Please can you introduce yourself to our readers?
I am Dan Lucas, a musician and recording engineer/producer/mixer
Can you give us some history behind Anchor Baby Recording company?
I was always in and out of studios in my teens and had bits of recording gear at home that I used to dabble with. I actually started out with an old 80’s hi-fi that I could plug my guitar into. I’d record onto a blank tape, then put that into the Play deck, and a new blank tape into the Record deck so that I could overdub layers onto what I’d just recorded. Every time you do it, the quality gets worse. Anyway, I was rarely getting the results I wanted when I went into studios with my bands, so I figured I’d start having a go myself.
What made you decide to put your money into building up your own studio rather than going down the more traditional route of hiring rooms?
I was fortunate that around the time that I started to take recording more seriously, the band I was playing with had our own practice room on the side of one of the member’s houses. His Mum kindly let me put my recording stuff in there, so we could demo stuff. Other bands were rehearsing there regularly, too, so I’d record them free of charge. It was great practice. As I had a permanent base, I got used to having the freedom to experiment and have my own gear always set up ready to go, not to mention somewhere to store it all! So I’ve continued down that route. Lots of producers dry hire places, though, and having a studio to maintain is a lot of responsibility. But I like being comfortable and having access to all of my gear when I need it.
In learning the art of music production, did you follow the self-taught path or study via a recognised course(s)?
I’m totally self-taught. To be honest, most engineers I know are. Nothing against studying it, of course, but I do think you learn more by actually just jumping in and running sessions/sitting in on them and being on the frontline if you like. You learn a LOT from the musicians you record, too.
Who, within the music industry, most influenced the way you work with artists?
Certainly people have influenced the way I mix and given me production ideas. In terms of the way I work with artists, I’ve always just done my own thing! One person that stands out as having given me a LOT of great advice has been a guy called Charlie Francis (Kill It Kid, REM, Graveltones) who is one of my favourite engineers and a good friend now.
I’ve noticed you’ve worked with a lot of up-and-coming acts. Does work mainly come from you approaching them or do they come to you?
It’s mostly artists contacting me through word of mouth. I don’t solicit work unless I am offering to do someone a favour or something.
What qualities do you look for from a client?
That they’re nice people, and enthusiastic to be in the studio. The other stuff is secondary to that.
How do you deal with artists who have opinions on how they should sound? Do you allow them to have their say or advise them if you think an idea won’t work?
I love working with people who know what they want. Music is all subjective at the end of the day. I will always take ideas on board from my clients, but of course, I will advise if I really think something is detrimental to the music. And I’ll always make suggestions as to how I think the songs can be further improved. It’s tough, though, sometimes, with artists I’ve not worked with before. Sometimes it takes a while to gain their trust and make them feel that I actually care about their songs. Often people have had bad experiences with producers who just don’t appear to care or want to run the show the whole time.
Who were your first and last clients?
My first ever paid clients were a band called Kilik, who split up years ago. A sort of really heavy/noise/hardcore band. The last clients, I guess, were Maid Of Ace seeing as I have been mixing a track for them today (alone, of course).
What advice would you give the Dan Lucas of today to the one who first started out?
I’d probably tell him to be firmer with people in the initial stages of building my business. It took me getting burned a few times to learn lessons about business!
Can you tell us some of your most memorable achievements?
Definitely a highlight was getting to open for The Cure at Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City last October. They’ve been one of my favourite bands for a long time. Selling out recent shows with my band Salvation Jayne has been incredible too. And having recorded members of some of my favourite bands.
Who would you most like to work with?
There are loads of bands I’d love to work with. I’d really like to do a record with Rocket From The Crypt actually! Or The Cure.
How has the development of modern equipment changed your style of production?
It certainly makes for a better workflow. A lot of the artists I work with are on tight schedules, so it means that better-sounding results can be achieved a lot quicker than they would have been, say, 15 or 20 years ago. Also, sessions can be up and running pretty fast.
What pieces of equipment do you feel are vital for any producer to own?
I think that good source material is important. IE, the things you’re actually recording like guitar amps, drums, guitar pedals, instruments. Having quirky instruments around and stuff that inspires people is important too. It seems odd to me to spend tons of money on high-end mics and pre-amps, if you’ve got like one guitar amp for bands to use. You never know what gear they will bring in, so if they bring in something that sounds bad and they want a particular sound, it’s cool if you can go “Well I have an amp or a pedal that will do that, so don’t worry”.
What advice would you give to any band who are waiting for the end of the virus to resume normal duties?
Get booking fast