Alexander Archer Talks Life Behind The Desk With MusicTech Magazine
Megastar producer and Aston 33 member Alexander Archer spoke to MusicTech magazine about getting started in the music industry and making connections with artists.
Alex related his two simple yet vital core philosophies: always give the artist your full attention and don’t be too transfixed by your gear. He has carried this ethos with him all the way from his first job assisting Steve Osborne to recording and mixing Vevo UK’s prestigious live sessions.
Alex now works with some of the cream of the crop of the UK music scene including Kasabian, You Me At Six and Rag’n’Bone Man, as well as international rising stars such as Phoebe Bridgers and James Arthur.
Alex is always meeting new artists with Vevo, but also goes out of his way to discover new talent: “The reality is that a producer and engineer’s career is so tied to the artists that they work with, that you have to go out there and make that happen with them. When I was in Bath, I worked with Tom Dalgety for a while and he told me he’d done a bit of work with a new band called Royal Blood. Fast-forward to now and both he and the band are massive superstars”
Alex edits and mixes at his home studio in South London, kitted out with a full range of Aston gear:
“I’ve been using the Aston Origin microphone recently and I’m part of the Aston 33 [our exclusive testing and development panel]. What attracted me to Aston was that it’s a British company manufacturing in the UK. I thought that was really interesting, especially with the classic ideas of the ‘British’ sound.”
Alex recently added Aston Starlight to his armoury, to great results:
“I’ve been using the company’s Starlight mics, too – they’re great for getting good separation on guitar. They’ve got a pleasing, quite familiar sound. I remember the first time I recorded a vocal with a Neumann U 87, I thought, ‘Oh, it sounds like a vocal’. I had a similar thing with the Aston Spirit, but for the acoustic guitar.”
Read MusicTech’s interview here
Read more tips and anecdotes from Alex in Aston’s interview here