Trade Regrets: Producer/Engineer Nick Blagona
By Steve Parton
Nick Blagona, one of Canada’s most respected recording engineers, has left
us. His storied career spanned more than 50 years and took him around the
world. He was the engineer, producer, and/or mastering engineer for a list
of artists that includes Cat Stevens, The Moody Blues, The Police, The Bee
Gees, Nazareth, Chicago, Deep Purple, Rainbow, April Wine, Kim Mitchell,
The Tea Party, and so many others.
Nick studied recording in Montreal at Radio College of Canada and
started his career in England. In the 1970s, he came back to Canada and
co-founded Le Studio in Morin-Heights, QC, where he was the in-house
engineer. He also spent years at
Mississauga’s Metalworks Studios in its
world-class mastering room. In all, he
mastered more than 2,000 projects.
Guitarist Michael Lee Jackson had
worked with Blagona several times.
“Nick viewed every record as different
and started with a clean slate,” Jackson
says. “He’d listen to the music and let
the music dictate what the approach
should be.”
Nick found the transition from
analog to digital thrilling and stayed
well ahead of the state-of-the-art curve.
“As the world went digital,” Jackson con-
tinued. “Nick brought along his analog
inventiveness to break rules and try
new things on every record he made.
He didn’t just use plug-ins; he’d hot
rod them and make them his own and
sometimes write the code from scratch.”
Nick and Mary-Jane Russell, his wife
and partner of 32 years, eventually
chose the Hamilton area in which to
settle down. They opened Psychotropic
Studios in the hideaway community
of Caledonia, but the musicians knew
where to find him. One of the last proj-
ects Nick produced was for R&B band
Cootes Paradise. Keyboardist Lily Sazz
recounts: “Nick was a perfectionist. He
would never be satisfied until he knew
that we were happy. He tended to mix
as he worked, which is going to be a
wonderful gift when we reopen those
files for final mix and master. Much of
the work was already done.”
Nick died on Jan. 4, 2020 at St. Jo-
seph’s Hospital in Hamilton, ON, at age
74. He was a national treasure whose
legacy speaks for itself.
NICK BLAGONA
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 11