Then, when I do my mixing, I’ve got a
studio in my apartment here in [Toronto’s]
Liberty Village. Everything I’ve mixed in the
last seven or eight years has been here, in-
cluding the Rush [R40 DVD] 5.1 project. It’s
amazing what you can do with technology
now. You can go and rent big studios for
what you need them for, and then I have a
great system at home that I mix on that I’m
very happy with, which saves both my costs
and the artist’s costs.
PS: What about on the personnel side?
You’ve been working closely with our
friend and contributor Ryan McCam-
bridge over the years. Is that still a
formal partnership, and are there other
folks that have become part of your stu-
dio orbit these days?
DB: That’s still going very strong; Ryan and
I work together quite a lot. He preps all my
mixes for me, and we collaborate on his
project, A Calmer Collision, so we’ve still got
a strong working relationship. I think a lot of
what I’ve done has improved in that time, so
I have to thank him for helping to drive me in
certain directions and getting me even more
organized than I already was.
PS: Ryan came up during a different time
in the recording business than you did,
and I’m wondering if that makes the
partnership particularly advantageous
for both of you, being able to tap into
each other’s respective backgrounds
and skillsets?
DB: Absolutely. The thing I love about
working with younger people in general is
that, and I try to keep as current as I can, but
there’s nothing like learning from younger
people that have a totally different sensibility.
I’m always trying to improve what I do and
learn from people that know different things
than me, and working with younger people
is a great way to do that. I see that as a huge
advantage. Ryan came up at a time that was
kind of split between the two – there was
still a bit of analog going on, and now it’s
shifted primarily to digital, but Ryan has an
understanding of the analog, so it’s not like
talking completely at cross-purposes with
somebody; we both have an understanding
of signal path and quality equipment, so it’s
not like I’m working with somebody that’s
only been working with Ableton in their
bedroom – but then again, that’s another
resource, too. You can learn from somebody
like that on how they worked with what they
had and still made a great product.
PS: One of your more recent projects is
the Artists for Sudan recording of U2’s
“Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which features
a killer list of well-known Canadian art-
ists covering the track to raise awareness
of the human suffering in Sudan and is
making a big splash right now. How was
it that you were initially tapped for that
project, and what drew you to it from
the outset?
DB: Darcy [Ataman, founder of Make Music
Matter and A4A Records] and I have been
working together with Make Music Matter
since 2009. He found out about the things
going on in Sudan and got involved. Darcy’s
a very passionate person and said, “Look,
we’ve got to do something about this. Let’s
see if we can call in some favours from musi-
cians that we know and do this song.”
It all came together, really, within the
space of about a week. Darcy brought me
this idea and said, “What do you think? Do we
have time?” I said, “Well, we could, but if we
do, we need the support of somebody that
can really get it out there, because if it’s just
you and I putting it out, it won’t make as big
an impact.” So we called Steve Kane, [Presi-
dent] at Warner [Music Canada], as we have
a great relationship with Warner; they release
all the Make Music Matter stuff. Steve was
immediately on board, so we called every-
body we could think of and it was like, “Yep,
we’ve got the time. Let’s do it.” As soon as we
put the word out, everybody got involved
and it came together so quickly. It was such
a fantastic experience. You can hear it on all
the streaming platforms, and all proceeds
raised through downloads and streams will
be donated to Human Rights Watch.
PS: I’ve got to ask, just considering all of
the different artists that contributed to
the track, any cool or funny or interest-
ing stories from the sessions that stand
out to you?
DB: You know, what really stood out as much
as anything else – apart from the talented
musicianship from everybody involved and
their willingness to do it – but when we got
Emmanuel Jal to come in and whip that rap
off, that was so exciting. He’s the experience
on the ground – the former child soldier
from Sudan that really spoke to the whole
thing. When he came in and put that down,
it was like, “Okay, now we have some validity.”
For me, that was the most emotional thing
– when he came in and put that together, it
was like, “Wow.” That really consolidated it all
and really made it hit hard.
PS: Zooming out a bit to your more
“standard” studio work, how do you go
about picking and choosing what you’d
like to work on these days? Are there
still a lot of established acts knocking at
your door?
DB: I think I’m actually very lucky that people
are still calling. I’m getting to what you might
call the back half of my career, but I get calls
every few days from people – both major
projects and up-and-coming acts. I like to
split my work between production and mix-
ing projects; I mostly keep the two separate
so that I keep myself interested.
As far as artists, I’m going to California to
do some work with Chris Corner of IAMX. He
was also the founder of the Sneaker Pimps in
the ‘90s, but then I also take on projects with
up-and-coming indie acts like DoubleSpeak
from Chicago or Elsiane that are self-funded
but still have a strong fan base.
I love developing new things, because
I’m learning more and more about how our
industry is changing, so being able to reach
fans on a direct basis with artists that are
switched on and building and engaging with
a fan base on their own, there’s a lot of ex-
citement and discovery in that for me.
So yeah, when it comes to choosing,
it’s always down to this: if I feel I have some-
thing to contribute, then I will. If I don’t, then
I won’t.
PS: I realize it might be like comparing
apples and oranges, but are there as-
pects – and maybe you just touched on
one – of today’s industry and creative
climate that you like better than what
you experienced in the ‘80s and ‘90s,
before the file sharing disruption? And
conversely, are there disadvantages or
challenges inherent in today’s landscape
that weren’t there before that are partic-
ularly relevant to your work?
DB: Well, a pro, I think, is the ingenuity of
young artists. Music is a constantly-changing,
developing process, and younger artists are
doing things in ways we never would have
thought of years ago … I find that there are
still great artists writing new things and ap-
proaching music in a really fresh and creative
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 27