ASHLEY HOWE c.a.s
'' Sounds that will Shake And Stir Your World. ''
PROD OF THE MONTH PRODUCER OF THE MONTH IN THE INTERNATIONAL MUSICIAN MAGAZINE. THE PRODUCERS ASHLEY HOWE The two most important aspects of production are? A good song and a good performance. Everything else is purely secondary.” HowÂ's that for a contentiously down-to-earth beginning to this monthÂ's producer profile? But then I suspect there arenÂ't too many as contentiously down-to-earth as this monthÂ's profiled producer Ashley Howe Investigation of the back of a selection of albums and singles recorded in this country over the last 20 years should throw up the Howe moniker often enough. Maybe not always as a producer — for thatÂ's a responsibility the man has only taken on comparatively recently — but as an engineer. Ashley Howe worked his first session in 1969 at the tender age of 16. Twenty-five Platinum or Gold discs later you can guarantee heÂ's contributed to a lot of hits and a load of favorites too. Treading boldly where others merely quiver and quake. Howe has harnessed the cosmic fury of just about everybody from Hawkwind to Wishbone Ash, Queen, Uriah Heep to Heavy PettinÂ' and taken the lion tamerÂ's stool to LemmyÂ's Motorhead too. LondonÂ's Roundhouse Studios witnessed most of this gladiatorial courage, for Ashley was general manager and engineer-in-chief there for the best part of a decade.When we spoke he had only just returned from a five month stint In the United States, completing albums by The Rods and that undisputed King of American Heavy Rock, the one and only Loudman himself, Ted ‘Call me KerranglÂ' Nugent. Yet Instead of the tall, tour — jacketed, cocaine-scarred and cavalier coiffeured character I expected to meet Ashley Howe turned out to be a quietly spoken and down-to-earth fellow. For Ashley Howe, the songs come first every time and if he hasnÂ't got them to work with then he makes it his business to go out and find them. “IÂ'm constantly on the look-out for good material. I write to publishing companies and get them to send me anything theyÂ've got they think is suitable. I must have been through about six or seven hundred songs in the last couple of years which IÂ've sorted out into the 20 best. I carry them about with me in my briefcase ready to play to whoever IÂ'm working with at the time. TheyÂ're not necessarily all Heavy Metal songs. A lot of them are the sort of thing I used to do with Cliff or Leo Sayer or the other MOR projects that would come through the Roundhouse. But the point is that you can take a good song and do it in any number of different musical styles providing the lyrics are right.” Very true. And proven by the fact that Ashley Howe reckons to have used 21 outside songs on his last half dozen projects. And that Includes the Ted Nugent album. Naturally it takes some considerable skill to persuade a bunch of hardened rockers — or a voracious veteran like the Nug — to record somebody elseÂ's song rather than one of their own. But Ashley Howe seems to have the knack although he was at pains to stress that he would never attempt to foist something on a band against their will — let alone something they would be ashamed or embarrassed to perform in public. Then the philosopher comes out in him. “LetÂ's be honest about It. Compared, say. To the Sixties and Seventies itÂ's very rare nowadays to find artistes who can write 10 or 12 genuine hit songs for one album. They could very easily record all their own stuff but they probably wouldnÂ't be half as successful with them as they would if they found a couple of outside songs to tip the balance. All I want to do is help them to the success they want. Some get quite offended when I suggest that they donÂ't have a hit single in their own repertoire. My reply is always that IÂ'm there to make them successful because if theyÂ're not, then neither am I. I try to approach it with an open mind, invariably they find that they not only get into the song the more they rehearse end play it but that their own songs improve too. If only because theyÂ're determined to prove that their own material will sound as good on the record as anything weÂ've brought in from outside.” The idealists among you will doubtless throw up your hands in horror at the thought of Artistic Integrity compromised by the call of ‘The ManÂ' and the ‘Draw of The DollarÂ'. But realistically, as Howe is quick to point out, a number of hugely respected Heavy Rock outfits like Rainbow, Manfred Mann and Santana to name but three have benefited incredibly from judicious use of songs by the likes of Russ Ballard, Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. ThereÂ's no shame attached. Ashley Howe is hardly your orthodox engineer producer. Not only does he claim that the most important part of the production process takes place outside the studio and in the rehearsal room whittling away at the arrangements, but that he is also more than prepared to sacrifice sound quality for excitement and energy. And perfection for performance. “I donÂ't think thereÂ's much left to do which The Beatles didnÂ't get together all those years ago on those primitive tour track set-ups” They did it all. They never had a formularized sound. Every track came out sounding different to the one before it — they were quite amazing. And they had none of the equipment that we have nowadays. IÂ'll give you an example. One of the tracks on T.dÂ'. Album we decided weÂ'd treat the voice with every box we could lay our hands, on and go for like the Optimum studio vocal effect. It ended up sounding Just like John Lennon on Glass Onion and all theyÂ'd done was to wrap a piece. of masking round the capstan on the tape machine so theyÂ'd get that wobbly, harmonized effect. ‘So there are no rules. They try to teach them rules in the United States where they run college courses for engineers. I had some sit in on some sessions when I was over there and these kids were amazed when they discovered I was using a valve mike for a bass drum. Because their lecturers had told them that was something they should never do. I said ‘Well, does it Sound good to you? If it does then itÂ's valid, isnÂ't it?Â' I experiment with things all the time.” Strangely for a man who specializes in the sort of sounds which can addle a headbangerÂ's brain at 20 paces. Ashley Howe rarely works at a serious volume level. Which must be tricky when heÂ's confronted by men•monsters like Lemmy or a Ted Nugent who is never satisfied if his stack isnÂ't, to quote the man himself, ‘kicking out massive amounts of buffalo dickÂ'. But there are ways and means.” I honestly believe that, even for RockÂ'nÂ'RoII, loudness is deceptive. I know people who monitor at ridiculously high levels and IÂ've worked with them too. But the thing is, as soon as you turn it down again you find everythingÂ's covered in distortion. ThatÂ's because at a certain level of sound your ears simply close up and wonÂ't accept any more. Your sense of perspective goes and you under balance the guitar and the voices. ItÂ's just like having a cold. Instead I work on small Yamaha speakers at low volume and I always mix on a mono speaker. Because thatÂ's the way people are going to hear it. Consequently if it sounds right at that sort of level then if you crank it up itÂ's bound to be Metal, isnÂ't it. When I was working with Ted I even managed to get him to overdub all his guitar parts through little hi-fi speakers. HeÂ's a master of feedback techniques and heÂ's used to a 200 watt stack turned up to 10. But I managed to work it so that he could get all the feedback and sustain he wanted in the control room at a fraction of that volume. The point is that the quieter you work the easier it is to work longer hours without growing tired. “Basically, though. I have no intention of going deaf. I want to have a long career and then retire with my hearing intact.” Pardon? Chas de Whalley international musician. |
