PROFILE
Saam Hashemi
By Selina Setrakian
When he was a young child , Saam Hashemi poured over articles in guitar magazines and books – searching , reading , and re-reading for the answers about how records were made . Taking note of his fascination , Hashemi ’ s father purchased him a four-track recorder and so began his recording journey , by replicating sounds from his favourite albums .
Now an award-winning recording engineer and producer , he lives in Toronto ’ s St . Clair West neighbourhood with his wife Marina , a voice designer for Ubisoft , and their cat Nikiti Khrushchev , who ’ s colourfully named after the former premier of the Soviet Union .
Describing Hashemi as musically inclined would be a severe understatement . Born and raised in Surrey , England , Hashemi began pursuing his passion at an early age . Learning piano at age six and guitar at 11 , he put those teachings to use while performing in a high school rock band , a big band jazz group , and smaller soul ensembles .
It was only natural that Hashemi would continue to follow his interest in music and complete a degree in music and sound recording via the University of Surrey ’ s prestigious Tonmeister course in 2004 .
While pursuing a degree , Hashemi also began work as an assistant at Eden Studios in Acton , London . There he met with artists from around the globe and watched as albums from seminal early-2000s garage rock bands such as the Yeah , Yeah , Yeahs and The Killers were mixed .
“ It was a great place to learn about making records ,” he says .“ I was fortunate to see and hear some amazing mix engineers and producers practice their craft and to ask them questions about their process .”
Following his graduation , Hashemi began work as a programmer and engineer under songwriter and producer Magnus Fiennes at Townhouse Studios in London . He describes the production room he used daily as an “ Aladdin ’ s cave ” of vintage synths and samplers .
“ We usually were working at a breakneck speed on a variety of projects from pop albums to scores for TV and film with tight turnarounds ,” he remembers . “ I was forced to quickly realize ideas , and the speed I developed there was something that I have maintained .”
He also developed a love for recording live-off-the-floor performances from bands . “ You get a chance to capture that lightning in a bottle that is hard to recreate when everything is done in stages ,” he says .
Also at Townhouse Studios , Hashemi worked alongside the producer , songwriter , and film composer Scott Shields of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros . Shields asked him to engineer for bands he was producing in Canada and Hashemi jumped at the chance . From there , Hashemi soon established himself and at 23 recorded Tomi Swick ’ s first Juno-winning album for Warner , Stalled Out in the Doorway .
Deciding to settle permanently in Canada , he became an in-house engineer at Phase One Studios where he began engineering recordings for the likes of Sly and Robbie , The Kooks , Saukrates , and Ludacris .
In one fond memory at Phase One , Hashemi recalls Sly Dunbar entering the control room during a playback and listening quietly before placing his hands on Hashemi ’ s shoulder and saying , “ Respec ’" in response to his drum sounds .
“ That was both a terrifying and then subsequently thrilling trip !” he remembers .
SAAM HASHEMI AT HIS OWN FIRESIDE STUDIO
After deciding to go freelance he recorded with artists such as Jarvis Church , Michael Kaeshammer , the Skydiggers , and the Julian Taylor Band to name a few . He also began scoring music for film and television and mixing live showcase band performances for broadcast on Country Music Television , including recording at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis with Corb Lund where he speedily cut a whole record over the course of two evenings .
“ It was a pretty magical experience for me ,” he says about recording at Sun Studios with Lund . “ I love the sound of the performances in that room on the classic recordings from back in the day .”
Presently , he works on the popular CBC radio show Q with Tom Power , often featuring live music that he engineers and broadcasts live from the studio , recording artists such as Billie Eilish , Rufus Wainwright , Black Pumas , Steve Earle , and many more . Despite the constraints of the pandemic , Hashemi also kept busy in 2020 , providing synth programming for the Deep Purple album , Whoosh !
Most recently , his time has been divided between writing and recording a solo instrumental project alongside working on another collaboration with Julian Taylor , which will be follow-up to Taylor ’ s double-Juno-nominated and Canadian Folk Music Award-winning album , The Ridge , which Hashemi co-produced and engineered . Hashemi reflects fondly on his experience working on The Ridge as the band comprised of members of Julian Taylor ' s family , wishing the project lasted longer .
With all this passion for his craft , his greatest challenge is maintaining a work / life balance .
“ When you are locked away in the studio into the early hours day after day , I find you lose objectivity and reach a point of diminishing returns ,” he says . “ It ’ s important to have that downtime during the creative process to keep your ideas fresh and it helps keep the artist light on their feet and energized .”
For Hashemi , this includes indulging in his love of analog photography and spending quality time with his family and friends .
As for the future , Hashemi would like to continue to work with excited artists new and old to push the boundaries and create something fresh .
PHOTO : MARINA HASHEMI
Selina Setrakian is an Editorial Assistant at Professional Sound .
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