dcdeb Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 (Don't see this posted yet but if it is please let me know!) By Davis Inman November 11th, 2011 at 9:34 am Greg Wells is best known for his work with pop singers like Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkston, and Adele. But, right now, he wants to talk about a different artist – someone few listeners in American will recognize. “I love spreading the word about Mika,” Wells says about the British singer-songwriter who’s sold eight million records around the world but doesn’t get much airplay in the States. “He’s a huge superstar, [but] it’s not American enough. It’s a guy singing largely in falsetto.” American pop fans will recognize these string of hits, though: Katy Perry’s “Pearl” and “Not Like The Movies” from Teenage Dream and “Waking Up In Vegas” and “Ur So Gay” from One Of The Boys. Wells produced and co-wrote those cuts from the L.A. pop diva, and he often also plays many of the instruments on the recordings. But, until the end of the year, Wells’ attention will be focused on recording Mika’s third album. “He’s one of the best songwriters I’ve ever encountered. He writes in a very honest way,” says Wells. The dark subject matter of Mika’s songs coupled with its presentation in what Wells describes as a “Dr. Seuss celebratory way” is what drew the producer to him. (Kanye West is also a fan.) But how did a minister’s son from Canada become one of the most sought-after producers in L.A.? “Where I’m from, it’s a rural factory town. There is no entertainment industry anywhere near,” says Wells. Wells was interested in music as a kid but really got the bug for recording when he was hired to play keyboards for the Canadian guitarist Kim Mitchell on the 1989 album, Rockland. Wells spent three weeks in a Toronto studio with producer Paul DeVilliers (Mr. Mister, Yes), who began training him on how to record and engineer records. “He showed me how to mic the Leslie cabinet. Paul would get very tangential and start ranting and raving, which I found really exciting. He would show me what compression was. He’d take the drum track and show me how to make a Trevor Horn drum sound, or a Mutt Lange drum sound.” Soon after, Wells scored a Canadian government grant to study with the composer and arranger Clare Fischer in L.A. “I would go see him every week,” Wells recalls. “He had all these series of harmonic exercises that really felt like your brain was being stretched and pulled like it was making a loaf of bread.” Wells describes one such exercise as walking through the circle of fifths on the piano where each hand was moving in an opposite different and in a different key. “It would always get to the point where I would drive the car completely off the cliff. That was kind of [Fischer's] point – to see how far he could push.” Wells was inspired by Fischer’s strong personality and opinions and the maestro’s directness. He says he learned to open up and be more forthright as a musician and today those lessons help him to be a better producer. “I have become really direct. Every year I get more direct,” he says. Wells writes and produces from what he considers a gut feeling. He says he’s not afraid to take risks, but he’ll be the first to admit when something’s not working. “Empathy is the key,” he says. A producer should be a great communicator, understanding that it’s a frightening experience for an artist to turn over control to someone else during the writing or recording process. For a guy prone to long philosophical discussions, who studied heady classical composition and arrangement but and who quotes both Stravinsky and Ron Howard during our conversation, it might seem odd he’s ended up a pop song guy. “You’re confined by this very limited format. A three-and-a-half minute pop song is a very tiny little box to fit a story into,” he says. “Nobody really realizes, until you try to do it yourself, how hard it is to make something that’s really great.” http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/11/super-producer-greg-wells-plays-well-with-others/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I haven't seen it - T4P, Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 T4P! yay greg! did they mean kanye is a fan of greg or of mika's?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camille* Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I don't think it was posted before; thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabine64 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Wow, thank you for finding and posting. It´s really interesting and what he said about Mika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAK1 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 T4P Deb:thumb_yello: Lovely pic of Greg there. It's great to see him bigging Mika up there. Hopefully it'll give the big guy a fair bit of exposure, in the US. With a respected producer such as Greg talking about his work so enthusiastically, maybe people will check out Mikas new music. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAK1 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 T4P! yay greg! did they mean kanye is a fan of greg or of mika's?... I think they mean Mika's. I think Kanye and Mika have mutual respect for each others work. M has been to one of Kanyes shows in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siu Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 T4P! “I love spreading the word about Mika,” Wells says Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nas Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I think they mean Mika's. I think Kanye and Mika have mutual respect for each others work. M has been to one of Kanyes shows in the past. thanks for clarifying! i didn't know that - my estimation of kanye's taste in music just went up.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikasister Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 T4P! Love Greg :wub2:and what he says about Mika " he's one of the best songwriter I've ever encountered.He writes in a very honest way These words fill my soul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guylainem123 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 thanks Deb! interesting read! and it's not about shoes!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdeb Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 did they mean kanye is a fan of greg or of mika's?... I think they meant that Kanye is a fan of Mika's. T4P Deb:thumb_yello: It's great to see him bigging Mika up there. Hopefully it'll give the big guy a fair bit of exposure, in the US. With a respected producer such as Greg talking about his work so enthusiastically, maybe people will check out Mikas new music. Fingers crossed. I agree, Rose -- I found it very interesting that they led the story with that quote from Greg, and that Greg came back to Mika again later... Almost as if this were a promo piece for Mika. I'm not complaining at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathouzouf Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Quite interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolj5 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 (edited) what he says about mika... thanks for posting. it would be great if mika became more known here in the states of course. but i'd like to still get into the venue at his next tour... Edited November 12, 2011 by koolj5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiibet Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Thank you, Deb, very interesting! I always love the way Greg talks about Mika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiza Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 “He’s one of the best songwriters I’ve ever encountered. He writes in a very honest way” Really love this quote and love the way Greg talks about Mika. What he says about writing in a very honest way is very true t4p Deb:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttonslovesu Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 T4P Deb:thumb_yello: gotta love Greg for this:wub2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeAreStrong! Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Thanks 4 posting!! I love the way he described Mika, what he said is true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mine Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Nice article! Thanks for posting:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Wonderful! I officially love Greg Wells to bits!!! Let's hope the Americans check out out our amazing Mika and he gets lots more fans!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeiRe Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikahepburn Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 T4P Deb! Great to know what Greg thinks about Mika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanessa Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Greg is a gentleman and one of the best producers around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Go Greg! Kanye also blogged about Mika's show at PDP if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Interesting article! Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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