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Mark Thomas is 23 years old and has already devoted more than half his life to the Sound Engineering profession. He is in-house engineer at Sawmills studios, Cornwall, UK, were Brit-pop artists such as Oasis and Supergrass first recorded their albums that helped trigger the Brit-pop craze of the mid nineties. We caught Mark during sessions and nailed him down for some info.

How long have you been an engineer Mark?

I started young, about 16 years ago. I used to do live gigs during my schooling period and play around with tape machines and any audio related hardware I could get hold off. I used to like taking things to pieces and fixing them, just seeing what I could do with things really. Stretching, reversing tape, and changing rotor speeds.

What artists have you worked with during this time?

Supergrass, Muse, Ocean Colour Scene and many more, I can’t remember half of them.

What made you want to become an engineer, are you a musician or more of a technical type?

I’m more of a technician than a musician I just like to play around with things really. Basically, I have a general interest in all things technical and musical.

What main hardware and software do you use at sawmills during the time of a clients visit?

Control room at Sawmills Studios

We have a custom Trident 80 desk, with a new automation system with a small desk inside it. We use a Mackie 32 as our main recorder but still keep a couple of tape machines knocking around.

Within the studio has there been an increased use of software instead of hardware?

There’s been a huge increase in software. I really like some of the plug-ins and Cubase SX in which we run alongside Soundscape via an expander. The software has got a lot better and we do use certain soft compressors and effects alongside the analogue outboard. I don’t think you can beat the sound of the analogue compressors but some of the software currently available is really good.

How have the acoustics of your studio been shaped? Does this affect your recording techniques?

It’s a very old building so we messed around with bass traps and baffle boards. Being a very old building it has very thick walls, which really helps for isolation. Anything we do is from experimenting really, when recording we use close mic techniques because it’s such a small room, if we do have ambiance we try and mic as far away as possible and then heavily compress.

As an engineer do you find that your relationship with the musicians affects the outcome of the project?

Its really does, if you’re tense in the studio it’s very negative to the atmosphere. At sawmills we try to build up a relaxed atmosphere, I like to crack a few jokes and make the guys laugh.

How do you deal with musicians who are singing flat or are out of time?

You really have to be diplomatic and say positive sings to them so that they don’t get pissed off with. Most singers will ask for some reverb to help open out their vocal take. You just have to hint that they should back off a bit or try harder without actually saying “you’re out of tune”. If someone has a bad attitude then we just tell them to get on with it or they won’t get the work done. Sometimes things do kick off; 10 years ago, [before Mark worked at Sawmills], a track was erased by a certain vocalist when the rest of the crew were down the pub.

What are the realities of being an engineer?

The realities of being a sound engineer are that you have no life what so ever, I spend all my time in the studio. Certain sessions are done without having sleep for three days because the producer can want to go on and on. And then at the end all the material done in the three days is rubbish so you have to start again. We get paid very small amounts also which isn’t a fantastic incentive to spend all your life locked in the studio.

What’s the difference between working in Cornwall to London?

Sawmills is so more relaxed then London, down here we can open a window or door and go and chill out in a beautiful environment right on our doorstep. In London you’re in stressed out environments the whole time, basically sat in an enclosed box with no natural right in till you’re finished.

How do engineers survive?

It’s really difficult to get your foot in the door, as in London you have to live an hour or so outside the city just to be able to pay the rent. As a junior engineer you’re not going to get paid well at all, and you will be doing massive hours. Say goodbye to your girlfriend because you won’t see her again. The other problem is that actually getting a job, as people are willing to do it for free for the first six months, which is a total joke. The other thing is that you need more about you than just studio work; I do electrical engineering and live work just to boast my finance. There isn’t loads of work out there and if you’re studio gets it you’re lucky.

How many years does it take before you have record labels calling you up to work on various projects?

You’re talking at least ten years or more before you get to a decent stage in your career. I’ve been working now for years and I’m still not at that stage where labels phone me directly. I get bands phoning me who want to work but I’m only just getting to the point were I’m recognised as someone that can do a good job when it comes to recording an album.

What is your favourite recording tip?

Throw away any rules book, just be creative and try any think you want, if it doesn’t work try something else and use your ears instead of looking at levels and visual signals.

Do you employ a maintenance engineer?

No we do most of our own maintenance stuff these days, out of session we open things up and check them out see what the problem is and if its worth it were try and fix it a few weeks down the line.

So would you fix or replace broken pieces of equipment?

We’re lucky that we have an in-house workshop so we can just take stuff over there to get it fixed.

Many University courses study a lot of electronics do you think this is valid in an engineering job?

You need an all round spectrum of skills, you have to have creative and technical mined people in this job and not just people who have one of these skills. To be a descent engineer you have to know how to fix guitars, amps and tune them as well as well as making up leads and hundreds of other skills as well.

Mark Thomas (glasses) hard at work

Mark you’re 23 and worked an amazing amount of hours already, do you not regret getting a normal job?

Well I’m useless in the mornings so a nine o’clock start wouldn’t be good for me at all, I not too bothered about not going out at evenings and having a social life and I like the idea of being flexible and starting a session when I like which is normally about eleven which is a good time for me.

What advice would you give to aspiring young sound engineers about to graduate from their courses?

Hard work and persistence, you’re going to get turned down so try again, you will get turned down more often then you’ll get an interview. Also you need to be able to make a nice cup of tea.

What’s the longest recording session you’ve ever held?

Six weeks of 18 hours days, seven days a week with King Adora. The band had to go on tour so we had to get the album done.

Is your time management really strict because of the label pressure?

We’re lucky if we have three days a track, record and mix. But normally there are times when it’s a lot less then this. One time we had to do twelve tracks in two days, which was a total nightmare.

Does Sawmills specialise?

Yeah we do live guitar rock music really, we don’t get asked to do much dance music or anything else. We go for a live sound, which bands like Muse and Supergrass are really into.

Do you ever use samples?

Sometimes you do, maybe if your drums are not tuned in right we may trigger a bass drum sample or snare from the sample library. But this isn’t common practice as we don’t like the sound, even with all the velocity settings you can’t get that real sound.

Digital or tape?

For us there’s no real advantage with tape anymore, there’s so much more you can do with digital. With digital you make it sound how you want it to sound, you can start by using soft compressors on the track input to get the analogue warmth. Digital is fantastic really, reels are expensive and half of it ends up on the floor, its such a nightmare doing tape edits and with digital the hole recording process is more creative and its reliable, easy to use and you can do what ever you like with it.

Do you feel you got your job from networking or hardwork?

I think from hard work basically, when you start your job that’s it. Your social life is over so you have to live to work and sacrifice everything. Some people just can’t afford to do this but you have to, to be successful.

What’s the future in your career?

Just wait and see really, I just plan to keep on working. Maybe do more production work and roll with it.

Producer or Engineer?

Certain engineers don’t produce and certain producers don’t engineer, I seem to be a bit of both. The role of the producer is to say what sounds good and what to keep and throw away, the engineer gets him there in the first place. So the producer doesn’t have to be there the whole time, he can come back and say weather to keep those edits or start again, which can be a nice role but then again he has the pressure of getting the whole job done on his shoulders.

The only way to get to Sawmills is by boat, does this cause problems with transporting gear?

Every thing needs to be arranged at a certain time, if the tide is out you can walk there but it’s a ten minute walk so it not good for bringing in gear. The studio is fully catered with bedrooms, chill-outs areas and cooks which is a really good selling point as labels know that the works going to get done.

What is your recording method when you start an album?

I try to get the basics live with isolation between the amps. But it varies on bands what sort of vibe you get from them. But normally I would do drums and bass first and then work with guitars for the whole album so that people don’t have to wait around for days.

Sawmills, does it get any better?

Do you come from a musical background?

I wouldn’t say that I’m a musician but I did play in a band for a couple of years, but I don’t think its massively important as you’re not from a musical background as this type of person normally knows more about the technical side and lets the band be the musicians.

What do you think of the people making music at home?

I think its great and some of the quality that’s coming though is really high, because of the high quality software there definitely is room for bedroom producers and four major studios have folded over the last year because of the lack of work, because of people producing there music at home.

How do you keep up with the technology?

From reading books basically, web based news and testing out new stuff from manufactures who use us a testing source.

Experience or graduate knowledge?

There’s no replacement for experience, you have to know how everything works, if you move a mic you need to now how it’s going to sound, which comes from experience. As a engineer you need to know your gear and room environment well so that you can get the best sound, you could have learn every think there is about audio but when it comes to a studio environment some of this knowledge isn’t worth much if you don’t know the gear and rooms. I completed a City & Guilds Part three which gave me the confidence to go for the job at Sawmills, It really was useful even though I think experience is what really counts. It definitely gave me the knowledge that I needed to know to progress as an engineer.

Mark, gone for a pint of Guiness

Mark Thomas can be contacted at Sawmills