with Miloco, working with
another of our dearest rock chicks, Charlotte Hatherley. And now, topping the lot, Eric Drew
Feldman talks to MILC!
Producer Interview
Howie B
Howie B is a producer, DJ, record label boss, clothes designer, artist and well, pretty much anything else
that enables him to get his creative juices flowing.
In musicland, his CV highlights include the likes of Tricky, Bjork, Soul2Soul, Skylab, U2, Wim Wenders' soundtrack 'End of Violence' and Pussyfoot Records, while the last 6 months have seen him working with Italian rockers Ego, the resurgent Happy Mondays and Casino Royale, sweethearts of the Milan music scene.
MILC sat down with Howie in a cafe round the corner from Miloco's Garden studios, supped tea and talked of astronauts, record labels and almost-made porn films... To read more click here.
Producer Interview
Tom Wilcox
Most people would consider their life a success if they'd fronted a band called Maniac Squat.
Still more would retire merrily to the garden, happy in the knowledge they'd started a band
called The Chavs (no, not that one, this one came first).However, Mr Wilcox has done anything but rest on his laurels and is currently busy with two projects here at Miloco: the debut solo album by Beatroot singer, Gillian Glover, and also that of Vita Ross. He was saved from the dilemma of conflicting interests when, thankfully, team Gillian and team Vita were drawn apart in Miloco's 5-a-side football tournament 2007. It could have been quite awkward, especially as he was wearing the gloves for team Gillian!!! Sport, music, it seems Tom Wilcox gets himself inviolved...
Producer Interview
Mike Spencer
In short, Mike does not have a usual CV. His work merrily encompasses chart-friendly pop and four-corners-of-the-world
obscure, along with all stations in between. To pick an example at random, he's recently returned from Israel with
critically acclaimed Klesma/world beat/fusion outfit Oi Va Voi, before that he was working on tracks for Sophie Ellis
Bexter and before that he spent 9 months secreted in a country house with none other than Mr J Kay of Jamiroquai,
recording, engineering and mixing his latest mega-selling album, Dynamite. To read more click here.
Producer Interview
Phill Brown
And just in case that leaves you slavering for another fantastically invasive, personal space-invading insight into the life of a
musicland head honcho, walk this way. For our second interview lets you peek into the mind and memories of the legendary producer,
Phill Brown. Recently tweaking the knobs for those Zero 7 mellow merchants, his incomparable CV spans four decades of superlative
music making via the likes of: The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Talk Talk, Roxy Music, John Martyn, Bob Marley, Beth Gibbons,
Robert Palmer, Brian Eno, Dido, and more other names than my typing fingers and your reading eyes could stand. So nuzzle your mouse against
this and see what he had to say: Phill Brown
Producer Interview
Steve Dub
Settle down ladies and gentlemen for Milc's interview with Steve 'Dub' Jones.
A month at Miloco rarely slips by without a visit or two from our favourite (alleged) speaker-mauler. So hunker on down and discover the teenage
meanderings, apprenticeships and realisations that transformed the humble 'Steve Jones' into the mighty 'Steve Dub'...
Click here to read on.