Nic, this is fascinating, and you write it so I feel like I'm there with these outlandish characters. We're used to thinking of artists as quirky and larger-than-life, but who knew people on the production side were as well. Your depiction of Stephen is a trip.
The component swapping and the way they did multi-tracking for Queen I also found really interesting. I doubt most people realise how much changes like those in the recording studio have affected what they hear.
I hope you're going to put these pieces in a book!
Hi Ellen, thank you for reading and for the comment.
About component swapping etc, there is sooooo much more fine detail about experimentation and trial and error. Truth is I wouldn’t know where to start, and I suspect that online many folks have taken deep dives in to this topic. I think it’s safe to say that young musicians today stand on the shoulders of giants. I just hope that at least some really understand this, when they take their laptop and create/record a song seamlessly in a few hours in their own — that back in the day would have taken weeks, a full team, and a truck load of equipment! Really!
About people, what to say? Like I say Stephen was also a fun guy, and I’m sure he was loved by many. However, like all of us, he had a darker-side, which he allowed to become unleashed. For many that is one of life’s challenges, not allowing that to happen. Most of us don’t struggle so much with this. However, add coke, booze, other drugs, huge success before age 25, the power and adulation that comes with that… and boom, that’s a heady cocktail… and we’re back to the ‘27 Club’ topic…
Also, one last thing, I struggled with writing this, and in part 3 I share one last dark tale from Trident, and one I struggled with ten-times more than talking about Stephen Short…
Nic, this is fascinating, and you write it so I feel like I'm there with these outlandish characters. We're used to thinking of artists as quirky and larger-than-life, but who knew people on the production side were as well. Your depiction of Stephen is a trip.
The component swapping and the way they did multi-tracking for Queen I also found really interesting. I doubt most people realise how much changes like those in the recording studio have affected what they hear.
I hope you're going to put these pieces in a book!
Hi Ellen, thank you for reading and for the comment.
About component swapping etc, there is sooooo much more fine detail about experimentation and trial and error. Truth is I wouldn’t know where to start, and I suspect that online many folks have taken deep dives in to this topic. I think it’s safe to say that young musicians today stand on the shoulders of giants. I just hope that at least some really understand this, when they take their laptop and create/record a song seamlessly in a few hours in their own — that back in the day would have taken weeks, a full team, and a truck load of equipment! Really!
About people, what to say? Like I say Stephen was also a fun guy, and I’m sure he was loved by many. However, like all of us, he had a darker-side, which he allowed to become unleashed. For many that is one of life’s challenges, not allowing that to happen. Most of us don’t struggle so much with this. However, add coke, booze, other drugs, huge success before age 25, the power and adulation that comes with that… and boom, that’s a heady cocktail… and we’re back to the ‘27 Club’ topic…
Also, one last thing, I struggled with writing this, and in part 3 I share one last dark tale from Trident, and one I struggled with ten-times more than talking about Stephen Short…
Look forward to reading it.