Bob Clearmountain The man who wrote the book on mixing talks to NIGEL JOPSON about his techniques, and how Bruce Springsteen can listen from New Jersey while he mixes in LA.
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f George Martin modelled the role of record producer, then Bob Clearmountain defined the concept of specialist record mixer, the objective ears-for-hire who could draw all the threads from a multitrack production into a cohesive and commercially successful whole. After playing bass guitar in a band, Bob started engineering at Media Sound studios in New York, cutting his teeth with jingles, racing through ten songs a day for Sesame Street and recording bands like Kool & The Gang. In 1977 he became chief engineer at the Power Station studio, working with acts at the epicentre of the New York scene such as The Ramones, Tom Verlaine, Talking Heads, and mixing Springsteen’s The River album. After being impressed with an early SSL console he used in Burbank while on a session with dancemegastars Chic, Clearmountain specified the first US SSL E series for the Power Station, starting a long and fruitful association with the UK mixer manufacturer. Bob’s prominence with Chic brought him specialist mixing work for the Stones (Miss You, Still Life, Tattoo You), David Bowie (Lets Dance), Roxy Music (Avalon), Huey Lewis (Sports) and production work on Bryan Adams’ You Want It, You Got It. By the time I first worked in the US in 1984, the Clearmountain effect was inescapable: he produced Adams’ multiplatinum seller Reckless, Hall & Oates’ Big Bam Boom, 44
and mixed Springsteen’s epoch-defining Born In The USA. It was near impossible to start a mix session without your producer sliding a CD of one of Bob’s hit mixes into the player — Clearmountain’s powerful, uncluttered and radio-friendly sound had raised the bar for a whole generation of journeyman engineers. His surname practically became a brand name, and in that decade it seemed every international rock hit had passed through Bob’s faders: Simple Minds, Tina Turner, Daryl Hall, Journey, The Pretenders, Robbie Robertson, INXS, Carly Simon, Crowded House, Tears For Fears. In 1994 Clearmountain built a studio in his LA home and installed a modified SSL 4000G+, equipped with his favoured E Series EQs. Unlike many production heroes of the ’80s, the pace never let up for Bob as he continued with acts like Shawn Colvin, Five For Fighting, Bon Jovi, Shelby Lynne, Ricky Martin, Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Robbie Williams and Barenaked Ladies. Several artists have become career-long mainstays, he has produced four albums and mixed practically every song Bryan Adams ever sung, and has mixed at least 12 albums since The River for Bruce Springsteen. When Resolution interviewed Bob he was finishing a project for another long-standing client, The Rolling Stones, and holding a panel from his recently purchased vintage Neve, which he’d brought to the UK for Rupert to sign. resolution
What prompted the purchase of a Neve? Is it a new project you’re involved with? Betty [Mrs Clearmountain] owns and runs Apogee, who have bought a beautiful building in Santa Monica. It’s a dual bow-truss property with 5,000sqft on each side. Apogee is on one side and the back half of the other side is their warehouse. I sort of got down on my knees and asked the wife if I could build a tracking room in the spare front half of the building. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do — and now we’ve done it I’m not really sure why because I haven’t even had a chance to use it yet! I’ve been so busy with Springsteen and the Stones and the new Bryan Adams album. The Neve console is an 8068, it’s actually the first console we had at the Power Station, installed there in 1977. All the Chic records were done on it, I mixed Roxy Music’s Flesh And Blood on it, Bruce Springsteen’s The River was recorded on it and I mixed Hungry Heart on it. I recorded the first Bryan Adams album on it, Sister Sledge We Are Family ... all that stuff. What are you working on with the Stones? There are several projects. There’s a theatrical release movie which Martin Scorsese is directing, recorded at the Beacon theatre in New York; they’re still working on editing that. Then there’s a boxed set of three DVDs, one is the Rio de Janeiro show where there were 1.2 million people on the beach, another is a show from Austin Texas, and the third is a mix of shows such as Japan, Shanghai and Buenos Aires. Then there’s some older stuff, plus duets with various other artists, it ended up being around a hundred songs — a lot of mixing — and 40 of them I had to do last week. It’s always needed yesterday! May/June 2007