Claudius 'Mittens' Mittendorfer (right) pounding steins with Ash's live sound engineer Lance Reynolds (left)
Party people in the house,
Mark was kind enough to give me the email address of Claudius, the in-house recording engineer for our heros. Here it is. Happy summer!
Chad
1) Introduce yourself!
hello everyone, my name is claudius mittendorfer and i'm a recording engineer.
2) How did you land the gig with Ash?
in 2003(?)i assisted on the mix for meltdown in los angeles. that's when i first met everyone. we stayed in touch and then coincidentally all moved to new york around the same time (except rick, of course). i got the call to record toti and then came back for this project. it's been my longest working relationship with any band so far -- something i am very grateful for.
3) To what extent have you been 'producer' as opposed to 'engineer' for Ash?
i started my engineering career in a very high-end recording studio where everyone knew their role and acted accordingly. when i get hired as an engineer/mixer, i tend to keep production input very limited. basically only when asked. in the case of ash, they have a clear idea of what they want and don't necessarily need another opinion. any of my production touches come during the mixing stage where i'll suggest and present new, subtle arrangement changes.
Big C in control
4) What are some other projects you've worked on?
over the past few years i've mixed a handful of cool records at Atomic Heart (ash's studio in manhattan):
amazing baby, the films, butch walker, the working title, the plastiscines.
i've also recorded for panic at the disco, the academy is and brand new.
before that i was working with a cool producer and got to record muse, interpol and franz ferdinand.
so i'm basically living a dream...
5) For the A-Z series...did you have a vision when mixing? Or do the band have full creative control over final mixes?
the mixing has been incredibly fun on this project. we do a good job getting and recording the sounds we want as we go in order not to leave too many decisions for the end. it's a pretty well-oiled machine after so many songs. each song is different and sets the tone for how it wants to be mixed. the overall vision is making each song's character shine and highlight its unique elements. the guys leave me to get there with the mixes and fine tune them at the end of the day. it's a pretty simple process.