Minako Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I don't think this has been posted, if it has.... read it again because it's interesting! http://www.laptoprockers.eu/music/p1/interview-greg-wells/ These are the MIKA bits Producing Mika's album "Life in Cartoon Motion" Greg recently set another landmark in his career: the #1 worldwide hit "Grace Kelly". We wanted to know more! Congratulations with the success of Mika's album "Life in Cartoon Motion". Already more than 3,5 million copies sold. Did you expect this to happen? "I knew that Mika would get noticed in a big way because he's far too talented but I never could have predicted this kind of success, especially in today's climate of people stealing music. 3.5 million units sold probably means that over 25 million people actually have the record!" As a producer your creative input probably differs with each artist you work with. Can you describe your role creating this album? "I view my role as being similar to a movie director. Sometimes a director on a film has to get involved with script rewrites, with firing actors and getting new ones, with changing locations, etc - and sometimes the script requires no changes and the actors are brilliant. At that point the director's job is simply to make the movie. My role changes dramatically from record to record. With mika, the "script" was so strong to begin with, meaning his songs were amazing from the demos, that we immediately jumped into recording when we first got together. The very first thing we did was "grace kelly", which was kind of an audition for both of us to see if we worked well together!" What do you consider the best piece of music you have been involved with? "Mika's 'Lollipop'." What are you working on right now, and who's at the top of your wish list? "Who's at the top of my wish list? PJ Harvey, Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, and honestly, Mika." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanessa Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Thanks for posting !!! Cool guy is Greg Wells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotdlp Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Thanks for that! ooh greg wells rocks lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertina Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 i think this is mutual 'love'...mika has always said wonders of greg wells! thanks for posting! this is greg wells btw... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Wells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertina Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 more http://www.gregwells.net/ and his myspace! hilarious http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=20835059 my proposal is to start a wellsfanclub! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenie Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Thanks for posting. I really like the wells Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcmlcm Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 What do you consider the best piece of music you have been involved with? "Mika's 'Lollipop'." i really like the mixing and music arrangement of "Big girl" , also "grace kelly" i cant stop myself moving when hear "big girl" he defo make the song more perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabelle Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 i think this is mutual 'love'...mika has always said wonders of greg wells! thanks for posting! this is greg wells btw... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Wells Gosh he is the same age as me. I always imagined him much older... or is it that I don't ever think of myself as nearly 40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I like Greg Wells! Nice interview, thanks for posting! My favourite Belgian singer Sarah Bettens worked with Greg too. He produced her album 'Scream' in 2005. For that album he was also her co-writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IngievV Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Yah I like Greg:roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Gosh he is the same age as me. I always imagined him much older... or is it that I don't ever think of myself as nearly 40 I thought he'd be younger actually. Mark Ronson is a boy by comparison and he's a brilliant producer. GW grew up at the same time I did, not too far from me. I need to start stalki...err investigating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I thought he'd be younger actually. Mark Ronson is a boy by comparison and he's a brilliant producer. GW grew up at the same time I did, not too far from me. I need to start stalki...err investigating. I remember MySpacing or emailing Greg Wells in 2006. And he responded! *goes to find what the heck she sent him and what he sent back* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I remember MySpacing or emailing Greg Wells in 2006. And he responded! *goes to find what the heck she sent him and what he sent back* I'm wondering if my brother knows (of) him. I was only 17 when I started working at a record company so he would have been 17 too and was probably still in high school, not in the industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazGirl Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 I remember MySpacing or emailing Greg Wells in 2006. And he responded! *goes to find what the heck she sent him and what he sent back* oooh cant wait to read this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzy Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 *And all this time, I've been telling everyone that I thought I first heard "Grace Kelly" in November 2006* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 *And all this time, I've been telling everyone that I thought I first heard "Grace Kelly" in November 2006* Maybe you were just lying to Greg Wells. I'm a toss up between Nov/Dec too because I downloaded GK and Relax on December 6 and I don't know how long that was after I first heard GK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) I thought I could bump this 3d, 'cause I came across this article on the net by chance and found it interesting, wanted to post it, then realized it was already posted... Here's the whole article: LAPTOP ROCKERS INTERVIEW: GREG WELLS *Monday, November 12, 2007 Multi-instrumentalist Greg Wells is a Canadian record producer, musician, mix engineer, and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Once starting out as a session musician, Greg is now producing, mixing, and writing for artists as diverse as the #1 MySpace band OneRepublic, death metal outfit Otep, and rapper Timbaland. Collaborating with names such as Pink, The Deftones, The Pussycat Dolls, Jars of Clay, and legendary music figures Carole King, Aerosmith and Elton John, Greg became one of the hottest producers around. CD's featuring Greg's songs have sold over 50 million units worldwide! Producing Mika's album "Life in Cartoon Motion" Greg recently set another landmark in his career: the #1 worldwide hit "Grace Kelly". We wanted to know more! Congratulations with the success of Mika's album "Life in Cartoon Motion". Already more than 3,5 million copies sold. Did you expect this to happen? "I knew that Mika would get noticed in a big way because he's far too talented but I never could have predicted this kind of success, especially in today's climate of people stealing music. 3.5 million units sold probably means that over 25 million people actually have the record!" As a producer your creative input probably differs with each artist you work with. Can you describe your role creating this album? "I view my role as being similar to a movie director. Sometimes a director on a film has to get involved with script rewrites, with firing actors and getting new ones, with changing locations, etc - and sometimes the script requires no changes and the actors are brilliant. At that point the director's job is simply to make the movie. My role changes dramatically from record to record. With Mika, the "script" was so strong to begin with, meaning his songs were amazing from the demos, that we immediately jumped into recording when we first got together. The very first thing we did was "grace kelly", which was kind of an audition for both of us to see if we worked well together!" Who was the funniest and who was the most serious artist you have worked with? Is there someone you regret to have worked with? "I'm drawn to artists and art that have some dark sense of humour because for me when things get too serious, I feel like I'm painted into a corner. The funniest artist was Rufus Wainwright - he's incredibly smart and witty, also devastatingly talented of course. "The most serious artist I've worked with would have to be Otep, but she's also really funny. "There are plenty of people I regret working with! A lot of those names on my resume are from earlier in my career as a studio musician, when I would get hired to play on a record and often not know who the artist was until I walked through the studio door. I must say that even though I'm embarrassed to have my name next to their names, simply because I think I'm cooler than I really am, I learned a lot from all those sessions I did as a hired musician. What do you consider the best piece of music you have been involved with? "Mika's 'Lollipop'." You own an Apple laptop. What hardware/software platform do you use for your production work? "I own eight Apple computers; just got the new Macbook Pro, which is stunning. I use Protools because I find it is unmatched in the editing and mixing department." Stewart Copeland of The Police once referred to you as a Swiss Army knife when talking about your production capabilities. Of course this is a compliment in terms of your ability to solve practical problems. On the other hand a Swiss Army knife is not the first thing you think about when it comes to creative and musical input. Any comments here? "I guess you'd have to ask Stewart what he meant. I took it as a compliment. I'm very influenced by a book written by Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, called "Something like an autobiography". In that book he strongly advises that if you want to become a film director, you must immerse yourself in all the great books and films. You must learn how to write, act, light the set, operate the boom mic, run the camera - basically, you need to become a master of every area of film-making to become a great director. "I read this book when I was 20, and in my own way have applied that approach to becoming a record producer, if that makes any sense. when I was younger, I could never get the older recording engineers to listen to me so I had to learn how to become an engineer. I've always been a serious drummer, pianist, and guitarist because there was nothing else for me to do in the small town I'm from. Plus, i was completely obsessed with music." What are you working on right now, and who's at the top of your wish list? "I just finished producing a new record by Canadian singer and songwriter Emm Gryner. She's super talented and we've made a gorgeous kind of retro record that tips its hat to Carole King's "Tapestry". Paul Buckmaster arranged and conducted a string quartet on several songs and I'm really proud of the whole thing. This week, I'm finishing the mixes." "Who's at the top of my wish list? PJ Harvey, Arcade Fire, Death Cab for Cutie, and honestly, Mika." http://www.laptoprockers.eu/music/p1/interview-greg-wells/ Edited January 26, 2009 by mari62 added link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avoca Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 more http://www.gregwells.net/ and his myspace! hilarious http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=20835059 my proposal is to start a wellsfanclub! thx for bumping this, mari. I had honestly overlooked it when it firstly appeared. I have grown interested in greg, esp. after seeing bits of him in the pdp documentary. and I am curious about the new album song in which greg plays organ. his website is very cute. interesting guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allegra Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Swiss Army knife??? Mister M be carefull... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 *And all this time, I've been telling everyone that I thought I first heard "Grace Kelly" in November 2006* Oh Suzy, forget about the dates. That email is just so cute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mari62 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Swiss Army knife??? Mister M be carefull... :roftl: Guess Mister M is able to defend himself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soaring Simpson Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 thx for bumping this, mari. I had honestly overlooked it when it firstly appeared. I have grown interested in greg, esp. after seeing bits of him in the pdp documentary. and I am curious about the new album song in which greg plays organ. his website is very cute. interesting guy. I'm probably displaying my ignorance here, but I've never really understood why he was in pdp- what was there to mix/produce/whatever. Anyone know? Oh Suzy, forget about the dates. That email is just so cute I think I must have been misinformed about the apples... Oh and thanks for bumping Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm probably displaying my ignorance here, but I've never really understood why he was in pdp- what was there to mix/produce/whatever. Anyone know? I think I must have been misinformed about the apples... I think that he was in Paris just as a friend and mentor figure, not necessarily as a professional contact. Oh, and yes, I can vouch for the apples being lovely people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soaring Simpson Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I think that he was in Paris just as a friend and mentor figure, not necessarily as a professional contact.Oh, and yes, I can vouch for the apples being lovely people All sunshine and puppies, in fact (sorry, it's the oldling's new phrase) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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