Stephen W Tayler

Stephen W Tayler
Background information
Birth name Stephen William Tayler
Born 1953
Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Occupation(s) sound engineer, mixer, music producer, musician, composer, digital artist
Years active 1974–present
Website Chimera Arts

Stephen Tayler is a mixing and recording engineer, music producer, musician, composer and sound designer who has contributed this collection of talents to hundreds of world-class albums for artists including Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, Peter Gabriel, Underworld, Duncan Sheik, Howard Jones, Stevie Nicks, Milla Jovovich, Rush, Bob Geldof, Rupert Hine and Tina Turner. Stephen works closely with producer, filmmaker and artist Sadia Sadia. Stephen has always stayed on the leading edge of audio technology, starting with analogue and tape techniques, and subsequently he has been an early adopter of synthesis, sampling and digital technology. He is based out of one of four long-term project spaces at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, UK.

Education

Stephen grew up studying and performing music professionally. At the age of eight he became a boy chorister at New College School, Oxford eventually becoming a soloist and head chorister. New College Choir made many recordings, and Choral Evensong was regularly Broadcast on the BBC. Having taken up the clarinet and piano, he gained a music scholarship to Shrewsbury School, followed by three years at the Royal College of Music in London studying the clarinet with Colin Bradbury and also studying organ. He taught himself to play the guitar and bass guitar, as well as playing saxophone, recorders and penny whistles. He played in many orchestras, ensembles, experimental groups and bands, but he felt that life as a performer was not for him. During all this time he had developed a fascination with recording, and had begun to experiment with tape recorders.

Career Highlights

The Seventies

Stephen decided to pursue a career in the audio world. He applied to the BBC for a post as a trainee, and was accepted, due to start several months after finishing at college. On 4 August 1974, a few days after his final term at college, he decided to go in search of a job to tide him over. Without any preparation he went for a stroll around London’s Soho where there were many recording studios. By chance he turned off Wardour Street into St Annes Court, a small alleyway. He spotted a doorway with a sign for Trident Studios, so he stepped inside and enquired if there were any jobs available. He was immediately sent to see the studio manager, who told Stephen that he was too old and over qualified. Yet there was an opening for the post of tea boy. Stephen started the next day.

Trident Studios had become famous for the recording of many seminal albums from the late sixtes and early seventies, including sessions by The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, T Rex etc. In his first few weeks he found himself making tea and running errands for sessions with acts such as Queen, Elton John, Supertramp and Ace, with producers Roy Thomas Baker, Ken Scott and Gus Dudgeon.

After six months of gruelling work as one of Trident’s tea boys, Stephen was promoted to become a tape op (assistant engineer). He assisted on sessions with T Rex, Cockney Rebel, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, The Spiders From Mars, Chick Corea, Brand X, and many others. He developed close working relationships with producers Dennis MacKay and Robin Lumley in particular.

After eighteen months of non-stop work as an assistant, Stephen was asked to step in as engineer on a recording session, due to the illness of one of his seniors. This proved to be a baptism by fire, as the session required a single to be completely re-recorded and mixed from scratch in just three hours for a spot on Top of the Pops. After completing this task, relatively successfully, Stephen became one of Trident’s engineers.

As a recording and mixing engineer he worked on albums with Tommy Bolin,[1] Bill Bruford, UK, Rod Argent, Claude Francois, Brand X and Peter Gabriel along with many others. After two years he had moved up the ladder and was appointed Trident's Chief Engineer. As the climate changed from fusion, progressive rock and pop to the late seventies disco boom, Stephen found himself helping to shape the European disco sound, with the relentless ‘in your face’ four to the floor bass drum sound. It all became too formulaic, and Stephen decided to move on to new challenges.

The Eighties

Shortly after this he was introduced again to producer Rupert Hine, with whom he had worked as an assistant and an occasional engineer at Trident. He opted to become a freelance, which was rare in those days. He started to work with Rupert at Farmyard Studios, recording, mixing, co-producing and playing on Rupert’s solo projects (five albums), and going on to work with him as his recording and mixing engineer on albums for The Fixx (four albums), Chris de Burgh (two albums), Saga (two albums), Howard Jones (three albums [2]), Tina Turner (tracks on two albums), Jonah Lewie, Thompson Twins, The Waterboys, Underworld and Bob Geldof.

Stephen also worked at Farmyard Studios with The Lords of the New Church, Jethro Tull, Trooper, Frozen Ghost, David Wilcox with producer Sadia Sadia, Honeymoon Suite, The Proclaimers, Judie Tzuke and T’Pau, as well as many others.

Stephen and Rupert began to travel internationally in the late eighties, and began working with artists such as Stevie Nicks in the USA and Rush [3] in Canada.

The Nineties

In 1990 he travelled around the world together with Rupert Hine for the BBC production ‘One World One Voice’ which recorded and filmed over 400 musicians on location. By stretching the studio technology of the day to the absolute limit, Stephen helped create a musical collage for the one hour TV special, directed by Kevin Godley. The artists included Sting, Lou Reed, Dave Stewart, Suzanne Vega, Chrissie Hynde, Joe Strummer, The Kodo Drummers, Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, Wayne Shorter, Salif Keita, Eddy Grant, the list goes on..... It was a gruelling task, but the results, both visually and musically, were extremely rewarding. The show, with its ecological themes, and a behind the scenes documentary were broadcast simultaneously to a television audience of over half a billion viewers.

During the nineties Stephen’s success as an engineer and mixer continued with the US mainstream hit ‘Barely Breathing’ by Duncan Sheik, drawn from his debut album, and recordings with Milla Jovovich and Katey Sagal. He also continued his association with Bob Geldof [4][5] and Rush[6] working on further albums for both artists. Stephen began to work extensively in Europe with such acts as Eric Serra, Les Negresses Vertes,[7] Noa (Achinoam Nini), Claudio Baglioni and Renato Zero. With musical/production collaborator Sadia Sadia he formed the world music fusion outfit ‘Equa’ (Polygram Australia) which produced the eponymously-titlled ARIA nominated album ‘Equa'. Equa’s music has been sequenced to current affairs programmes, television programmes and films internationally, and their music forms the basis for two works by the Sydney Dance Company (‘Cradle Song’ and ‘Unwitting Sight’).

2000 - present

In 2000, Stephen teamed up again with his longstanding collaborator and partner, the producer Rupert Hine, to work on the album Songs in Red and Gray by Suzanne Vega. The album was recorded and mixed over a period of three months at the composer Philip Glass’ Looking Glass Studios in New York. In 2002, Stephen worked alongside the producer Andy Ross on what he still considers to be the severely under rated album Open Heart Zoo by the then seventeen-year-old Martin Grech. In 2003, Rupert and Stephen recorded and mixed the stunning debut album "Poetry and Aeroplanes" by singer-songwriter Teitur in Spain and Los Angeles.

The early 2000s saw Stephen and Sadia Sadia teaming up with the renowned glass-maker [8] and experimental filmmaker Anthony Stern, to create the experimental film-poem "The Noon Gun", which had its debut at the 53rd Melbourne International Film Festival in 2004. The film had its UK premiere at the National Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television) in Bradford, in September 2004, and has featured in film festivals worldwide. This marked the beginning of an ongoing collaboration with Anthony Stern, resulting in a number of critically acclaimed films including those featured in the programme ‘Le Cinema de L’Avant Garde’ at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France in June 2008.

Stephen began to experiment with film and video arts, as well as post production, alongside his emerging work as a composer and sound designer.[9] He developed a talent for creating digitally-generated stage visuals and designing visual iconography for use in live performance. He has contributed audio and visual work to many DVD projects for Howard Jones, and also designed the interactive graphics for the stage display at Howard’s 2010 ‘Human’s Lib/Dream Into Action’ show at indigo at The O2 in London. These visuals have since been used for Howard's US, Japan and UK tours. In November 2013, Stephen once again teamed up with Howard Jones for his 30th Anniversary Concerts, this time creating and directing the visual elements for a new thirty-minute ’set’ piece entitled ‘ENGAGE’. Having directed the filming of the Howard Jones show 'ENGAGE' in 2013, Tayler constructed an edit featuring his visuals and the live footage over the course of 2014. Howard Jones has since released 'ENGAGE' as a DVD and CD, along with a limited edition artist’s book which has been launched in conjunction with live shows in London and Los Angeles in February 2015.

In 2012, Stephen recorded and released an album of original compositions under the title ‘Ostinato’,[10] alongside producing an accompanying set of moving image works in his unique visual language.

2014 saw Stephen produce 'Carnforth Station' by singer-songwriter Jennifer Crook,[11] as well as teaming up with installation artist Sadia Sadia and artist Darren Munce[12] to produce the installation work 'Fugue (Die Wende)',[13] a filmed installation about the removal of light. The work formed part of the City of Leipzig’s ‘Lichtfest 2014 Kulturparcours’,[14] a city-wide event celebrating the ‘Peaceful Revolution’ demonstrations of October 9, 1989 that are credited with bringing about the collapse of the fascist DDR government, and the fall of the Berlin Wall exactly one month later. The work ran across two locations: as part of Sadia’s solo show ‘Echoes and Ashes’[15] at Spinnerei’s LIA, as well as at Halle 14 Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst (Centre for Contemporary Art).[16] Stephen composed the music as well as creating the four channel sound field.

2015 marked the completion of a new album for The Fixx, which he mixed and produced, and which is due for release later this year.

Kate Bush

In 2010, Stephen mixed most of the tracks for Kate Bush’s first album in six years, 'Director's Cut', which entered the UK charts at No. 2 on its release in May 2011. Also in 2011, he was responsible for all of the mixing on Kate’s latest album '50 Words for Snow’.,[17] as well as recording contributions from Steve Gadd, Elton John, and Stephen Fry. The album comprised seven new tracks, with a running time of over an hour.

In 2012, he mixed 'Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)' 2012 REMIX by Kate Bush, which featured in its entirety with a choreographed work in the London 2012 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony.[18]

In August 2014, Stephen returned to work with Kate on her twenty-two date residency at the Hammersmith Apollo, for the show 'Before The Dawn - KT Fellowship’. The residency marked her return to the stage after an absence of thirty-five years, all 77,000 tickets selling out in fifteen minutes.[19] The shows received rave reviews internationally[20][21][22] “The critics were unanimous in their awe” (The Guardian UK).[23] Stephen was brought on board to specifically control Kate’s vocal sound, processing and effects. He joined the sound team of nine people, and the preparations for the show took many months, featuring a dazzling combination of lighting and sound design, projections, props, puppeteers, and theatrical effects.

"I am so proud to be associated with this project, and very touched that Kate has trusted me to manage and mix her voice. It is an honour and a privilege to be a part of the wonderful sound team, an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life” says Stephen. In the programme, Stephen is credited as the ‘Kate Vocal Navigator’ and, as Kate writes in the programme notes, "solely in charge of my live vocal sound and song ‘maps'."

Selected Discography

The Seventies

The Eighties

The Nineties

2000 - present

Film, Post-production, Sound and Visual Art Installations, Live Events

Trivia

In 1989, fifteen years after starting his career in the music business, Stephen did something he had never done before or since. He picked up a hitch-hiker. After chatting for an hour, Stephen discovered that this man had been a tea boy at Trident Studios, but had been fired for being late on the morning of 4 August 1974. That was the day that Stephen walked in off the street and was hired.

One afternoon in 1976, after Stephen had just finished a gruelling 18-hour session as a lowly assistant engineer, he was patiently waiting in reception at the studio for his cab to go home. Suddenly, the studio manager, in a complete panic, announced that one of his engineers had been taken ill. Stephen was told he had to replace the engineer for the session. The studio manager told him not to worry, since it was a simple job, "only" another 3 hours work. It was a session to record and mix a song for the BBC TV show ‘Tops of the Pops’. The BBC and the Musicians’ Union had a statutory requirement that the backing tracks for the show be recorded from scratch.

Now, what this would normally mean is that the band would turn up at the studio, along with the backing track tape that they had run off when they mixed their single. While the band might go through the motions of playing the song, most of the time they would just sit around, eating biscuits and drinking tea, for three hours. Having gone through the motions of compliance, they would then run off a quick copy of the backing tape, pay for the three hours’ studio time, and head out the door.

So, apparently, nothing to worry about for the young and inexperienced tape operator/assistant engineer Stephen.

But this time it was different....

On this occasion a representative of the Musicians’ Union came along to make sure things were done properly. NO chance of just swapping the tape. The song had to be performed by the band, and recorded and mixed properly.

Stephen gritted his teeth, downed a strong coffee, and did the job under the scrutiny of the band, producer, record company, and the MU.

It was bit touch and go, but the job was completed. The song ‘Why Did You Do It?’ was performed by the band ‘Stretch’ on Tops of the Pops the very next day.

Having completed his very first ‘proper’ session, and his baptism by fire, Stephen was consequently promoted to become one of Trident’s house engineers.

One of Stephen’s earliest mixes in 1976 was the breakthrough hit "5.7.0.5" for British band City Boy.

The single was also the record producer Mutt Lange’s (Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Maroon 5) first hit single outside his homeland of South Africa.

Stephen recorded and mixed two of the songs on Tina Turner’s 1984 ‘Private Dancer’ album, including the Grammy Award winning ‘Better Be Good To Me’. The album was recorded by several different production teams simultaneously over a very short period of time. The album notes have a very comprehensive list of writers, musicians, producers and engineers for each of the songs, yet somehow Stephen’s recording and mixing credits were absent for the 2 songs he worked on, and no engineer is listed.

The album has sold in excess of 20 Million copies worldwide.

In 1987 Stephen mixed 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush featuring David Gilmour for the video of The Secret Policeman's Third Ball. 25 years later he remixed the new version of the song featured at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony

References

  1. ↑ ""Private Eyes" Tommy Bolin".
  2. ↑ "Howard Jones Discography".
  3. ↑ "Rush "Presto"".
  4. ↑ ""The Vegetarians of Love" credits".
  5. ↑ ""The Happy Club" credits".
  6. ↑ "Rush "Roll The Bones".
  7. ↑ "SOS Interview with Rupert Hine about Les Negresses Vertes".
  8. ↑ "Anthony Stern Glass".
  9. ↑ "Stephen W Tayler - visuals".
  10. ↑ "Ostinato website".
  11. ↑ "Jennifer Crook website".
  12. ↑ "Darren Munce website".
  13. ↑ "Chimera Arts - ‘Fugue (Die Wende)’".
  14. ↑ "Leipzig Lichtfest/Festival of Lights website".
  15. ↑ "Halle 14 - Sadia Sadia, Echoes and Ashes".
  16. ↑ "Halle 14 website".
  17. ↑ "Kate Bush website".
  18. ↑ "London 2012 Montage - Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill".
  19. ↑ "New York Times - 77,000 Kate Bush tickets sell out in fifteen minutes".
  20. ↑ "Before The Dawn - Rolling Stone review".
  21. ↑ "Before The Dawn - Guardian review".
  22. ↑ "Before The Dawn - New York Times review".
  23. ↑ "Kate Bush - Before The Dawn reviews roundup".
  24. ↑ "A Week in the Real World part 1".
  25. ↑ "A Week or Two in the Real World".
  26. ↑ "Howard Jones 20th Anniversary Show: Shepherds Bush".
  27. ↑ ""The Noon Gun" IMDb".
  28. ↑ ""The Memory of Water part one" IMDb".
  29. ↑ "Howard Jones 20th Anniversary Show: Shepherds Bush".
  30. ↑ "Iggy the Eskimo Girl IMDb".
  31. ↑ ""The End of the Part: Hyde Park 1969" IMDb".
  32. ↑ ""San Francisco Redux: No. 1" IMDb".
  33. ↑ "Anthony Stern Filmography".
  34. ↑ ""The Scar Crow" IMDb".

External links