Adam Whittaker. Producătorul britanic pentru Grimus

Am mai stat la poveÅŸti cu Adam Whittaker, noul producător muzical ÅŸi director general al casei de discuri care a semnat Grimus în Anglia la începutul anului, cu ocazia celei de a doua vizite la Cluj.

La finalul lunii octombrie, Adam Whittaker a venit la Cluj să asculte toate piesele noi compuse de Grimus în sala de repetiÅ£ii pentru a alege 14 piese care vor fi înregistrate pentru cel de al doilea album de studio al formaÅ£iei, dintre care vor rămâne probabil 12 în final pe albumul editat ÅŸi distribuit din Anglia.

Mai multe despre colaborare, aflăm direct de la producător.

---

Acest interviu este prezentat la CZB (netradus ÅŸi necenzurat) în limba engleză.

---

RiCo pentru CZB: How do you as a Brit see Cluj developing now, on your second trip over here?

Adam Whittaker: Cluj is a city I like immensely, that I'm now starting to know my way around a little. I have friends here, and now the band that I count amongst those friends.

It's always a pleasure to visit, and to meet people, especially if they are interested in music, the arts or business.

---

CZB: How is your Romanian coming along?

Adam Whittaker: Terrible!

It's impossible to even find one of those "learn Romanian" courses around here, and when I use my Romanian phrase book..or try to - the band makes fun of me!

I even managed to order a bowl of onions when I really wanted a salad.

---

CZB: Do you consider that it helps that you have the experience you have, and being a foreigner from a country with a well-developed music industry, that Grimus listens to your views and accepts the criticism more easily?

Adam Whittaker: First of all, I want to make it clear that Grimus being from Romania, and me being from where I'm from has nothing to do with anything.

---

I treat everyone the same; I really just try and do my job and you build up experience as you go, which is valuable to people, especially if you're good at your job!

Do you hire a good plumber or a bad plumber? Do you hire the guy to put heating in your house that has put in a heating system before many times, or someone who read about it in a book?

Think of it this way - I've done this over and over and am an outsider so I look at the big picture when it comes to a band. So if a band is from Mongolia, it's a good band.

---

CZB: You've listened to the songs for the second album in Cluj. The drums have been recorded in Budapest. The tracks will be recorded in a new studio in Cluj (belonging to Nimrod) ... what will effectively be done in Reading apart from printing/multiplying/distributing the album?

Adam Whittaker: We're recording the bass & guitars here in the UK starting next week, and the album will be mixed here due a combination of logistics and facilities. Going to Budapest was a decision of the band, and some will no doubt be done in Cluj.

---

CZB: What was the drum studio in Budapest like compared to ones you have seen so far in England and would you recommend this studio to other bands in this part of Europe (what is the name and why did you like it)?

Adam Whittaker: It was typical of studios at that end of the market wherever you go in the world. We are on a tight budget for this record as we go along so we aren't recording in fancy studios.

The thing for me I liked was the guy that ran the place who was a complete gentleman and a fantastic drummer; there were some very nice mic preamps, converters and a good mic selection.

---

CZB: Where will the actual voices be recorded ... on a home computer; in Cluj with Nimrod - or in England …

Adam Whittaker: We don't know as yet. I'd say Cluj for logistics and cost, perhaps.

---

CZB: How do you see the actual band feedback for the mixing and mastering of songs ... or will you just drop your finished product on Grimus without further consultation because you know best?

Adam Whittaker: We're making the album together, so they'll kind of know what it sounds like! When it comes to mix time, I tend to mix, then send things out for approval and tweaks.

It's not a matter of knowing best…mixing is a subjective art, that also has certain defined boundaries that someone like me learns over time as far as what works or is important.

Listen to the original mix of In A Glimpse and then mine. Mine's better!

---

When it comes to mastering, it will be handed to a wizard that will charge us load of money and do very little.

---

CZB: How did the four introductory Grimus gigs in England work out for you as a record producer/record company?

Adam Whittaker: How did it work out? Expensive and time consuming. It's not my main interest - doing that kind of thing, I really would rather be making records - but they worked out GREAT from an exposure point of view, which was the point. People got to see how good the band really was, and that was part of my commitment to them. The label for me is just to provide a launchpad for bands.

I hope to be able to do similar things with more acts, but people have to appreciate that it has to make financial sense to me to throw shows, stage events at the RCI & provide 30 bottles of wine.. hiring vans, fuel... yes, that's all out of pocket, so it makes sense to have some way of making a return at some point. As big a fan of music as I am, it has to make sense.

---

CZB: How are you marketing Grimus in UK or Europe ... are they a Romanian band from Transylvania or a Transylvanian Band from Romania, and how wise is it to do so?

Adam Whittaker: It makes no difference where they are from - Grimus are a world class act. Half the point of this new album is to show that I can take a talented band like Grimus, tweak them, and make a record that could be from anywhere, without prejudice. I want to make one of the best rock records made in Europe in 2011 - so we're gonna try!

---

CZB: What was your reaction when you found out that Grimus had been chosen as Song Winner for the Tuborg beer commercial in Romania? Did you know about this prior to the public announcement or did the Romanian Managers let you in on it after the final results came in?

Adam Whittaker: I'm normally suspicious of competitions in the name of doing something to supposedly help a band as they tend to be questionable, but in this case obviously I'm delighted about the Tuborg commercial, and it shows a couple of things - first it was a good single choice, and also that Grimus music is just as perfect for major syncs as any of the pop that's out there. As in all things - the difficulty is making it count and building upon that success for the management team and myself. There's been over 8,000 YouTube plays of the track snippet, but it's hard to turn that into something solid, like sales!

---

CZB: You've marketed Started from Grimus through Orange in Europe. How many countries are currently selling this melody?

Adam Whittaker: It's sold as a digital download of the song, not a ringtone. I think it's on sale in 47 countries.

---

CZB: Is Started available to the Romanian Orange users and if not, what was the reason given or why didn't the Romanian company accept the Romanian band's music?

Adam Whittaker: Well, it should be, but we've had problems getting it there, though we were assured it would be available. I wasn't about to release a single that wouldn't be available in its home market by choice!

The east seems to have a unique way of *not* doing things. I don't think it was anything to do with the band being Romanian, just the way things are here and our distributor, while being very well connected throughout Europe has had issues.

---

This is why I want to set up an independent music industry here and to change all that. It's a huge task, and I want anyone who's interested to get hold of me. There are numerous issues to get round, such as making great records that stand up to international level, making music actually available and at the right price, publicizing it, making it just as relevant as the pop music that's pushed here.

---

---

Statistica neoficială a vânzărilor piesei Started arată că 99% din cumpărători s-au înregistrat din afara României. Piesa a fost apreciată în ţări precum Lituania ÅŸi Islanda!

---

---

Managerul IonuÅ£ Sandu de la TimiÅŸoara ne-a specificat în 2 decembrie 2010 faptul că deocamdată ceea ce se ÅŸtie sigur este că albumul nou de la Grimus se va înregistra parÅ£ial în Anglia ÅŸi parÅ£ial la Cluj, în noul studio al lui Nimord. În prima fază, pe 2 decembrie pleacă la Reading Vali, Cristi ÅŸi Titus (pentru chitări). Foarte probabil Adam Whittaker va reveni la Cluj in ianuarie pentru a fi prezent când se trag clapele ÅŸi vocile cu Lehel ÅŸi Bogdan.
Decizia finală ÅŸi definitivă în legătură cu înregistrarile din ianuarie se va lua după sesiunea din Anglia, adică pe la mijlocul lunii decembrie.

Tamaş a tras tobele la Budapesta acum o lună (VEZI FOTO). Treaba lui este terminată.

 

 

Lasa un comentariu: (max. 1800 caractere)

Nume:   Antispam: