Mike: Hi Gary, where were you born and where are you based now?
Gary:
Well, I was born in a town called Swindon, which about 60 minutes west
of London and where the band XTC who were very popular in the 80's were born.
I moved to Germany in 1987 and now live near Cologne.
Mike: How did start your adventure with music? Do you have any musical education? Can you play on any instrument?
Gary: It all started when I was young, my Father is in the music business and he knew a lot well known songwriters/producers like Mike Chapmann & Nicki Chinn who wrote massive hits for “The Sweet”, “Mud”,“Suzi Quaternary” and “Smokie”. My Father was often in various recording studios in London, where the artists that he managed recorded their music. Whenever possible, I went along to watch how it all was done. Unfortunately, I have no musical education which I often regret and I was never talented at playing any Instrument. But I am a frustrated drummer!
Mike: When did you meet the guys from BBB and how did you start working with them?
Gary: I met BBB shortly after I started working at Coconut Records back in 87 and the first track was “Don't Walk Away, Suzanne”.
Mike: As I know you were involved in a production of following albums: “My Blue World” (1988), “Game Of Love” (1990), “House Of Silence” (1991) and “Kiss” (1993), which were released by the very first label of the group, Coconut-Records, based in Hennef near Cologne. The most of their tracks at this time were written by Tony Hendrik and Karin van Haaren, but there was also a lot of different people involved in these releases. In the booklets I found your name, but also Klaus-D. Gebauer, Claus-Robert Kruse, Jürgen Fritz, Günther Lammers, Günther Kasper, Helmuth Rüssmann, Andreas Martin, Uwe Haselsteiner, Peter Schmitz and John Parsons. Can you remember what for were these man responsible?
Gary: The majority of them were keyboard players, Günther Kasper & Helmuth Rüssmann were engineers and John Parsons was an English guitarist who now lives in Spain.
Mike: You also worked on albums “Back” (1998), “…continued” (1999) and “Around The World” (2003), where most of the tracks were written by David Brandes. How did you start working with Bros Music?
Gary: I have known David for about 17 years, going back to the days when David was signed to Coconut as an Artist. When I decided it was time to leave Coconut and set up my own studio, I rang David to see if we could meet. I drove down south and we discussed my plans and he was very enthusiastic about the idea. Had it not been for him, my start in my own studio would not of been so easy. So since 1995, we have been working together and since the beginning of 2005 even more intensely.
Mike: Is there any unreleased stuff or remixes produced by Tony and David?
Gary: Not that I know of, but who knows!
Mike: Where do you think the direction of the Bad Boys Blue music is headed?
Gary: This is hard to say at the moment and will depend on when the songs get written and when they get recorded.
Mike: For which BBB track/album did you spend the most time at the studio and how much time does it take you usually to mix a single track? Please explain us a process of recording/mixing?
Gary: To be honest, I can't really remember which Album took the longest but in general you can say about two months. There is no set time for mixing, but producers like Frank Farian mix a song sometimes a whole week long or until they are happy. But generally, we are talking about a days work depending on the complexity of the song. The recording process can be very complex, but basically, most of the recording today takes place in the computer using different audio interfaces like Pro Tools, or Motu. Many of the instruments that you hear on a CD come from what we Native Instruments which means computer based. Once a song has been written, it is arranged into a format which suits the song and this is done by using different Instruments like drums, bass, keyboards, guitars etc. and then the vocals. Once this has been carefully done, I then have to “mix” the song so that it sound good in other words a good balance has to be found for all instruments and vocals. It's like building a house! The bass and drums are like the foundations of a house, the second floor is the keyboards and guitars and the roof is the Singer. I use a variety of reverbs and delays to compliment the mix. Having said that, most of the songs today are mixed pretty dry or with small rooms.
Mike: What hardware, software and plug-ins do you use at your work?
Gary: I was always a great fan of Analogue desks, but now I really like Digital desks like the Yamaha DM2000 they are very practical with their “Total Reset” which gives you the freedom to work on many songs in one day and change something in your mix which you did last week or last month. In professional studios, you will always see a Mac with Logic Pro or Pro Tools combined with plug-ins from Waves, TC, and UAD.
Mike: Which artists did you deal with and what do you consider to be your greatest success?
Gary: I have worked with a variety of artists over the years ranging from Jennifer Rush, Eurthymics to the Pet Shop Boys ans my greatest success would have to be Haddaways “What Is Love” which was a hit Worldwide.
Mike: What are you working on now?
Gary: At the moment I am working on various productions at the same time. A new Maarja single and some new artists from England and Sweden.
Mike: Do you ever listen to your own music at home?
Gary: Only once to see how it sounds, but generally I don't listen to any music at home.
Mike: What are some artists/bands that you currently like?
Gary: James Blunt, Depeche Mode, Christine Stürmer,
Bloodhound Gang, Robbie Williams and Enigma.
Mike: What do you think about the Internet and
mp3 format?
Gary: It has has it pros and cons! It's great for sending people e-mails and exchanging or gathering information. MP3's are useful for their who work in the music business but otherwise it is the worst thing that could of happened to the music industry. People you should be aware that with all these illegal downloads and copying of CD's that they are killing the music industry, this means people lose their jobs and new bands don't get signed to record companies because the industry is trying to cut their losses.
Mike: Would you like to tell a little bit about your personal life?
Gary: Well I don't have much of a personal life as I am mostly in the studio, but I was lucky enough to find a lovely wife who would put up with me and my job. So why I am not at home, to keep her company we bought her Bernese Mountain dog.
Mike: What would you like to say to all the BBB fans?
Gary: I hope they will continue supporting BBB and especially John who really is Mr. BBB.
Mike: Thank you for giving this interview!
Gary: My pleasure!
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