Among his most recent projects is Elegantly Wasted, the new album by - and his first collaboration with - Australian group INXS, and it was while he was spending a rare few hours away from the studio that I was able to talk with him about the sessions. Initial XSĪ man of many musical talents, Bruce Fairbairn is undeniably one of the hottest producers of the '90s. Bruce's ability to commit great performance to tape was then confirmed when Aerosmith's Get A Grip debuted at Number One on the American Billboard charts - a first for the band in its 20‑year history. He went on to produce Loverboy's first two albums, which sold more than eight million copies in Canada and the US, and Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, which sold over 13 million worldwide. Four more albums followed, with Bruce playing in the horn section - but when Mick Jones, Foreigner, and Rick Ocasek of the Cars called on his talents as a producer, Fairbairn stepped over to the other side of the console. Jim Vallance is now best known for his songwriting collaborations with Bryan Adams, yet together he and Fairbairn produced the first Prism album, which was a hit in Canada. A deal was signed, and Sunshyne metamorphosed into Prism. Bruce Fairbairn went off to get a degree in Urban Planning at the University of British Columbia, the demo tape arrived in the hands of an LA producer, and when said producer contacted Fairbairn and told him that he liked what he had heard, Fairbairn pretended that the band was still together. Later there were spells with groups such as the Spectres and Sunshyne, and just before Sunshyne split up they recorded a demo of drummer Jim Vallance's compositions. I think that's musical fraud, so I stay well away from it." Rootsīorn and raised in Canada, Fairbairn began playing the trumpet at the age of five, before making his pro debut with a high‑school band at a local church. I really have a problem with records where the end result doesn't represent either the human performance of the artist or any ability on the part of the artist to actually perform that song. For me that's all part and parcel of giving the consumer a product that is true. "That's how I learned to play, and so that's why I'm really not that interested in working with bands that don't - or can't - perform live. "I think that reflects my experience over the years, being part of a band," he explains. "Being a musician myself, I have a good ear for songs, for arrangements and for music," he says, " so I try to bring all of that to a project, providing songwriters and musicians with a sounding‑board on which to base their material and their performances."įairbairn's ability to inspire and draw the very best performances out of artists is another major plus. Richard Buskin finds out how he did it.īruce Fairbairn's track record includes artists such as Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Poison, the Scorpions, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen and Chicago as a producer, he derives much of his in‑studio enjoyment from the process of capturing not only the sound but also the natural energy of a live band performance on tape. Musician and producer Bruce Fairbairn is best known for his US rock smash successes with Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, but blended live band recording and a willingness to use studio techsnology to record the latest INXS album, Elegantly Wasted.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |