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Producer / Engineer

Brett Taylor

Born in Blackwood, South Australia and from a musical family, BT had a very early fascination with music and sound, which ultimately lead to producing and engineering local artists as a teenager. His obsession for deeply understanding music technology and mucking about with as many instruments as he could get his hands on was a constant distraction from just about everything else.

 

In the late 1980s, BT moved to Melbourne to what was the hub of everything happening in the Australian music industry at the time. Soon he was freelancing at Melbourne’s Timbertop, Metropolis (formerly AAV) and 001 (formerly Power Plant) studios, working with artists from a variety of genres with unusual or esoteric musical ideas requiring a little direction. Then moving on to an in-house engineering gig at Lifesaver Studios in South Melbourne (now The Base). Here BT cut 1⁄4” tape into far too many pieces, was a trailblazer in early hard disk recording (Digidesign Pro Tools & Doremi DAWN) and learned how to make a radio advertisement work in under 30 seconds. At night, he produced more bands... 

 

Avalon, Russel Morris, Mistaken Identity, I’ll Take Manhattan and Michael Fowler are some of the artists produced and engineered at that time. Next was another in-house gig at 001 Studios (formerly Melbourne’s Power Plant Studios) heading up a small team of engineers and working with artist such as Merryl Bainbridge, Peter Andre, Felt, Barb Waters & the Rough Diamonds, Magic Roundabout.

 

After a short stint in Sydney, freelancing at Billy Field’s Paradise Studios, Alberts Studios and later Trackdown, BT returned to Melbourne in 1997. Working from Sing Sing and various residential studios, artists such as Roy Bontay, 2120, Scott Stone, Lindsay Buckland and Louisa John-Krol were regulars. 

 

Back in Adelaide in 2001 and based at Mixmasters Productions, BT engineered the soundtrack for the Rolf De Heer film Tracker and for the next 8 years produced, recorded, mixed, and/or mastered projects for John Schumann, Special Patrol, Liam Gerner, Catherine Lambert, The Yearlings, Jim Hermel, Peter Combe, The Borderers, Jeff Lang, Kerri Overbeeke, Curio, The Nervous Investors, Scissor Pretty, James Gary, E-Type Jazz, Janet Seidel, Marlene Richards, Snap 2 Zero, Dexter Jones, Luke Ashby & the Lonely Crowd, Tommy Gun, Jet O’Rourke, Junior, The Craving Daisies, 45 Sheriff, Fender, Sonia Buckley, Sunroom, Robert Price, Philip Walsh, The Phobias and many others. 

 

BT is now based at Pilgrim Arts in the Adelaide Hills and various other studios around the country (including the wonderful Mixmasters Studios), with recent artists including Gallie, Verity Skye, Louisa John-Krol, The Brenton Foster Band, Galleon, Lindsay Buckland, Hills & Trains, Myles Mayo and swing artist Greg Meyer. BT has received SAMIA nominations for Studio Engineer / Producer and Technician, and 3 nominations for Album of the Year. 

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