Interview

Dan Austin

Interview with leading guitar band engineer and producer

Dan Austin is a leading British producer and engineer - many people know Dan for his amazing guitar and drum sounds (we have another feature on that in-edit) so while he was visiting Otterhead Studios Dan sat to chat with Oscar Ball about production, recording and studio life.

Dan celebrated his first UK no 1 as producer of DOVES’ album ‘The Universal Want’ which was their first album in over 10 years and for Dan it was the culmination of more than 15 years working working with the band - starting with engineering their 'Some Cities’ album in 2004 and then co-producing and partially mixing their 2009 ‘ Kingdom of Rust’ album, as well as producing and mixing singer Jimi Goodwin’s debut solo offering ‘Odludek’.

Dan Austin in the recording studio

Dan learned his craft engineering, programming and mixing for producers including Steve Osborne, Paul Corkett, Gil Norton, Flood and John Leckie on a wide variety of projects including PIXIES, B 52s, BIFFY CLYRO, MAXIMO PARK, AFI, THE CORAL (to name just a few) but he was quickly noticed because of his energy and ability by artists including THE COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE, and OCEANSIZE who sought him out for his first solo production opportunities. ​ Other acts including CHERRY GHOST, THE NINTH WAVE, SLøTFACE and MASSIVE ATTACK followed suit loving his creativity and inventiveness in the studio.

As his years with working with DOVES show, when artists work with Dan, they tend to keep on coming back - MALLORY KNOX, YOU ME AT SIX, TWIN ATLANTIC and PRETTY VICIOUS and many of the bands mentioned above have all forged trusted relationships with him - for his boundlessly inventive approach to production and his great energy and temperament.

Dan Austin in the recording studio

In 2017 Dan finished work on his own mix / production room near his home in the SouthWest of England. Having his own studio has enabled Dan to maintain a regular flow of mix work, either for the bands he is producing or for bands seeking him out as a mixer for their project.

In recent years he’s been nurturing long term ‘finishing and mixing ‘ relationships with bands who are self-financed and need some experienced ears to help finesse their recordings. More recently Dan has also been working with artists on writing sessions too….. either remotely, at his own studio or wherever suits the artist.

Dan Austin in the recording studio

Special thanks to Oscar and Ellis at Otterhead Studios for making this feature possible.