Music producer Ben Hillier reflects on his journey from orchestral percussionist to studio producer, from assisting on recordings to working with Elbow, Blur, Depeche Mode and Nadine Shah, sharing insights on feel, creativity and making records from his distinctive straw-built studio.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
02:36 - The Studio Design

03:56 - Recording Orchestras

08:51 - From College to Assisting

16:03 - Being A Good Engineer

20:08 - Recording Elbow

28:40 - Working With Blur

35:19 - Encouraging Creativity

40:35 - Engineering Depeche Mode

43:36 - Getting Feel Into Electronic Music

50:12 - Collaborating With Nadine Shah

57:46 - Being A Good Producer

59:20 - Creating A Good Studio Environment

1:01:13 - Choosing Which Projects To Work On

1:07:34 - Preferred Tools And Workflows

Ben Hillier Biog
Ben Hillier has been working in the recording industry for nearly 40 years. He spent the 90’s engineering and programming for various producers including Steve Osborne, Steven Street, Gil Norton and Nelly Hooper around London and internationally. In the 2000’s he moved into production making albums with bands like Elbow, Doves, Blur and three albums with Depeche Mode. In 2010’s he also began writing music, co-writing and producing five albums with Nadine Shah. In 2007 he set-up The Pool Studios with Nick Young at Miloco and was a partner in that studio for about 17 years. Ben continues to write and produce, most recently producing The Howling Bells, Sandhouse, Highschool and Dominie Hooper and writing with Shadowman, Storm Franklin and Nuha Ruby Ra. He currently lives near Brighton, UK, and has a studio (Agricultural Audio) made out of straw bales on working farm.
Instagram: @agriculturalaudio

Kevin Paul Biog
Kevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.

After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s 'Felt Mountain', David Bowie’s 'Hours' and Nick Cave’s 'No More Shall We Part'. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s 'Hotel', Goldfrapp’s 'Black Cherry' and more for DVD.

In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.

He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.

http://www.kevin-paul.com/

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Bryce Young, founder and president of Warm Audio, joins Sam Inglis to discuss how the company began and how it quickly built a reputation for producing affordable studio gear inspired by classic vintage designs.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

00:24 - Warm Audio Origins and Growth

02:33 - Product Development

03:09 - Capturing The Vintage Sound

07:01 - Modernising And Adapting Designs

09:43 - Designing For Working Professionals

12:50 - Analogue Gear Used In A Live Setting

14:49 - Choosing Which Gear To Develop

16:25 - Popular And Unusual Products

19:22 - The Toughest Engineering Challenges

26:00 - Maintenance And Discontinued Parts

30:48 - Diversifying From Vintage Analogue

36:15 - Favourite Vintage Gear

#WA-47 #WA-44 #WA-8000

Warm Audio
Warm Audio is a Texas-based manufacturer of professional recording equipment founded in 2011 by Bryce Young. The company specialises in high-quality microphones, preamps, compressors and other studio hardware inspired by classic vintage designs. Known for combining premium components with accessible pricing, Warm Audio has built a reputation among musicians, producers and engineers for delivering analogue studio gear that brings iconic sounds within reach of modern creators.
https://warmaudio.com/
https://www.facebook.com/warmaudio/
https://x.com/WarmAudio
https://www.instagram.com/warmaudio/

Bryce Young Biog
Bryce Young is the founder and president of Warm Audio. A musician, recording enthusiast and vinyl collector, Young launched the company in 2011 from his garage with the goal of making high-quality vintage-style microphones, preamps, compressors and other studio tools accessible to musicians at affordable prices.

Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Kevin Paul talks with Felipe Gutiérrez about his early career working at Soho Studios, Konk Studios and Mute Records. Their conversation explores the skills required to become a successful sound engineer, from helping artists feel relaxed in the studio and encouraging strong performances, to developing technical expertise, trusting instinct and shaping an individual sonic identity.

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:36 - The History of the MixBus Podcast

06:32 - From DJing to Soho Studios
10:58 - Konk Studios and Mute Records

15:17 - Developing Your Skills And Being Persistent

18:45 - Encouraging Good Performances

21:21 - Mixing With Your Ears And Trusting Your Instincts

24:38 - Spend Time Gaining Knowledge And Experience

31:57 - Methods For Sparking Creativity

37:34 - Being Creative In Mixing

40:25 - Building Confidence And Exploring

44:24 - Plug-ins And Templates

Kevin Paul Biog
Kevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica.

After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.

In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.

He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.

http://www.kevin-paul.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kpmixbus
https://www.facebook.com/kevinpaul2020

Felipe Gutiérrez Biog
Felipe Gutiérrez is a Senior Engineer at British Grove Studios in London. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, he moved to the UK in 2014 and built his career from Huddersfield to London, working at some of the country’s leading studios including RAK and Snap, before joining British Grove in 2022. His work spans a wide range of genres and formats, from orchestral and film scoring to band recording, jazz, and vocal production.

His credits include artists such as Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Liam Gallagher, Florence + the Machine, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, The Academic, RVG, and George Ezra, among others. Felipe has also contributed to high-profile projects for Netflix and Disney, including Jay Kelly (2025) and Andor Season 2 (2025), and provided additional production on Netflix’s hit series Dark (Seasons 2 & 3).

https://www.britishgrovestudios.com/team/felipe-gutierrez

Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts