STUDIO: Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Mike Crossey

The 1975's chart-topping album is just one of a string of hit debuts engineered, mixed and produced by Mike Crossey.

Mike Crossey is a man of many talents, two of which are a knack for propelling unknown acts to the top of the hit parade, and the ability to mix tracks that sound amazing on the radio. Speaking from his large SSL room in Livingston Studios in north-west London, Crossey comments: "I think I like doing debut albums the most, because you get such huge enthusiasm from the band. For any band recording their first album is an incredible experience, and I love having that kind of energy in the room: if you can harness some of that and get it onto the record you get fantastic results. The Arctic Monkeys' debut EP [Five Minutes With The Arctic Monkeys, 2005] and Jake Bugg's debut album [Jake Bugg, 2012] contain very different music but were recorded in very similar fashion: both acts were very young at the time of making these records and I wanted to capture the energy you have at that age as authentically as possible. I set them up to play live in a room without headphones, as if they were in a rehearsal room, with everything bleeding into each other and going straight to tape. It worked and resulted in this incredible energy. Conversely, the 1975's debut album was recorded over several weeks and had 100-track Pro Tools sessions and lots of thought going into arrangements and programming. It's important not to impose some personal production style.”

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