Erasure • Features • Interviews
Steve Walsh (2005)
Late last year, Steve kindly agreed to be interviewed by the EIS to discuss his involvement on both of these projects, plus the yet to be released acoustic album.
What is your musical history / background?
I grew up outside Boston Massachusetts. The first musical instrument I played was trumpet when I was 11, that didn't go so well. I began playing guitar at 12 and it became my sole focus in life.
I played in a bunch of heavy metal bands in high school and around the time I was 17 I started getting into jazz which led me to enroll in Berklee College of Music in Boston where I studied arranging.
I had the experience of studying with many great teachers, and most of the musicians I work with today can somehow be traced back to that time in Boston.
How did this lead to you becoming a producer?
In 1998 I moved to New York City to pursue better musical opportunities.
In New York I was introduced to this amazing scene of incredible songwriters and musicians. At that point I bought my first computer and a Digidesign Digi001 and started producing demos for songwriters I knew. Once I started going down this road I realized I would not be coming back. I began to build a studio and become more and more immersed in producing and writing.
How familiar were with Andy's and Vince's work prior to working on these two albums?
I was familiar with Erasure's big hits and Andy's voice is so distinct it's unforgettable. However, It wasn't until I got to know the boys did I realize just how many songs they'd written that I knew.
How did you get to be co-producing Erasure acoustic album?
I'd had been asked to played acoustic guitar for a radio show for Sirrius Satellite radio in New York and then two private concerts for fans in San Francisco.
When I arrived in San Francisco I went up to Vince's hotel room and Andy and Vince sat me down and said we want to make an acoustic album of past Erasure songs and we want you to produce it. I was caught completely of guard, they hadn't heard any of my work at that point but they both are really sensitive and 'in tune' people and must have sensed that we'd be a good fit for the acoustic record.
Do you know what the motivation behind creating an acoustic album was?
I'm not really sure. I think it's a setting Andy was interested in and Vince has a real affinity for songwriters like Simon and Garfunkel. While we were recording I lent him records of various artist like early Bob Dylan and Rufus Wainwright.
With Erasure being known for their electronic music style, did re-working older Erasure hits for the acoustic album pose any particular challenges?
No. Erasure songs are some of the most hooky, musical songs there are. So there's no shortage of inspiring music to work with. I thought if I could just listen to the song and not get intimidated by the production, I could find something intimate in these versions that give the songs added meaning.
The acoustic album was completed fairly rapidly wasn't it?
In the studio, I believe in momentum. Vince and I laid out as much as possible in pre-production. At that point I realized these versions of the songs would be substantial productions of the similar weight of the original versions and not just acoustic guitar and voice.
We started with the original vocal from the old multi-tracks, and began building up the arrangement around that. Over the next 2 weeks, we added classical guitar, Brazilian and African percussion, Pedal Steel guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, String Quartet and an amazing vocal arrangement of 'Rock Me Gently' that my wife Jill wrote and Andy and Jill sang. Andy arrived and sang like an angel.
Things got really interesting when Jason Lehning came up from Nashville to mix the album. The first day Jason arrived we listened to the the tracks and we trying to get the rental mix equipment out to the studio and the next thing we know, the blackout that cause the massive power outages last year hit. We lost about two days of mix time, which caused Jason to burn the midnight oil; which I think he actually liked, (in some disturbed sort of way). It was a lot of fun to make the record and the whole thing was done in 30 days!
I guess both you and Andy / Vince worked well together as you subsequently worked on Erasure's latest album 'Nightbird' How early were you involved in the Nightbird project?
At the beginning of the year I received a call from Mute saying Andy would like to record the vocals here in Brooklyn for the album. I think there is a certain vibe and comfortable feeling he likes here. They really could go wherever they choose to work. Another good part about my spot is that Vince recently moved close-by; so Vince could be programming while Andy could record.
Andy had a great working flow with Jill, who did some vocal production and the results are some very personal vocal performances from Andy. He is one of the best singers there is! Working in Brooklyn was also good because they could write during the day as well, which the little bit of what I actually saw was a really great experience for me.
Nightbird is a slight departure for Erasure (at least in technical terms) as Vince worked entirely with software synths. Did Vince seem enthusiastic with this change of direction?
You know I still can't believe the results he achieved with the soft synths. It really shows how good of a musician/arranger/programmer Vince is. He seemed to like the challenge. I know he loved the recall-ability of the sounds. The bass sounds are fat and he really was able to create the classic Erasure sounds on the laptop. I would be surprised if he went back to completely using analog hardware synths in the future.
Do you think the use of software synths has influenced the sound of the album to a large extent? There certainly seem to be more 'layers' to the sound on some of the songs...
I'm not sure if it's the soft synths that are the reason for that.
I think for each record Erasure try's to find something a little musically or texturally different to experiment with.
How do you think Nightbird compares to earlier Erasure albums?
I think 'Nightbird' is reminiscent of early Erasure records but has some new sonic elements that show it's a modern record.
From the EIS Studio Diary feature, we were told that Jill assisted Andy with doing vocal exercises - what was involved in that?
Andy likes to do his 'warm ups' before singing; especially in the studio. They open up his voice and Andy actually introduced Jill to his warm-up routine and they would do them everyday before the session.
Andy had a really bad cold when he got here and after a couple weeks he lost his voice and we took a break for a week for him to get well. The vocals you hear on the record are very personal and honest which is the result I'm always hoping to achieve with any recording.
And Jill accompanies Andy on the 'Nightbird' song 'Breathe' (which became the first single) which must have been very exciting...
Jill's voice on the track really adds a brightness and 'air' to the track.
During the week of down time I started sketching out potential back ground vocal parts and when I got to 'Breathe' I thought the middle 8 needed something, so I did a little arrangement in there that Jill sang and eventually Andy added some singing to as well.
And the question that has to be asked - what is your favourite track from Nightbird?
I am partial to 'Breathe'
What else are you working on at the moment?
I've just finished an acoustic version of 'Breathe' for the single release (!)
I just finished a few tracks with Greta Gaines, who is a up and coming artist; she opened some dates for Sheryl Crow last year and now she's in the early stages of a new album. You can check out her song 'Blindsided' on my website.
'iZLER' is a record that was just released that I'm also real excited about. I produced it with the artist, Fil Izler, who is a former member of Robbie Williams's band.
Currently, I just finished Jill's new record. You can hear some of the music at jillwalsh.com.
I'm always writing songs and pitching them to various artists as well. I guess I kind of aspire to write the kind of pop-gems that made Erasure such a phenomenon. I also continue to play gigs on guitar, which I enjoy, both live and in the studio as a session player for other people's projects. My goal is to continue to grow as a producer, writer, and musician, so hopefully each project that comes my way will push me to do just that.