{"id":17175,"date":"2017-03-31T11:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T18:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=17175"},"modified":"2017-03-31T11:34:31","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T18:34:31","slug":"steve-lillywhite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/03\/steve-lillywhite\/","title":{"rendered":"STEVE LILLYWHITE"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Steve

Steve Lilywhite – Photo Credit: Anna Webber<\/p><\/div>\n

Steve Lillywhite is one of music\u2019s most creative, prolific and accomplished producers. Six Grammys, credits in excess of 500 records, and a vast roster of superstar acts\u2014U2, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, Annie Lennox and scores more\u2014attest to the singular mark he\u2019s left on every piece of music he\u2019s touched.<\/p>\n

Born in Egham, England, Lillywhite began working as a tape operator at Polygram in 1972. He landed a big break when his demos with Ultravox scored the band a contract with Island Records. Lillywhite joined the label as a staff producer and quickly went on to helm new wave acts Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Psychedelic Furs, XTC and Peter Gabriel.<\/p>\n

His profile was elevated further when he helped craft U2\u2019s debut album Boy<\/i>. It was the beginning of a creative partnership that produced 1987\u2019s The Joshua Tree<\/i>, 1991\u2019s Achtung Baby <\/i>and 2004\u2019s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb<\/i>. \u201cWith the Rolling Stones, I only had a little bit to do with them overall,\u201d says Lillywhite of his contribution to 1986\u2019s Dirty Work<\/i>. \u201cBut with U2, I really have been a part of their DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most recently, Lillywhite, 60, embraced a big change\u2014moving to Indonesia. \u201cA few years ago, I was invited to do a keynote at a conference in Singapore,\u201d says Lillywhite, from Avatar Studios during a rare trip to Manhattan. \u201cI was told that there was a band in Indonesia, Noah, looking for a producer for three songs. I videoconferenced with them and it sounded great. I recorded with them a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impressed by the creative possibilities, Lillywhite stayed in the country and went on to produce singer Iwan Fals, whom he describes as an Indonesian mixture of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, and an all-female band. \u201cOne reason I\u2019m doing this: If you can empower women in Muslim countries, it\u2019s great,\u201d he says. \u201cThere are dark forces and fundamentalism in every religion, and women are the key to keeping that fundamentalism away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Describe your role as a producer.<\/b>
\nI\u2019m not a dictator, but I do feel like I\u2019m the alpha male in the studio. I\u2019ve been in the studio for so many years that I control it, but in a way where people don\u2019t think it\u2019s being controlled. That\u2019s not being big-headed. It just comes from experience, coupled with my personality, and a little bit of talent. But much more than talent, it\u2019s about dedication. Bono described a good producer as someone who can last the course. That was very nice of him to say\u2014he was sort of saying it because I have lasted the course with them.<\/p>\n

\"Counting

Counting Crows<\/p><\/div>\n

Importance of a studio\u2019s gear?<\/b>
\nI\u2019ve always said that I\u2019ve made the best records in the worst studios and the worst records in the best studios, so if a good studio is a prerequisite for a good record, I have yet to discover that. In fact, in 43 years, there\u2019s not one rule that I\u2019ve come to believe is an absolute standard, except for one thing: I never let people eat in the control room.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/b>
\nBecause this is my church! About the only form of spirituality or religion that I\u2019ve been able to accept is the magic that happens when you get a bunch of people together in a recording studio. I think eating at your workplace is a terrible habit. You wouldn\u2019t go to church while a sermon is being delivered and munch on a hamburger or deviled eggs, would you? As I said, this is my church.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your process with U2?<\/b>
\nWith U2, the end of an album is chaotic\u2014but that chaos can make for great art. Bono won\u2019t sing until a song is mixed and then he\u2019ll rewrite it. He\u2019ll come in, say it sounds fantastic, and sing it. He\u2019ll do a great job, then he\u2019ll say, \u201cIt just needs a bit more music,\u201d so Edge then picks up the guitar and starts playing. He changes a chord here or there and it sounds good. But this process of fiddling with sounds and chords can take days. Then we need to change the bass because the chords are now different, and the drums need to change, too. Suddenly\u2014three weeks later\u2014you\u2019ve got a whole new song. Three weeks ago, Bono said he loved what we had, but now the song has split and you have two different songs. It\u2019s like a tree. Some of their entire albums come from three or four song ideas.<\/p>\n

Example?<\/b>
\nOn All That You Can\u2019t Leave Behind<\/i>, my job was to come in and make singles, help them finish off the hits. They told me they had two songs they wanted to work on, \u201cWalk On\u201d and \u201cHome.\u201d I loved the chorus of \u201cWalk On\u201d but not the verse, but I loved the verse of \u201cHome.\u201d That was funny, they said, because the two used to be the same song. That was a moment where the songs branched out and I worked with them to put them back together.<\/p>\n

How\u2019d that work?<\/b>
\nI\u2019m very good at being logical and putting things like that in order. I have ideas, but I much prefer that an artist give me 10 ideas and have me say, \u201cI\u2019ll take this and this and put this over here.\u201d I hate it when someone says, \u201cSteve, I\u2019ll do whatever you want me to do.\u201d What do I <\/i>want? A nice life? (laughs<\/i>) I have no ambition in that way. So in this situation, I took \u201cHome\u201d and \u201cWalk On\u201d and put them together again.<\/p>\n

What was it like working with Phish?<\/b>
\nThey can play everything, but that is not good. Limitations in art are what make great art, so when you can play everything, how do you choose what to play? Personally, I\u2019d like them to make another Dark Side of the Moon<\/i>. To me, they\u2019re a prog band that jams wonderfully, moving around through different time signatures and such. [Phish frontman] Trey [Anastasio] liked how I described the band when they jam\u2014it\u2019s like looking at the sky and seeing hundreds of birds flying together and suddenly they all turn at once. They don\u2019t say, \u201cOK, turn in three, two, one.\u201d They just do it. That\u2019s what a great band like Phish does when they jam. To me, that\u2019s what makes [1996\u2019s] Billy Breathes<\/i> so good. It condenses what they do into 45 minutes. It\u2019s as good a concept album as I\u2019ve ever done.<\/p>\n

\"U2

U2 – Photo Credit: Deirdre O\u2019Callaghan<\/p><\/div>\n

How was it a concept album?<\/b>
\nWell, it had a flow\u2014and the idea of an almost singular vision throughout is important for me. Most albums are now done by multiple producers, in multiple studios\u2014even bands like Maroon 5. The songs are never put in the same mixing bowl and never see their \u201calbumness\u201d until the mastering suite. The problem with that approach is that you don\u2019t have a conception of the overall dish from the beginning. What I love to do is to sequence an album early on, so every time we\u2019re playing it back and adjusting things, we\u2019re building the project as an album rather than just working on specific songs.<\/p>\n

Was working with the Dave Matthews Band similar to Phish?<\/b>
\nI don\u2019t consider the Dave Matthews Band a jam band. They have a lot of different people playing solos. There was a time when talking about jamming would have been terrible for me. When I started in punk rock, I wouldn\u2019t even let guitarists bend notes because that felt like excess fat. There\u2019s something great about being young and opinionated because it offers you the parameters of your art, but being older can mean that you\u2019re more open to everything. I\u2019m certainly a lot more appreciative of different music these days.<\/p>\n

What are some common elements among great bands you\u2019ve worked with?<\/b>
\nThey\u2019re greater than the sum of their parts. If a drummer leaves a great band, for example, it can be really bad, because sometimes the drummer isn\u2019t just the drummer. He\u2019s the guy who says, \u201cI don\u2019t like that.\u201d You can have the best drummer in the world, but if you\u2019re just paying him a wage, he\u2019ll never say that the music isn\u2019t good enough. A great band happens when all of the members share a vision. That\u2019s what makes the group greater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n

Did you find that true of the Stones?<\/b>
\nAbsolutely. When they all get together and it locks in, there\u2019s something magical. I worked on the album where Mick and Keith were not really talking\u2014a shame\u2014but it was what it was, and I knew that it was not going to be a classic album. But who turns down the opportunity to produce the Rolling Stones? I learned a lot more from them than they ever learned from me, but it was interesting how 99 percent of the time, it was dysfunctional. Occasionally, though, it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Killers – Photo credit: Williams + Hirakawa<\/p><\/div>\n

How so?<\/b>
\nIt was like cogs in a watch. Suddenly, one would start moving and click, and then they would all start working in an amazing way. I got a glimpse of how they might have been 10 percent of the time, 10 years previously. When I was with them, it was maybe .5 percent of the time. It was a great experience.<\/p>\n

Can you elaborate on the relationship between chaos and art?<\/b>
\nSometimes great art comes from chaos and, historically, that chaos came from drugs and drinking. Drugs can get you to that point of chaos quickly, but drugs don\u2019t make the art great\u2014it\u2019s the chaos that does that. And you can get there without the drugs, but it\u2019s more difficult. I\u2019m 18 years sober, and when I got sober I wondered how I would make albums. I was so used to drinking, smoking weed, and doing coke to stay up late that I didn\u2019t even know if I would enjoy what I was doing. But that said, I\u2019m very proud of my 18 years of sobriety. It\u2019s been great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve Lillywhite is one of music\u2019s most creative, prolific and accomplished producers. Six Grammys, credits in excess of 500 records, and a vast roster of superstar acts\u2014U2, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, Annie Lennox and scores more\u2014attest to the singular mark he\u2019s left on every piece of music he\u2019s touched. Born in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3844],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17175"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17181,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17175\/revisions\/17181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}