George Shilling (Bernard Butler, Primal Scream)
Recording Engineer, Producer, And Musician George Shilling Works From His Studio In Devon. He Engineered The Global Number One Single The Only Way Is Up By Yazz At The Age Of 21 And Subsequently Produced And Engineered The Hit I’m Free By The Soup Dragons. During The 90s, Shilling Worked With Influential Artists Such As Bernard Butler And Teenage Fanclub. He Also Mixed Primal Scream’s Seminal Single Kowalski.
Tell us about your current studio setup.
My current setup is centered around Pro Tools Ultimate 2021. Monitoring is ATC SCM100A, Quested V2104, REL subwoofer. Converters are Prism Lyra 2 and Universal Audio Apollo. Outboard includes AnaMod ATS-1 and AM670, Roger Mayer 456HD, API, Thermionic Culture, UA, and Phoenix mic preamps.
Comprehensive plugins library includes UAD, Waves, Plugin Alliance, Weiss, Fabfilter, Sonnox, McDSP, Kush, Softube, Eventide, SoundToys, Valhalla, PSP, and IK.
Current favorites include the FabFilter Pro-Q3 EQ and UA Harrison 32C, the UA1176 Rev E, and Nomad BBE Sonic Maximiser.
Microphones include Neumann U87Ai, Neumann KM184, Coles 4038, AKG C414, Sontronics Aria, Scope Labs Periscope, Shure, and Beyerdynamic.
How do you stay excited about making music every day?
I’ve been doing this for a few years, but I’m always excited and interested to hear new music, new colors and try new techniques. As a part-time magazine reviewer and interviewer for Resolution and Recordproduction.com, I get to try lots of new equipment and software and speak to other producers to glean tips and ideas. In my spare time, I listen to music too! I love it.
How do you approach the mixing of a song?
Every project is different, so I will read the brief carefully, ask questions, clarify where we are headed, and always keep the final goal in mind. If the client or artist has mentioned reference tracks, I will listen to those, of course, sometimes to A/B when it is something very specific or they want to match levels or sonics.
What advice do you have for aspiring mixers looking to get better at what they do?
If you are trying to get into the industry, do your best work, and learn to listen carefully to the music and what the clients are asking of you! Keep plugging away; it’s hard work, and sometimes it can be dispiriting, or you might feel unappreciated. But keep working hard, and a reward will likely come.