Canadian Musician November / December 2019 | Page 10

INDIE
INSIDER
By Andrew King
ADVICE & INSIGHT
FROM A STUDIO LEGEND
We
often hear about how Canada punches
above its weight when it comes to our re-
cording artists and their output, though the
same could easily be said for our cohort of influential engineers
and producers – the studio professionals who help to shape
that work, cater it for mass consumption, and realize its full-
est potential.
David Bottrill is a prime example. His list of credits spans
several generations, countless genres, and refuses to be bound
by custom or convention. His sonic fingerprint graces classic
albums by some of the most innovative, influential, and suc-
cessful artists in modern music: Peter Gabriel, Rush, Tool, Muse,
10 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
The Smashing Pumpkins, and many others. Those albums
have gone on to sell tens of millions of copies, won Bottrill
three Grammy Awards, and earned him the respect of his peers
and collaborators – both past and potential – the world over.
But in addition to the arena-filling rock stars, Bottrill is just as
keen to work with young, up-and-coming artists who inspire
and challenge him. We recently sat down for a wide-ranging
conversation with Bottrill for Canadian Musician’s sister maga-
zine, Professional Sound, and since a portion of that conversa-
tion was focused on those types of projects and offered a lot of
insight that would be interesting and valuable to indie artists,
we’re sharing them here, too.