profilE CHARLIE ANDREW A man for all seasons
Named one of the UK’s most influential people by Debretts, Alt-J producer Charlie Andrew has many strings to his bow, with a label, publishing venture and festival all under his watch. Here, the MPG and BRIT Award winner talks us through a career still very much on the up…
PRODUCTION BY JAMES HANLEY
F
estival organiser, record label boss and award-winning producer, Charlie Andrew is a busy man. He recently put the finishing touches on Alt-J’s hotly anticipated third album Relaxer, which drops on June 2, and has set the wheels in motion for the latest edition of his In The Woods festival in his native Kent from September 1-2.
Last year he launched record label and publishing ventures Square Leg Records and Big Tree Music, with Swedish band Francobollo becoming the first signing to both companies.
“It’s an amazing learning curve for me,” Andrew
tells Music Week. “I’m working with a great team and it’s very exciting. We’ve got the Francobollo album coming out in the summer and I’m putting out Sivu’s second record as well. There’s a lot going on, but I like to be busy.”
A graduate of the University Of Surrey’s Tonmeister music and sound recording course, Andrew cut his teeth as an assistant at Abbey Road Studios, working on projects such as The Wall (Roger Waters Live In Berlin), along with several high-profile film scores. He then formed the band Laurel Collective and pursued a career as a drummer and producer. “The producer has such a significant role in making a record and I think people are becoming aware of that again,” says Andrew. “A lot of records can be made in your bedroom these days, but some of them can lack a bit of soul.
“There is a want for records to have that sort of soul again, something you can really engage with. When there’s a producer involved, it provides a second set of ears to help out with the artist’s vision - that’s a hugely important role in the whole process.” Formed in the mid 2000s, Laurel Collective released debut album Heartbeat Underground on Tape Club Records in 2012. But perhaps their biggest contribution to the biz is new music showcase In The Woods. Named Best Independent Festival at the 2013 AIM Awards, the event is held in private woodland in Kent and celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Acts have included Alt-J, The Cribs, Years & Years, Laura Marling, Young Fathers, Jorja Smith and Slaves.
“We thought it would be fun to play a gig in this little clay mine,” recalls Andrew of the first event in 2006. “There were about 100 people there, everyone brought a few cans of beer and we had a laugh. “We now attract a couple of thousand people each year, but it still has a very homely feel. There’s no advertising or corporate branding, we price everything in a fair way rather than trying to make money; in fact,
16 MAY 01 Charlie Andrew: “I like to be busy”
it’s never made money. Thankfully, it’s never made a loss either, we just do it for the love of it.” He adds: “Our remit is to showcase up-and-coming artists, almost like a precursor to the ones to watch lists that come out a few months later. We’re like A&R scouts, going out there and seeing what’s brewing.
“The big turning point in my career was the release of the first Alt-J album. It was an extremly exciting time” CHARLIE ANDREW
“As well as us liking the record, at least 50% of the committee has to have been to one of their gigs and okayed it for us to invite them to play. They have to tick a lot of boxes - we get pitched a lot of bands, but ultimately we need to make sure we’re a fan of them before we ask them to play.”
As a producer, Andrew has collaborated with the likes of Madness, Bloc Party, Eugene McGuinness, Nick Mulvey and Rae Morris, but is best known for his work with Alt-J. He produced their platinum-selling debut LP An Awesome Wave, winner of the 2012 Mercury Prize, and admits its success caught everybody on the hop. “I don’t think anyone saw it coming,” smiles Andrew. “Thankfully, it broke through into the mainstream - people were excited at how fresh it sounded. The arrangements were quite quirky, the
drum beats were intriguing and Joe [Newman’s] got a unique voice, but ultimately it was still accessible. The arrangements were already there when I first heard their demo and that’s what drew me in to invite them to my studio.”
He went on to produce the trio’s chart-topping 2014 sophomore album This Is All Yours and upcoming follow-up Relaxer. “It’s certainly not like album one or two regurgitated,” laughs Andrew. “It’s another twist in what Alt-J do, they’ve pushed on to another level.” Andrew worked with BRIT Awards’ headline sponsor MasterCard on a study on who the British public consider to be ultimate music legends. Adele and Beyoncé were voted top legends of the future with half of the British public choosing Adele as the artist who will stand the test of time, while David Bowie is Britons’ most popular music legend. “The timeless attributes are good songwriting, good singing and good performing,” observes Andrew. “When you’ve worked with someone who’s an effortless performer, it’s very easy to capture the real emotion of a performance. Also, if the songwriting is of a very high standard and consistently so, that will obviously lead to a very long and fruitful career.” Represented by Hannah Management, Andrew’s own blossoming career has not gone unnoticed by his peers. He was presented with the Music Producer Guild’s (MPG) Breakthrough Producer honour in 2013 by one of his production mentors, Clive Langer, and was named the MPG’s UK Producer Of The Year in 2015, picking up the BRIT Award from Alt-J the following February.
“I was up against some people that I’ve got great respect for and they voted for me, so that was pretty awesome,” reflects Andrew.
“I look back at all the stepping stones along the way and I’ve been lucky to have met so many people that have influenced me, such as Clive Langer,” adds Andrew, who was recently named as one of the 500 most influential people in the UK by Debretts. “I picked up lots of studio techniques from [Langer], but obviously the big turning point in my career was the release of the first Alt-J album. When that album came out, it was my first full album and it was an extremely exciting time and, bringing out album number three, it still is - I’m really excited for people to hear it.” And what of the future of the long-player? “The way that music is consumed these days, more and more individual tracks are being picked out rather than the album in full and I feel like something has been lost in that,” he laments.
“The younger generation might not appreciate that journey of the whole record so much, which is a shame, but I totally get it. Streaming is the future and we all have to embrace that.”
MUSIC Week
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