** 3 page feature / 3191! words ** It's all in the Mex Shiuming Lai invites old punk Paul Mex to talk about the heady world of music and his current activities... ** Side banner ** Falcon ProFile/Competition My most outstanding recollection of Brighton is a beach with masses of pebbles, and an ambitious plan to build sand-castles ruined. It's also home to a professional Atari-based recording studio, literally within sight of the shore and smelling distance of the sea air. Paul Mex is the proprietor. ** Q ** Paul, what are your company's main objectives and how did you become involved in the business? ** A ** Primarily I run three different operations that often inter-mingle with each other: ** UL ** * Mex One Recordings is a high quality programming and recording project set-up, which also hosts post-production digital audio enhancement and CD mastering facilities. * State Art is a label I formed with a colleague called Kevin O'Brien, and is designed as a platform for abstract, experimental and esoteric creations. Our aim is at releasing innovative, challenging material. * I also act as an independent music producer and have over half-a-million sales to credit. ** /UL ** My background originates from being a "live" musician in the late '70s playing either lead or bass guitar in underground punk and post-punk outfits. After a succession of flirtations and failures with different groups and record companies, the next natural step was to concentrate totally on the recording side of the industry. Having built up a number of contacts from my musician days, I managed to work in the recording environment with many diverse artists ranging from "pop stars" Wham!, to respected "jazz-rock" musician, Robert Wyatt. Eventually, a high selling music mogul from the early '80s that had produced one of my previous bands, enticed me to become one of his "in-house" music producers for his record label. In 1989 I decided it was time to go it alone and put together the Mex One Recording facility, to complement becoming a freelance independent music producer. State Art was formed in 1993. ** Q ** That's quite an occupational transition, even within the same industry. It's not so surprising that you adopted the Atari platform when you decided to enter the computer aspect of music technology, was that an unreserved decision or did you experiment and explore first? ** A ** I got into the ST scene when I became "in-house" producer for Sigh Music (the company mentioned above). The company policy was to create/program the MIDI side of things using Ataris exclusively. At that time the main program was Pro 24, which I have to admit, I hated. Having been used to hardware sequencers, and a little dabble with Commodore computer packages, it was fairly difficult for me to adapt to the ST. Having mainly been brought up on Roland machines, I found that Pro 24 didn't really suit my way of programming or working. However, there were no alternatives open, as the company wanted to keep everything in the same domain so that it was easy for projects to be moved around between the "in-house" producers and remixers. Often one person would program, another would record, whilst someone else would mix. This way individual projects could remain as fresh as possible and not sound too staid through only one person's input. However, things did often go off the boil through there being "too many cooks" syndrome! Sigh Music had one major studio and a bunch of pre-production programming suites. At one point, Mr Steinberg and some associates came over from Germany to see our operation utilising the Pro 24 program in full effect. We were told to be extremely nice to him and praise the product accordingly. I was working in one of the pre-production programming suites at the time of his visit and courteously just said hello and shook his hand! ** Q ** It seems many people found Pro 24 difficult and awkward to work with, did you persevere until Cubase arrived? ** A ** When I left Sigh in 1989 to start Mex One, I immediately left the ST behind me and swapped straight back to Roland hardware sequencers. Despite all my contemporaries staying with the ST and the program advancements, I was never tempted back until teaming up with my State Art partner, Kevin O'Brien in 1993. One of our first projects involved producing a girl singer, which we started at Kevin's place. Consequently he engineered the sessions and used his ST with Cubase. Although I glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the program looked much more intuitive and Steinberg had obviously come a long way from Pro 24, I still stuck with the hardware sequencers for a little longer. The revelation finally came when I was in a friend's music shop as he was putting something together using Cubase when the phone rang. This was also the point that I had entered the shop. He waved his arms at me, indicating that I should amuse myself as the phone conversation was going to be a long one! So, there it was, Cubase linked-up to a load of synths. I started to dabble and before you knew it, was hooked. I suddenly realised the possibilities of manipulation and speed one had with the program over hardware based sequencing. Within five minutes I had the basics of the program totally working for me. Being a man of action, I immediately (the next day) got my own ST with a copy of Cubase. After about 18 months of being a total Cubase user, I read a review about the C-LAB Falcon doing 16 track hard disk recording. As my old Fostex E16 was on its last legs, this seemed like the perfect replacement system. I investigated the Falcon and as a result, ditched the E16 in Cubase Audio 16's favour. Of course the Falcon also brought about other options like CD recording and sound processing. It was at this time that I stumbled across System Solutions who kitted me out with extra hard drive space, CD writer and SoundPool processing products. Even though the computer music market has somewhat left the Atari behind, the majority of musicians I meet still prefer this platform. I have a friend who is one of Yamaha's top programmers working on all different platforms. He is always telling me how he feels like he is working with a musical instrument when programming on Ataris. He also reckons the MIDI timing on Ataris is still superior to other platforms. Occasionally I dabble with PC-related music software, but always feel happiest with the Falcon. Despite all the gleaming flashing lights of the PC, you always know where you are on the Falcon. Also if anything goes wrong, it's so much easier to sort out on an Atari as it's as if the machine was made for music. My motto is, "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it," and I certainly don't have any immediate plans to replace the Falcon whilst it continues to do the job at hand! ** Q ** Have you worked with any (now, then or still) rich and famous artists in your time? Go on, drop some names... ** A ** I've worked with a fair few named artists over the years. Probably the most famous demos I ever recorded were for Wham! This was back in January 1982, when I engineered the well-documented sessions in Andrew Ridgeley's living room, on a humble TEAC 144 Portastudio. We recorded "Wham Rap" and an early rendition with the original lyrics (re-written for the final record) of "Careless Whisper." These were the recordings that landed George and Andrew their record deal, followed by fame and fortune! At the time I was so poor that I couldn't afford a mike stand. We remedied this by getting a broom and stuffing the handle down the back of the sofa to keep it in place while the microphone rested on the bristles. Now there's a sight to envisage - George Michael singing into a broom - it didn't seem funny at the time, but on reflection now, it is obviously hilarious! Bizarrely in 1995 I co-wrote and co-produced some drum and bass tracks for the great English comedian, Frankie Howerd's Song and Dance Collection album. Another crazy scenario to imagine, Frankie Howerd singing/talking over jungle tracks. The tracks for this album were sequenced with my old ST running Cubase. I have co-produced and co-written tracks on both Kim Fowley (legendary American underground '60s/'70s punk producer) and Toyah Wilcox's recent album releases. These tracks were all constructed and recorded using my current C-LAB Falcon. In 1987 when I was still at Sigh, I spent two years solid working with two sisters called Keren and Chelle Poole, whom finally found fame last year under the name of Alisha's Attic. Several records that I produced and co-wrote with them at the time, were released in America and Japan, and all programmed on the ST running Pro 24. The past year has mainly been dedicated to working with new artists that will hopefully make a name for themselves shortly. Recent new release projects have been: One In A Million by Saved By Zero (Stl(e) Records 12"), a dance act that I co-wrote and produced for using Cubase Audio for multi-track recording and Audio Master for some editing on the material. Chill by Pear Shaped Rotation (Rotation Records CD), a trip-hop poetic group that I co-produced using Cubase Audio for the multitracking, Audio Master for the file creation, and CDRecorder Pro for making the PQ master disc for manufacturing. ** Q ** Do you have any amusing memories to share? ** A ** The high pitched tone! I was working on a song called, "Male Stripper" by an American group called, "Man 2 Man Meet Man Parrish," with an associate called John Hamilton. The basic joke being that John is old and I am deaf! Anyway, we had been working hard all day on this mix when one of our (young) colleagues came into the studio and screamed at us, "What the hell is that noise?" John and I looked at each other bemused, as we couldn't hear a thing. Our colleague pointed out that we had let the drum machine code slip into the mix somehow, resulting in a high pitch tone sounding throughout the song. As it happens, the record went out like this - even the mastering engineer didn't spot the noise and nobody actually said anything until the record had sold around 40,000 copies. It was only at this stage that the record company got a re-cut and the record went on to reach number four in the national UK chart. The joke being that it was that high pitched noise that got the record off the ground - dogs love that song! The beauty of this computer technology is that it is easy to set up your studio at home without the need for costly premises. As a result, when I first started Mex One back in Watford, I had my loft converted to accommodate the equipment. Practically the first job I got was to help the legendary '60s group, The Troggs, remix an album of their early hits. This was all going smoothly and in the middle of it all their manager called me and said that Channel Four wanted to come and interview Reg Presley (the singer) at my place as he was leaving the country straight after the mixing sessions. He also said it would be great to have a studio backdrop for the TV interview and so it was the ideal situation while he was mixing. I explained to him that my loft certainly wouldn't be like one of those "Abbey Road" backdrop scenes you often see on the screen. "But I've heard the sound coming out of your studio," he said, "It doesn't sound like a loft to me." I explained to him that technology had come a long way since the '60s and a lot of records were now made in people's bedrooms. Undeterred, he arranged for the interview to take place on the following day. The next morning Reg Presley arrived followed shortly by a car of four people. One of the party had a largish bag that I presumed contained the equipment. I started to discuss with them how technology was becoming so advanced and small nowadays. They explained that they didn't have any equipment and were the production team - the camera, sound and lighting crew would be along shortly in a truck! So there it was, the small studio that I was trying to keep private within a residential area, so as not to upset the neighbours (it was all sound-proofed so had this episode not happened, no one would have been any the wiser), was soon to have a fair amount of attention shed upon it. Moments later a large truck arrived and the crew unloaded what appeared to be masses of gear! There were people all over the place as there was a crew of around 35 people. To make matters worse, The Troggs' manager arrived with an entourage and larger-than-life attitude. I had never met him before and he was one of those caricature '60s rock 'n' roll managers, complete with large cigar and Rolls Royce. To say that the neighbours were inquisitive by this stage was an understatement, and I noticed curtains twitching all down the road. Anyway, everything went to plan, although when the piece was finally shown on TV, it couldn't have lasted longer than a minute and a half! So my studio that I was trying to keep secret from the neighbours was exposed with practically my first clients. Luckily I had good understanding neighbours who all saw the funny side! ** Last comment ** Is that the time? We'd better move on to the competition! On behalf of Atari Computing's readers, many thanks for your hospitality and a fascinating insight, Paul, we wish you continued success in the coming years. ** Boxout ** ** Title ** The competition Paul is kindly offering the complete State Art collection to one lucky reader, all you have to do is correctly answer three easy questions and enter the prize draw. Five runners-up will receive State Art singles, "Slaves In Heaven" by Layla Kaylif and the Ancestors Of Sound. "These recordings are not my most commercially successful projects (although watch this space for the Sensual Assassins project that we have licensed to another company. There is a fair promotional budget for getting this one off the ground, a video is currently being put together that has cost œ25,000 to date, so they should work it hard in order to get some of their money back). However, these projects have no bounds and represent the sound of the State Art philosophy that we are creatively very happy with!" The rules Entries must be received by Monday April 19th 1999 at 65 Mill Road, Colchester, CO4 5LJ, England when the draw will take place. Renegade Publishing accepts no responsibility for entries delayed, lost in the post or with no return address, and no correspondence will be entered into. Atari Computing contributors, their families and pets are not eligible to participate and the judge's decision is final. Answers on a postcard are acceptable, if you do not wish to cut the magazine. The questions ** UL ** 1. What does Paul use for his sequencing and audio production work? * [a] Falcon030 * [b] Roland sequencer * [c] Commodore computer 2. When was Mex One Recordings established? * [a] 1950 * [b] 1989 * [c] 2001 3. In which English southern-coast beach resort town is the studio located? * [a] Blackpool * [b] Bournemouth * [c] Brighton ** /UL ** ** CD prize cover images overlapped ** ** ART1.JPG ** ** ART2.JPG ** ** ART3.JPG ** ** ART4.JPG ** ** /boxout ** ** Boxout ** ** Title ** Band career highlights The Crowbars was Paul's first band, where he was responsible for guitar. His first professional group was The Gambit of Shame, touring extensively and releasing a numerous records. "John Peel on Radio One liked us quite a lot and often played our records... we appeared briefly in a late '70s Hammer House Horror feature film with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, which has been shown on TV a few times. Even though we never found pop stardom, one of our records, No Bounds, became a bit of a cult cut, with the added credibility of being produced by '60s icon, Robert Wyatt." ** Images and captions ** ** CROWBARS1.JPG ** The Crowbars, live at Carey Place in Watford, 1977. Left to right: Vernon Thomas (lead vocalist), Paul Mex (lead guitarist). ** GAMBITOF.JPG ** The Gambit of Shame, 1979-1982 (RIP). Left to right: Paul Mex (bass), Lindsay Beard (backing vocals, saxaphone and drum manipulation, Mike Wallis (guitar), Amanda Ashby (cello and backing vocals) and Gary Pinker (lead vocals). ** End boxout ** ** boxout ** Mex One current kit-list ** UL ** * RECORDING: C-LAB Falcon MKII running Steinberg Cubase Audio 16, Zero-X, SoundPool's Audio Master, DeNoiser and CDRecorder Pro 2 (digital input/output through Steinberg's FDI and analogue out using Steinberg's FA8, both produced by SoundPool) Tascam DA20 DAT recorder, Aiwa XD-S260 DAT recorder, Philips CDD2600 SCSI CD recorder, Kenwood DM-3090 MiniDisc recorder, Aiwa AD-F410 cassette recorder and Technics RS-TR575 cassette recorder. * MIXING: Mackie CR1604-VLZ * MONITORING: NAD 3225PE powering Yamaha NS10Ms and AR6BXs * SYNCHRONISATION: JLC PPS-100 * MICROPHONES: Shure SM58 and Shure Unidyne B * EFFECTS: TC Electronics Finalizer, Alesis Micro Gate, Alesis Micro Limiter, Alesis Microverb, Alesis Midiverb, Alesis Midiverb II, Nu Reality Vivid 3D, Nomad Axxeman, Korg SDD-1000 Digital Delay and Boss DE-200 Digital Delay * SAMPLING: Ensoniq EPS 16 Plus Workstation * SYNTH MODULES: Yamaha EMT-10 and Yamaha FB-01 * DRUM MACHINE/MODULE: Roland MC-303 * GUITARS: Washburn A-20 and Yamaha FG-300A ** /UL ** The range of work that we undertake is extremely varied ranging from day to day. For multitrack recording work, Cubase Audio 16 is the program used. Often we are asked to archive recordings that are old or come from a cassette. DeNoiser is the program that handles this task, as it is especially good at eliminating hiss. Audio Master is used for digital editing and creating final audio files for export to CDRecorder Pro 2. A lot of our daily work involves producing master PQ CDs, or short-run promotional CDs for small independent record labels, producers and musicians. The Falcon and SoundPool products are invaluable for these types of tasks, and provide the immediate cash flow for keeping the operation afloat. ** /boxout ** ** Boxout ** Contact If you're a musician requiring professional production services, Mex One welcomes your enquiries. Paul Mex Mex One Recordings, The Basement, 3 Eaton Place, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 1EH Tel/Fax: 01273 572090 Email: mex@pavilion.co.uk http://www.starhosting.com/mexone/ Mex One Recordings: A high quality programming and recording project set-up, which also hosts post-production digital audio enhancement, CD mastering and short-run CD production. ** /boxout ** ** Images and captions ** ** KC.JPG ** Mex with Keren and Chelle, now better known as Alisha's Attic. ** MEX2.JPG ** From thrashing guitars and smashing up drums to computers and software. No glamorous fast cars or swimming pools... ** MEXONE.GIF ** ** SHAMROCK.JPG ** Another group Paul works closely with, Sham Rock's single, "Tell Me Ma" reached number 13 in the UK national chart recently. ** STATE.GIF ** ** THETROGG.JPG ** The Troggs were strutting their stuff before the Tramiels were making office machines and long before the ST was a twinkle in Uncle Jack's eye.