MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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The man is an absolute god, pretty huge coup for Beato to interview him given how rarely he does them. There’s very little footprint of him online. Essential viewing, without doubt one of the all time greats:
Brendan O Brien
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Watching it now, I’ve been waiting for this!!!
I actually tried finding interviews with him a few years back, when he did Emperor Of Sand with Mastodon, but there really is nothing out there. I’d love to have him produce just one song for me one day, that’d be cooler than working with my favorite musicians.
I actually tried finding interviews with him a few years back, when he did Emperor Of Sand with Mastodon, but there really is nothing out there. I’d love to have him produce just one song for me one day, that’d be cooler than working with my favorite musicians.
MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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I’ve been so curious about him and his process for so long, and there’s very little you can really find. Basically everything about him and what he’s saying just makes total sense. His character is nothing like what I expected but it just seems like he’s the perfect fit for what he does for a living.
Zero ego too; like how someone can impress Ezrin and Rick Rubin so quickly is not a small deal.
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I’m really surprised at how talkative and open he is. Absolutely does not give off the vibe of a guy who doesn’t like doing interviews. Just a regular dude!
Hahahhahahaha Brendan is a “tone is in the fingers” guy!
MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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I love how Beato’s asking gear related questions and for Brendan it’s just like “oh IDK, that’s what the band had” “just happened to be the room we did it in”.
I think the stuff about making it sound like a record early on is so so important and really shows in his work too. There’s not any kind of fight to make it click and come together
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At first glance in the thumbnail; he looks a lot like Clapton 
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I watched the whole thing in one shot. Really great interview for some insight into the guy, but the biggest nugget of wisdom from a production standpoint is the good ole 'if it sounds good, it is good'. I was hoping to hear his thoughts on ear candy and the bells and whistles he often adds, but I dug the interview regardless.
Hahaha and the lack of interviews being a business decision, "people only remember you for your success that way" is a fair play.
Hahaha and the lack of interviews being a business decision, "people only remember you for your success that way" is a fair play.
MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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I couldn’t stop either, just loved every second of it.
The main things I got from it:
- his brain always seems to be in creative mode, he can barely sit still and ideas are just jumping out of him from one thing to another.
- SUPER modest but clearly so skilled in so many areas of music. Any compliment on production or engineering was deflected onto the band “Great hi hat sound” “Yeah he could really play well”.
- Must have had something very unique to impress Bob Ezrin/George Drakoulias/Rick Rubin so fast. Those guys recognised his talent and nurtured him so he could thrive.
- Bob Ezrin sounds brutal, like a LOT of engineers have paid their dues working for him and it’s not a nice experience
- Brendan was born to make records. Even without music or drink or drugs I don’t think a typical school or structured environment would have worked for him. His talents aren’t really compatible with that sort of structure. In many ways he’s the total opposite to Rick Rubin - Rick is patient, methodical, chooses his words carefully, has no (formal) musical or technical ability.
- I think his approach is to really get to the point early in the process and capture that. Nothing seems laboured, it’s all about getting it happening early on
- his ability as a musician should not be underestimated. I think the greats he’s worked with recognise this pretty quickly.
- Brendan really had an enormous stamp on the sound of rock music for 20+ years. RHCP/Pearl Jam/STP/Soundgarden/RATM/Limp Bizkit/Korn/Incubus, as well as working with greats like Neil Young/Springsteen/Dylan/ACDC
- his work has generally aged SO well, a lot of defining albums that somehow sounded timeless from day 1
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I need to carve out some time to listen to this
MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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Hadn't ever REALLY given Dogman or Black Crowes a proper listen. Man those Dogman guitars REALLY vanish in mono, seems like a lot was single tracked.
2nd Black Crowes record especially sounds fantastic.
2nd Black Crowes record especially sounds fantastic.
Achilles
Rock Star
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KILLER album!
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MirrorProfiles
Shredder
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I think its going to be a very much "it depends" kind of answer with him. I'd definitely try it on direct mics, samples, OH and room and just see what suits the song. I usually associate Brendan's mixes with having the room mics fairly audible, so I could imagine they'd be getting a fair bit of help.
Sure I read that he LOVES the EL FATSO on drums, and I think some kind of tape saturation would generally get in his direction.
FWIW, Softube Wasted Space in its cleanest settings is a straight up EMT250 emulation that you can pick up for like $20 quite often. I have UAD (and have demo'd TC Electronics model) and they're all VERY similar.
