BRUCE FAIRBAIRN: Recording INXS's Elegantly Wasted

Musician and producer Bruce Fairbairn is best known for his US rock smash successes with Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, but blended live band recording and a willingness to use studio techsnology to record the latest INXS album, Elegantly Wasted. Richard Buskin finds out how he did it.

Bruce Fairbairn's track record includes artists such as Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Poison, the Scorpions, Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen and Chicago; as a producer, he derives much of his in‑studio enjoyment from the process of capturing not only the sound but also the natural energy of a live band performance on tape.

"Being a musician myself, I have a good ear for songs, for arrangements and for music," he says, " so I try to bring all of that to a project, providing songwriters and musicians with a sounding‑board on which to base their material and their performances."

Fairbairn's ability to inspire and draw the very best performances out of artists is another major plus.

"I think that reflects my experience over the years, being part of a band," he explains. "That's how I learned to play, and so that's why I'm really not that interested in working with bands that don't — or can't — perform live. For me that's all part and parcel of giving the consumer a product that is true. I really have a problem with records where the end result doesn't represent either the human performance of the artist or any ability on the part of the artist to actually perform that song. I think that's musical fraud, so I stay well away from it."

Roots

Born and raised in Canada, Fairbairn began playing the trumpet at the age of five, before making his pro debut with a high‑school band at a local church. Later there were spells with groups such as the Spectres and Sunshyne, and just before Sunshyne split up they recorded a demo of drummer Jim Vallance's compositions. Bruce Fairbairn went off to get a degree in Urban Planning at the University of British Columbia, the demo tape arrived in the hands of an LA producer, and when said producer contacted Fairbairn and told him that he liked what he had heard, Fairbairn pretended that the band was still together. A deal was signed, and Sunshyne metamorphosed into Prism.

Jim Vallance is now best known for his songwriting collaborations with Bryan Adams, yet together he and Fairbairn produced the first Prism album, which was a hit in Canada. Four more albums followed, with Bruce playing in the horn section — but when Mick Jones, Foreigner, and Rick Ocasek of the Cars called on his talents as a producer, Fairbairn stepped over to the other side of the console. He went on to produce Loverboy's first two albums, which sold more than eight million copies in Canada and the US, and Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, which sold over 13 million worldwide. Bruce's ability to commit great performance to tape was then confirmed when Aerosmith's Get A Grip debuted at Number One on the American Billboard charts — a first for the band in its 20‑year history.

Initial XS

A man of many musical talents, Bruce Fairbairn is undeniably one of the hottest producers of the '90s. Among his most recent projects is Elegantly Wasted, the new album by — and his first collaboration with — Australian group INXS, and it was while he was spending a rare few hours away from the studio that I was able to talk with him about the sessions.

What was your initial involvement with the INXS project?

"Well, I was contacted by PolyGram in London. The boys had put together some demos and were looking at getting going. So I flew over to London and spent a couple of afternoons with Michael [Hutchence] and Andrew [Ferris], and we talked about where they were with the writing and where they wanted to go with the record.

"They'd rented a tiny little studio in Dublin for a week or so and done some writing there, then they'd done some other writing in London, and they had nine or ten songs that were reasonably well advanced. Actually, they sent a few of the demos to me before I flew over to London and they sounded pretty good — a lot of keyboard stuff, a lot of guitar stuff that Andrew had overdubbed, and vocals. I was impressed with the feel and the different sounds that they'd been using. They hadn't laboured over them but they'd stumbled on some really good things. For instance, some of the guitar sounds were really weird; composites of maybe two or three different tracks had been laid down without any thought about how they would go together or what they would be doing, but, once put in context, they appeared in different sections of the song quite nicely.

People are not going to take your record back because the kick drum at the beginning of the second chorus is a little late.

" I was quite impressed, and I actually ended up suggesting that we might want to save some of the stuff on the demos — because the chances were that when we were back in the studio we wouldn't be able to recreate that vibe. Andrew's very meticulous in his musical work, and my thinking was that, given the time to reassess some of the parts that he'd already played, he would probably change them and they might well suffer as a result. That was especially so with some of the vocals: Michael, after a few glasses of wine, wanted to sing and I really captured some good energy there. I'm always a believer in hanging onto those small gifts."

What were the demos recorded on?

"On a variety of formats: some were on 24‑track reels, some were on ADAT, and what we ended up doing was loading everything onto a Sony 3348 and then calling those our 'working masters'. For some of the songs, we brought those tapes out to Vancouver, did a lot of reorganising of what was on there, threw some stuff out, laid down new drum and bass parts, and then recorded vocal overdubs or made up new composites incorporating some of the more interesting aspects of Michael's original performances."

What was the direction that Andrew and Michael were looking for?

"Well, they had just finished a record, Welcome To Wherever You Are, which had been very well received critically — by the press and by their closest fans — but which really hadn't been able to achieve much success commercially. So what they wanted to do was make a good band record that was more commercially accessible while still as high in quality as the previous album. That was the dilemma — trying to get the best of both worlds.

"When I suggested that we use the demos as the basis for what we were going to be doing over the next few months, the guys were quite pleased. Then it became a question of getting the band involved and getting band performances down. We also cut several songs from scratch, so there was a nice balance there. Overall, however, they wanted to get the band back in the public eye with a vengeance and a passion, and to do that we were really going to look hard for good songs — especially some singles that would fly at radio — but also make a record that would have some depth of character and integrity in the songs."

Studio Setup

Where did you work on the album?

"We did the bulk of it here [in Vancouver] at my studio, which is called the Armoury, then we adjourned to Spain for a couple of weeks and worked at a small studio near Marbella, before returning to Vancouver and then mixing at the Townhouse in London."

What is the setup at the Armoury?

"We've got a Sony 3348 as well as a couple of Studer A800s, a 72‑channel G‑Plus SSL console with automation, UREI 813A and Yamaha NS10 monitors, a fair amount of vintage gear... The Armoury is not really based on that gear, but there's enough interesting stuff that we rarely have to go outside to bring in any equipment.

"There's just one main recording area — a nice, big, cathedral‑like area with a wood floor — and three isolation rooms around it. So there's lots of room for the band to congregate and to set up live."

Several tracks had already been composed, but when the sessions proper got under way, were some songs also being written in the studio?

"By and large no, although a couple of very interesting songs came on‑stream in Spain, one of which — 'Everything I Do' — is on the album."

How many tracks are on the finished record?

"There are 11 tracks, 12 in Europe, where the extra track is 'Shine', and 13 in Japan, where the other song is 'Ride'. Strictly a marketing ploy, providing incentive to discourage imports."

Did INXS play as a band in the studio?

"Yes, they rehearsed and then some tracks were cut as a band, while for others the boys came in and overdubbed to the existing demos. So it really was a combination of both."

And were any outside musicians brought in?

"Not much. We used Luis Conte, a very talented percussionist who I know from California, and some friends of mine called the Margharita Horns, and then we had a couple of girls come in and sing some backgrounds. Basically, though, the band did everything."

What exactly was your production role in relation to the band?

"Well, I didn't really co‑produce with the band, but the record was produced with Andrew Ferris. Andrew was certainly a player at the demo stage, and as we ended up keeping some of the stuff on the demos I felt that it was fair to recognise his contribution in some way."

Mike Plotnikoff was the engineer on this record. How do you interact with him?

"I'm not really technically inclined, you know; I'm aware of what's going on, but I'm not inclined to spend a lot of time worrying about the technical aspects of the session, so I rely on Mike to make that a no‑brainer for me. That allows me to concentrate on what is going on with the music, the dynamics of the performances and the musical aspects of the record. I mean, I don't question him that much about what mic he wants to put up for Michael Hutchence to sing into. As long as it sounds good to my ear, I'm happy to go along with what he wants. We work pretty much hand in glove getting sounds up; basically I just put my ear to it as the bottom line, along with whoever is playing the part, but I let Mike pretty much run his show."

Getting It Together

What were the moments when things really came together during these sessions?

"Well, one of the things that I was most excited about was when John [Ferris] came to play drums on top of some of the existing tracks. He's an uncanny drummer in that he's able to lock in with an existing track — you know, cut to a click — and he's deadly. It was almost unnatural, the way that he was able to play on those tracks and make them feel good. When most drummers play to a click or to an existing instrumental track they will rush or slow down, but John has this amazing ability to be in there and on the mark consistently, as well as to add a really good feel. So I was just so happy when he came in and laid his parts down on some of these songs.

"Another thing that I really enjoyed about the sessions was that Andrew [Ferris] doesn't tend to choose what I would call mainstream sounds to work with. He's always exploring and trying different things, and he's a fountain of ideas. You know, I would go in there and say, 'Gee, the second verse could really use something to give it a bit of a lift', and within the space of about five minutes Andrew would have three or four different possibilities on the go. He'd say, 'Well, listen to this. What do you think?' and he'd have this great counter‑melody, and then he'd say, 'Well, what about this?' and there'd be something else. It was really an inspiration to work with that kind of input as a producer. I didn't have to sit around humming and hawing for a couple of hours, waiting for him to find a part. If anything there were too many on the table, and I think that one of our biggest challenges was to take these songs and make them work with just the essential ingredients. Of course, when you have 48 tracks available there can be a tendency to fill them up just in case, but I'm very against carrying the excess baggage along and so house‑cleaning was always a big thing for us.

When you have 48 tracks available there can be a tendency to fill them up just in case, but I'm very against carrying the excess baggage along.

"Still, Andrew was really excellent at coming up with good ideas, and of course as a singer Michael shoots straight from the hip. His vocals are just full of weird things that he can do. For example, we were in Spain where we did a lot of the vocals, and the vocal booth window of this studio looks right out over this big cliff towards North Africa. Every afternoon there was a warm wind coming across from Africa, and on one day it was really strong and it started whistling through the window. Michael was singing and he paused, and all of a sudden this wind made a really loud whistling noise and Michael just jumped right on it and sang along with it, using this wind almost as an instrument as it came through the glass! At the end we all looked around and said, 'What was that?' Then we said, 'Okay, let's hold it. Let's wait a minute. This wind is going to come again and we'll record it again, so we've got another one.' Of course it never came again, but Michael, God bless him, was there!

"I'd come down into the studio at three in the morning and there would be Michael in his pyjamas jamming on a vocal. He was always down there stirring the pot and working on new ideas for himself. I think he was very happy with this record, because for once it wasn't a situation where the last thing to be done was the singer writing the lyrics — you know, the singer's in there grasping at straws, trying to get anything that makes sense so that the record can be completed. Basically, Michael had 90 per cent of his lyrics completed before I got involved, and for him it was really a good experience because all he was dealing with now was performing and revising lyrics. He didn't have to try to generate completely new ideas. He'd already gotten that down, and I think it gave him the luxury of really concentrating on his performances without being pressured to go down to the wire."

XS Success

Although you knew the direction that the band wanted to go in, this was your first project with them: did you have a fresh perspective that led you to also pull them in a direction conforming to your own vision?

"Not really. My philosophy is more that it's the band's record, and so you try to hammer out a mutually shared vision before you start the project. Because I'm not sure that I really want to do that record if we're not all pulling in the same direction — it's going to result in problems down the road. But, to their credit, the guys were very consistently in line with our original discussions.

"You know, there's no magic really about deciding what you're going to do with a record. They wanted a record that was going to be a commercial success but they didn't want to do a bullshit pop record, so to me that was fairly clear. Then, on another level, they really wanted to experiment with different sounds, although they didn't want to redraw the playing field in terms of recording. They weren't out to make a real audiophile kind of record, taking a year to break new ground in the recording business. Instead they wanted to go with energy and performance over nitpicky advancements in sound quality; what was going to make the songs work, concentrating on the material and the performances, not spending two weeks getting a drum sound together or three days choosing the right mic for Michael to sing into. That took three minutes. He's got a great voice, and he could make a little clip‑on mic on your jacket sound like a million bucks.

"Our general attitude was that there were bigger fish to be fried than making a record that people would remember as the best technical achievement of the year. Let's make a record that will have people going around singing the songs afterwards and saying, 'Man, this is a great INXS record!'

"Once you get those kinds of principles out on the table and everybody's headed towards them, it's fairly easy to keep your direction. So at no time did I feel that I was pulling the band away from that. My job was really to make sure that they stuck with the original premise, and that we didn't see any of the guys starting to go sideways or run around in circles over a particular part. If a part's not working, let's go onto something else and find something that does work, rather than spend days and days trying to sort it out.

Michael's got a great voice, and he could make a little clip‑on mic on your jacket sound like a million bucks.

"Some people are inclined to say, 'Let's load the drums onto the computer and we'll get everything just perfect. The feel will be 100 per cent.' Then, three days later, they're still dicking around with a kick drum here and a snare drum there, trying to make it work, and in the process they've screwed up 50 per cent of the parts that were already on the track. My counsel in a situation like that would be, 'Look, that isn't important. What is important is if the song works. People are not going to take your record back because the kick drum at the beginning of the second chorus is a little late. If they do, I'll pay for it!'"

When you're making a record like this, what market are you aiming at? The States? Europe? These days it's not always easy knowing what's going to get major airplay on the radio.

"That's right. If you start making a record for radio you'll be chasing your tail, because by the time it comes out things will probably have changed anyway. So between the guys in the band, their manager, myself and the people at Mercury, we were trying to find a record that has some songs that we think are going to be really radio‑friendly — although not in all formats, of course: it's impossible to go urban, AOR and Top 40 all at once. By and large, however, instead of things being specifically written for a certain market, we just picked the best songs that were available, and then we sat back and said, 'Okay, do we have something that Top 40 radio can play here?'"

And then once you've got enough singles you feel able to indulge yourself more on the other material...

"Right. My feeling is that if you've got three or four songs on your record that radio can get their teeth into, then the balance of the album is more a musical expression of where the band is at, and the songs that they want to play, and the songs that they want to play live. That's the time that you really set the direction.

"There are some songs on this record whose arrangements are very interesting from the instrumental perspective: different kinds of instruments and different textures that radio doesn't even get close to, yet they still play a really important role. However, at the end of the day, if we sat and looked at our songs and there were no obvious hits on that record, we would still be in the studio."

Dub Or Live

Are INXS comfortable playing as a band in the studio or do they prefer overdubbing?

"They really do both quite well. They've spent so many years playing live they can jump in and sound great at a moment's notice. At the same time, with the way that the technology has developed so quickly over the last two or three years, they've made a point of overdubbing as well. So they're quite comfortable working with drum loops, they're quite comfortable coming in and overdubbing onto existing tracks, and they fit into those situations in a very positive way.

"They all have their own keyboard setups, samplers, sequencers and stuff, and so when they're home they write their own songs, play around with them and experiment with them. Then, when they come together they all carry that body of knowledge and nobody's out of the loop, and I think that is unusual for bands."

How about those magic live moments which are captured on tape but which the band fear they'll never be able to reproduce on stage? Do you give a lot of thought to that?

"Sure. In fact, what Andrew does is offload everything that we put on tape, and as we speak now he is sitting there writing sequences for their tour. All of the important bits and pieces — you know, little effects and overdubs that he played on keyboard — he will be able to trigger live on stage, and I think that's a legitimate thing. He played them in the studio on his keyboards but he just doesn't have enough fingers to play them all at once."

What about Michael's vocals? Were they comped much?

"I wouldn't say 'much'. He's a very spontaneous kind of performer, so I tend to try and retain his performance in as much of one piece as is possible. That isn't to say that I don't do some comps with him, of course, but I would always try to base it on one main performance and then just move in those little parts where he nailed it better on another take. Basically, he's a performer, and a lot of the magic in his vocals comes from one‑off stuff that he happened to be doing on a particular day."