start with some pre-production via Skype,
where you talk to people, hear something
real, give feedback, and find how they re-
spond to that feedback. Do they try things
out, or are they resistant to change? Are
they coming up with better ideas once
you’ve given advice? That’s even more ex-
citing to me – if I say, “Hey, why don’t you
try this chord progression here?” and they
try and say, “Well, that didn’t really work, but
how about this?” and it’s better? Man, that’s
a real strong indicator for me.
It’s all down to musicianship and char-
acter and originality. You’ve got to be able
to stand out and have something that sets
you apart from the rest.
They’re not a new band, but when I
had that first conversation with Lowest of
the Low, I’d seen them live before, years
ago, but we talked about nostalgia, talked
about music, talked about what we liked
and where we came from … When you do
that, you usually know within a few minutes
if you’re going to hit it off. When I met with
the Low, I knew within five minutes, so it
was like, “When do we start?”
There’s nothing like seeing somebody
live or meeting them in person to talk
about music and process and vision to see
if things gel.
PS: As we’ve alluded to, you’ve worked
out of a lot of interesting studios and
places around the world, but Toronto
is home, and you’re still doing a lot
of your work there and throughout
Canada. What is it that keeps you here,
both as a resident and for a lot of your
creative work, considering there’s not
much limiting you geographically at
this point in your career?
DB: You know, when I was young, living in
Dundas and Hamilton [ON], I really wanted
to get out of Canada and go see the world.
And I did that, and it was great. I loved it.
I came back to Canada for personal
reasons and I like being here because my
family is close and I have a wonderful step
daughter I get to see, which is really import-
ant to me, but I also feel like there’s a really
strong Canadian musical scene and identity
that I really want to be a part of. I’ve learned
things around the world and have a unique
perspective to bring to the table, and now
that I’ve been back in Canada for over 10
years, I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the
people here, too, so it’s all part of a musical
growth process. I love this country, and as
much as I can, I would love to promote this
scene and work with Canadian artists, who I
feel are second to none throughout the world.
PS: You’ve made it clear that you’re still
interested in growing creatively and
professionally, even with all you’ve
achieved through your career. Con-
sidering that, and I don’t like the term
“bucket list,” but it’s the only thing that
comes to mind right now. Is there any-
thing specific – say to work with a cer-
tain artist or in a certain studio – that
you’d still like to check off?
DB: You know, I never really had that list
that everybody thought I should – of artists
I want to work with or projects I want to do.
I’m more of a reactive person, and I respond
well when people contact me out of respect
for what I’ve done. I’ve pursued some things
in the past, and some have worked out, but
I work best when the connection happens
organically. In general, I like to work with
people that I find exciting and people who
approach me saying, “David, I think you can
bring something to the table, because I like
this about past work you’ve done, or like this
about your style.”
I’ve already worked with a lot of the
artists I would have loved to work with – like
Peter Gabriel, like Rush, like Tool… As a kid,
I might have thought, “Bruce Springsteen,
wouldn’t that be great?” But I’ve learned
it’s got to come organically for me. If Bruce
Springsteen called me? Sure, I’d be on a
plane in a minute because I think he’s one of
the defining artists of my time. I saw him on
the Darkness on the Edge of Town tour and it
kind of changed my life. That would maybe
be a bucket list thing. I mean, David Bowie
would have been a bucket list thing, but I’ve
also worked with peripheral people around
that; I’ve worked with Brian Eno, which was
really exciting.
I really like doing film work, so more
of that would be great. I love being able to
surround people with music, working with
[Dolby] Atmos and formats like that. I find
it fascinating.
But the more I can help develop bands
and work with people that are excited
about what I do, that’s more what interests
me than creating some kind of list of art-
ists I’d like to work with. I’ve got a few my
manager may approach, but again, it’s got
to happen fairly organically. The ones that
know what I’ve done and know what I can
do and think there might be something
interesting about collaborating, that’s what
excites me.
PS: One more before I let you go. I’ve re-
ally enjoyed talking about the business
and creative side of things, but if only
to appease some of our more technical-
ly-focused readers, as someone that’s
working out of some of the most repu-
table rooms in the country and around
the world who gets his hands on a lot
of the new tools and toys, are there any
trends or tools out there affecting the
more technical sides of the business
that you think will have a significant
impact on your work, or maybe that’s
already starting to?
DB: Already starting to have a huge impact
of my work, and that has for the last few
years, is the fact that I can mix everything
in the box now. The plug-ins from Universal
Audio are unparalleled in their quality. The
McDSP and Heavyocity stuff, Soundtoys,
iZotope – all are such super quality and let
you get really creative. That’s pushed my
mixing to a whole other level of quality and
creativity, because these days, once you get
used to the tools and can utilize them in
creative ways, you’re doing things you could
never do with the analog versions of those
pieces of equipment. Before, if you wanted
to, say, take a graphic equalizer and try to
play it like a keyboard and drop in and ma-
nipulate a sound, it would take you hours to
set that up and make it work. Nowadays, you
just grab one and play it with faders on your
console if you want, and it’s really interesting
and simple. That allows for all kinds of cre-
ative ideas to come to life, because it doesn’t
take the time or investment it used to.
And on the opposite end of the
spectrum, there’s a manufacturer of some
new analog gear named Julian Traverse of
Traverse Analog. He does these beautiful,
clean, pristine-sounding mic pres that he
works on out in Newfoundland, and they’re
incredible. We used them on guitars for the
[Lowest of the] Low record, and … wow.
PS: Always happy to shine some light
on a Canadian manufacturer, for sure. I
really appreciate you taking the time to
chat so candidly. It’s been a pleasure.
DB: For me, too. Thank you!
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of
Professional Sound.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 29