REGULARS HOME GROWN Recording Crowded House What would you sacrifice Everyone at audio school dreams of hitting the HITTING THE ROAD big-time, working on a ‘modern classic’ in a big Jonathan Shakhovskoy: I decided fairly early on to make it overseas? Your studio in London or L.A. and hanging out with that if I ever wanted to be an audio engineer at friends, family, finances and top-line international producers... being known the top level I’d probably have to move overseas. for a ‘sound’ that only you are trusted to create is I wanted exposure to the artists, producers, – gasp – lifestyle? Well, says the dream come true. engineers and studios that I’d read about. So it was either Los Angeles, New York or London, successful London-based Yes, the myth and mystique of making it and since getting a work permit in the UK was a ‘overseas’ certainly casts a long shadow over our Aussie engineer Jonathan whole lot easier at the time, I opted for that. business, but what does it really take to be an Shakhovskoy: that’s what it internationally successful engineer? I got to London and started at the bottom making tea and assisting on sessions. I don’t takes. Oh, and some good Does our industry – or our audio education regret studying at all, but waving a degree in system – really equip you for the realities of work contacts don’t hurt. Here’s front of a studio manager isn’t worth a lot. One in the big league? Does it take years of working thing’s for sure though, I was glad for the large how he got it all – including your way up in Australia, plotting your path to console experience with the Neve at uni because global domination as you progress from assistant a stint on Crowded House’s it gave me confidence when I was first confronted tea boy to freelancer and beyond? recent comeback album, with an SSL. Ultimately this job is about sitting Is it a matter of building your own studio – and in close confines with people for long periods Time On Earth. name – as you gradually lure world-class talent of time, so knowing your role in that space, to your domain or getting mummy and daddy Text: Gavin Hammond being competent and, most importantly, getting to sponsor you for a couple of years as you use along with everyone around you, is essential. It’s their contacts to wheedle your way into the probably impossible to teach that in an academic entertainment industry party by party? environment. Hmm, let’s ask Jonathan Shakhovskoy, who’s I knew my way around ProTools and Logic when doing rather well over in London town. In fact, I left uni, but what you learn about in a studio is he’s possibly one of the most in-demand Aussie efficiency. There were some productions where I recording and mixing engineers in London – was cutting up 16th note hi-hats to groove with a working with top acts, both new and established. loop on a four-minute song. That’s a lot of edits. What’s his secret to success? Surely that’s quite a A few times I looked in the fade files folder and story… Wait a minute. What’s that? He moved to it was in excess of 30,000 fades (and this is well London shortly after finishing an audio course at before Beat Detective even existed). ‘the Con’ in Brisbane, with virtually no real-world Being fast on the computer is pretty essential, audio experience? but it’s not something you learn until you have a Jonathan – what is going on? Did you sign a pact producer peering over your shoulder waiting for with the devil or something? Talk to us! you to finish – then, you’re forced to step it up a gear. AT 66 ? VITAL STATS Gavin Hammond: So how did you get a break in very little in a very expensive city. On paper it Name: Jonathan Shakhovskoy London? sounds like a daft proposition. In the end, you Occupation: Sound engineer have to want a challenge to be here – and like it JS: After a year of being in London I still hadn’t in London both professionally and personally. Claim to fame: Engineered landed a job in a studio. I had blanket bombed and mixed four tracks every studio with a CV and even entertained the CROWDED STUDIO for Crowded House’s notion of doing post production sound for TV, comeback album Time On GH: More recently you worked on last year’s Earth, produced by Steve but I had no luck. I’d become friends with the Crowded House project. What did you do for Lillywhite. Engineered and very talented Katie Noonan (the singer in George them? mixed Jack Peñate’s Matinée, and Elixir) at university and when I came back to produced by Jim Abbiss. Australia briefly after 10 months away I caught up JS: My management put me in touch with Steve Engineering and ProTools with her and she mentioned a guy she knew who Lillywhite who was looking for someone to on Eric Clapton’s Me & Mr ‘knew someone who knew someone’. Four degrees engineer for him on the Crowded House sessions. Johnson and Back Home, We spoke on the phone a few times and then produced by Simon Climie. of separation later I got in touch with a writer/ Engineered four new tracks producer back in London who took me on as his met on the first day of the session. Together we for Shirley Bassey’s greatest assistant. worked on four tracks for Time On Earth, which hits collection. Co-produced, I engineered, he produced and we shared the engineered and mixed Elixir’s GH: How did you progress from that first break to mixing duties. debut album. ProTools editor where you are now? for Cream (Reunion live at Steve was approached to produce four tracks for the Albert Hall), BB King JS: He did a lot of pop work at the time, which was the album, the rest having been produced by (Reflections) & Michael a great introduction to being around the creative McDonald (Motown I & II). Ethan Johns. We recorded and mixed all of them process in a studio. However, being in a production in Studio 1 at Rak in St John’s Wood, not too History: Completed an audio studio meant I didn’t get much exposure to big production course at the far from Abbey Road. Rak has been there since Conservatorium of Music consoles and bands, which was something I was 1976 and is one of the last great privately owned in Brisbane straight out of pretty keen on. So after 12-18 months of working tracking studios in London. They have a fantastic high school. Spent three full-time for him I became a freelance assistant at API console in Studio 1 that’s as old as I am years in a studio equipped a couple of studios, which was a fairly precarious with a Neve V series, MCI and sounds superb. The live room sounds great 16-track two-inch machine, life. Luckily, Olympic in West London needed and the control room has almost floor-to-ceiling ProTools and loads of old a regular freelancer at that time, so for the next windows onto the street, so you don’t feel too analogue synths: “although in 12-18 months I was in and out of there assisting on isolated from the outside world. It’s a great place retrospect I know I didn’t take various sessions. advantage of the place as to make a record. much as I should have”. By the From there, I slowly met other producers, writers GH: Can you talk about the gear you used for time he graduated, the studio and artists and for the next few years did a lot of tracking? was a Yamaha 02R and some pop vocal sessions with various girl and boy bands. Sony digital eight-tracks. It wasn’t the music I loved but I got pretty good at JS: Everything was tracked through the API After he finished the course, console except the vocals for which I used some he worked in Brisbane pop vocal arranging and production. Thankfully doing some live sound and in the past two years there have been a lot more Neve 1073s. We recorded directly to ProTools at engineered a couple of EPs drums and guitars involved, which is much more 88.2k and laid the masters to ProTools as well. for friends’ bands. A year up my street. The API isn’t an in-line console so we split the after he graduated, he moved inputs and the tape returns either side of the to London. GH: Was it harder moving to London than you centre section. I looked after the inputs and Steve thought? drove the monitor balance on the other half of the JS: I didn’t know a soul when I came here, which console. I found hugely liberating. I was 22 and I found the By the end of day one, I had most of the band energy of London really inspiring. Not finding any set up on the various inputs and used the same music work for a year was a little demoralising at recording path for each mic for the rest of times but I had some IT experience which kept the session; tweaking compression and EQ as me working. You have to leave all your friends required for each song.