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In the Producer's Chair

Steve Lillywhite is one of the most successful and in-demand record producers in the world. Ahead of his appearance at The Music Show he talks exclusively to Jackie Hayden.

The Hot Press Newsdesk, 27 Sep 2010

Steve Lillywhite has recently finished producing the debut album by Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye and admits that the partnership came about after he himself rang Liam! As he explained, “For me, it’s always the voice, no matter who I work with. I always thought that Liam has the British rock ‘n roll voice. So after I read that Oasis were splitting I asked them – what’s happening? I suggested the idea of me producing Liam’s new band and I think they liked the idea of me approaching them. Perhaps strangely, one of the albums I’d produced that they were very impressed with was The La’s album, which they love. So we took it from there. They’ve made a cracking album too.”

Beady Eye is merely the latest project for the former tape-op, who has become one of the most revered producers on Planet Rock. In fact, the list of acts Lillywhite has done studio time with reads like a rock ’n roll hall of fame, including as it does U2, The Rolling Stones, Travis, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, The Pogues, The Smiths and lots more.

Despite that impressive track record, the producer is modestly unsure what exactly artists expect from him when they engage him as a producer. Is it a magic wand? “No, I don’t think so,” he says. “I suppose they expect my taste to be a sound. That’s what they employ me for. They write the songs and everything, and it’s my taste added to it that makes it sound the way it is in the presentation of it. They have to trust my version of the presentation of their music.”

He can still recall his first impressions of U2 in the studio, way back when he worked on their debut album Boy. “They were very young and innocent. They were very dedicated and intense. What they lacked back then in musical competence they made up for in the passion they brought to their songwriting and their music. Of course they’ve grown over the years, and Edge is now really a bit of a scientist in the studio, but the rest of the band still just works off their spirit and what feels right for the music.”



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