PROFILE
Jason Dufour
By Andrew Leyenhorst
As a teenager , Jason Dufour ’ s musical
purchases were informed not by the name on the front cover or the track listing on the back ; instead , he looked to the liner notes . “ I would walk into HMV and I knew the guys there ,” he begins to recall . “ I ’ d say , ‘ I think this one dude worked on this CD , can I open it ? I just want to see !’ If I opened it and didn ’ t see the name , I ’ m like , ‘ I don ’ t want to buy this !’”
Two decades later , Jason Dufour is the name in the liner notes , wherever you may be reading them .
A graduate of London ’ s Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology ( OIART ), Dufour has gone on to have a hand in multiple Juno Award-winning and nominated records across a slew of genres , and is one of Canada ’ s most in-demand and well-rounded engineers today . His résumé is dotted with marquee names , including Lights , Three Days Grace , Tokyo Police Club , Donovan Woods , Protest the Hero , and The Tea Party , and is punctuated by a Juno victory of his own as 2017 ’ s Recording Engineer of the Year for his mixing work on July Talk ’ s acclaimed LP Touch .
Years before he was plucking selections from store shelves or collecting accolades , Dufour ’ s love for music began right at home in Windsor , ON with the family ’ s subscription to Columbia House , the popular mail-order CD club that boomed in the ‘ 90s . Ensconced in his father ’ s basement sound system , he would listen to the likes of Mariah Carey , Van Morrison , James Taylor , and many others , as his parents ’ constantly-growing collection spanned many styles .
Eventually , he began to develop his own taste and delved into heavier material , such as Marilyn Manson , Rage Against the Machine , and Korn . His voyage across the musical landscape continued with his discovery of hip-hop , which developed into an infatuation with lyricism and the genre itself .
By his mid-teens , Dufour began producing beats , writing music of his own , and performing while becoming more engaged in Windsor ’ s local music scene . He would soon step foot in the recording studio , where he joined his friends ’ bands to watch their tracking sessions ; this ignited a particular passion in him and he began researching studio technology , personnel roles , and all things recording .
It was then that he also began reading liner notes in search of records made by his newly-discovered favourite producers , engineers , and mixers , such as Garth “ GGGarth ” Richardson ,“ Evil ” Joe Barresi , Chris Lord-Alge , and Dr . Dre .
While weighing his post-secondary options after graduating from high school , Dufour spent the next few years serving in the Canadian Army Reserves as a Reconnaissance Crewman , where he would be posted all over North America , training with both Canadian and U . S . troops . He decided on OIART after researching various schools and seeking the advice of industry professionals on how to break into the music industry as an engineer .
While OIART ’ s curriculum allowed him to explore the soundscape of audio outside of music , school only cemented Dufour ’ s love for making records and even before graduating , he found himself being
interviewed at the then-newly-christened João Carvalho Mastering ( JCM ) studios in Toronto .
He would move to Toronto and begin interning weeks later after receiving his diploma , splitting his time between the studio , the Army Reserves , and a part-time job , though clearly prioritizing the studio until one day , an opportunity arose to take on a staff assistant engineer role at Toronto fixture Phase One Studios , which became his exclusive focus . At Phase One he would go on to work with Canadian recording stalwarts like Gavin Brown and George Seara , and he would remain there for two years before João Carvalho and his partners opened Revolution Recording in 2011 , which Dufour also had a hand in designing before joining the staff ; he proudly recalls laying out the monolithic Studio A patch bay , among other contributions .
His time on staff at Revolution would be the tipping point for Dufour , as he quickly began engineering outright instead of assisting , earning the trust of clients and building on the networks he ’ d been establishing since interning at JCM . Since going freelance in 2013 , Dufour ’ s stock has continued to grow ; his list of credits , nominations , and awards speaks to this . Early on in the pandemic last year , he was even tapped to mix ArtistCAN ’ s star-studded cover of “ Lean on Me ” ( featuring Justin Bieber , Avril Lavigne , Michael Bublé , and more ), something he holds as a point of pride .
Dufour and his partner Nes recently moved to the countryside outside of Toronto , where Dufour has been building a personal mix room and teaching himself Ableton Live in an effort to keep every one of his sonic utensils sharpened . When he ’ s not working , his attention lies on “ sports , sports , sports ,” he says enthusiastically , his Detroit Tigers cap worn with pride .
What is evident both in speaking with Dufour , and observing his journey , is that he possesses a raw determination in everything he does , and is committed to raising his own bar with each new effort . This is very clearly inspired by an unwavering love for music , respecting the small details , and learning . Of course , the staff at the old Windsor HMV probably could have told you that 20 years ago .
Andrew Leyenhorst is the Assistant Editor of Professional Sound .
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