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Draft:Steve Lyon (music producer)

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Steve Lyon
Steve Lyon
Steve Lyon
Background information
Birth nameStephen Charles Lyon
Born (1964-07-22) July 22, 1964 (age 60)
Twickenham, West London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • Mix Engineer
DiscographySteve Lyon production discography
Years active1984–present
LabelsChurch Studios,Mute Records
WebsiteSteve Lyon Offical Website

Stephen Charles Lyon, aka Steve Lyon (born 22nd of July 1964 in Twickenham, West London, England), is a British record producer, recording and mixing engineer, working mostly across pop rock, alternative and electronic rock musical genres with collaborations including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Recoil, Nitzer Ebb, The Wedding Present, Laura Pausini, Amplifier, MrNorth, Subsonica. Since 2010, he is based at his own studio, Panic Button Studios, in South London.

Early Life

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Lyon was born and was raised in Twickenham South West London in a large close family group and an avid rugby fan and studied Mechanical / electrical Engineering. Meeting film directors and actors at Twickenham Film Studios, he was advised to spend time at The National Film and Television School as a non enrolled student taking on a number roles, especially in sound recording, editing and sound effects creation.

An eclectic music-lover from an early age, Lyon found his vocation to music production by flipping over the album covers he loved, particularly The Who, Elton John, Genesis, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin and Peter Gabriel, quickly realizing what he wanted to do was to explore all styles of music without being a musician himself.

Early recording works

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Taking the opportunity of an interview with producer Glyn Johns (The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Kinks, Eagles, Bob Dylan, the Band, Eric Clapton, the Clash...), his idol at the time, Lyon started as an assistant to Johns on the production of Scottish band Big Dish's album, Swimmer, in 1984. Johns guided Lyon through the mind set of studio life. This particular approach to musicians, the recording world along with the experience gained was invaluable, unique and fundamental to the approach taken by Lyon in his further development as a sound recording engineer. Through these experiences with Johns, he worked on recording sessions with some renowned and respected session musicians such as drummer Henry Spinetti, guitarist Andy Fairweather Low and Jody Linscott.

After Johns returned to work in Los Angeles, Lyon worked at the Townhouse Studios in Shepherd's Bush then at The Manor Studio as in house engineer on a number of projects including Berlin’s hit Take my Breath away, UFO and Rush.  

Lyon experimented touring the US for six months with the support band to Mike and the Mechanics, then teaming up in Los Angeles at various studios to gain experience. He met Paul McCartney’s collaborator Jon Jacobs, who recommended him for Sir George Martin’s Air Studio where he worked as assistant engineer then engineer on projects including Tears for Fears (The Seeds of Love, 1989), The Wedding Present (From Langley Park To Memphis, 1988), The Outfield and Prefab Sprout. He was asked by Sir George Martin to work as his assistant on songwriter Andy Leek’s album Say Something (1988), John Illsley’s 2nd solo album, Glass (1988), on the collaborative adaptation of Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1989) and a re-mixing of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (1987)

He was asked to work at Sir Paul McCartney’s own studio for sessions with various musicians, initially with producer Phil Ramone on songs which were included on Flowers in the Dirt and Flaming Pie Collections. This led to another collaboration with Sir George Martin on Mc Cartney’s single Once upon a Long Ago. While at Air Studios, Lyon mixed The Wedding Present’s first album George Best and subsequently recording and mixing the band’s second album Bizarro at Jacobs Recording Studios.

Early 90’s, Lyon started to work as a freelance for Church Studios, collaborating with Dave Steward (Lilly was here soundtrack) and Suzanne Vega (tracks Cassidy and China Doll for the album Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead, 1991).

Recording with Depeche Mode and Alan Wilder (Recoil)

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While working at Chuch Studios, Lyon was offered by the studio manager to work for Depeche Mode with producer Flood and Alan Wilder on the band iconic album Violator (1990). [1] [2]When he joined the team, the band had already recorded some songs in Denmak and mixed single Personal Jesus and B-side Dangerous in Milan.

"I'd never met Flood but I knew of his work for Nick Cave and on U2's The Joshua Tree. When Mute sent me all their back catalogue, it was love at first sight, especially the Black Celebration album."[3]

Lyon worked on numerous tracks among which Clean, Halo and Policy of Truth, producing to include mixing instrument tracks and B sides on the album then contributed to the soundtrack of Until the end of the World by Wim Wenders, recording and mixing at Guillaume Tell Studios in Paris Depeche Mode’s track Death’s Door, and continuing his close working relationship with the band alongside Alan Wilder programming the World Violation Tour and recording a number of the live shows for Mute Records.

Lyon became a long term collaborator with Alan Wilder working on re-mixes of Nitzer Ebb’s Come Alive and Family Man for the As Is EP, leading onto their next full album release, Ebbhead (1991) and on Wilder’s solo Recoil projects : Bloodline in 1992 then Unsound Methods in 1997, mostly recorded at Wilder's home studio.

Flood called him again for Depeche Mode's following album Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) [4], setting up a studio in a private villa near Madrid and recording in studios in Hamburg the London, including re-mixes and B-sides among which the track My Joy. An extensive period followed of programming and sequencing over two months with Alan Wilder in London’s Olympic Studios and his home Studio.

"Alan and me didn't not see anyone for three or four months. It was a very different situation to the run-up to the World Violation tour. We just locked ourselves away, sampling stuff from Depeche Mode records and basically created another album"[5]

Further work with Depeche Mode included co-production of recordings of the Devotional Tour Live and a remix of Condemnation with extra recording was completed between shows in Paris.

Recording with The Cure

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After meeting members of Depeche Mode in New York, Robert Smith from The Cure called Lyon to work on a different type of album he had in mind, recorded outside a conventional studio in a manor 'St Catherine's Court (Bath, England).Two years later, in 1996, came album Wild Mood Swings, which Lyon co-produced with Smith.[6], including the hit singles The 13th, Gone and Mint Car. Also completed in this period with The Cure was a version of the David Bowie anthem Young Americans on 104.9 : an XFM compilation album, which can also be found on The Cure's compilation album Join the dots : B-side and rarities (2004)

Work with other artists

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From late 90’s, Lyon's varied works have led to chart success in many territories and included albums for Maggie Estep (USA, 1997), Finish superstars 4R, The Creatures, two albums with Amplifier (UK), French bands Daisy Box (Diagnostic, 2005) and Tafta (Un jour, une vie, 2007), three albums with MrNorth (USA), British bands Soho Dolls [7](No regrets, 2006), British gothic metal band Paradise Lost's album Host (1999)[8] and The Wedding Present (Kennedy, 2007), German pop rock band Reamonn’s album, Tuesday, which included the hit single Super Girl [9]

Lyon also worked on productions in Italy: a N°1 album for electronic pop outfit Subsonica in 2004 followed the mixing of two albums with left-field act 99 Posse for BMG Italy all to wide critical acclaim. In 2008, he recorded and mixed Italian pop star Laura Pausini’s album Primavera in Anticipio which won Best Female Pop Vocal Album at Latin Grammy Award in 2009.[10]

Since 2010, Lyon has settled his own creative sanctuary in South West London, Panic Button Studios, keeping on developing new talents (Suzerain[11], Fugue, Our Propaganda, The King's Parade...) and working on a great diversity of projects including sessions with Eric Clapton for Chris Barber's album Memories of my trip and a collaboration with italian pop star Eros Ramazzotti (Battito Infinito in 2022). Lately, he directed artistically the creation and album of supergroup Bloom for pop star Giusi Ferreri in 2024[12][13][14]. He has lately recorded live and mixed the Rolling Stone Magazine France Live sessions[15] with tracks from Rival Sons, Cedric Burnside (July 2024), Theo Charaf, The Inspector Cluzo and Jessie Lee & The Alchemists (Cognac Blues Passions award 2024)

For the last few years, Steve Lyon has been committed to mentoring emerging talents and passing on his expertise and passion through masterclasses and conferences including, Rimini in Musica[16], Midem 2024[17] [18] [19] [20], SoundEdit Festival 2024 and also participated in the jury of Una voce per San Marino[21] [22] selecting italian artists for Eurovision in 2021 and of Sanremo Rock 33rd edition in 2020 [23]

On the 27th of October 2024, Lyon's career was celebrated with the Man with Golden Ear award at Soundedit Festival in Poland along with producer Chris Thomas.[24]

Selection of recording and production works

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albums & singles as assistant recording engineer

albums and singles as recording and or mixing engineer

as record producer or co-producer

Awards & Nominations

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  • Best Female Pop Vocal album - Latin Grammy Awards 2009 (record engineer for Laura Pausini's album Primavera in Anticipio
  • Nominated Record of the Year - Latin Grammy Awards 2009 (record engineer for Laura Pausini's album En cambio no[25]
  • FIM Award 2016 'Legend of Music Production' [26]
  • Man with the Golden Ear Award 2024, for visionary and pioneering solutions in music production. - Soundedit Music Producer Festival[27] [28]in Poland

References

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  1. ^ Malins, Steve (1999). Depeche Mode: the biography (1st ed.). London: Andre Deutsch. ISBN 978-0-233-00377-1.
  2. ^ May, Kevin; McElroy, David (2022-09-29). "Steve Lyon (UK) engineer on Violator at the Church Studios in London". Halo: The Story Behind Depeche Mode's Classic Album Violator (1st ed.). London: Grosvenor House Publishing (published 2022). pp. 113–143. ISBN 978-1-80381-302-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ ROTA, ALMA. "«Hors-Série Spécial DEPECHE MODE» de la revue «ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE»" [Steve Lyon : Guardian of the Sonic Temple]. ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE FRANCE (in French). pp. 107–110. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  4. ^ "Depeche Mode Biography 1993". depechemodebiographie.de. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  5. ^ Malins, Steve (1999). Depeche Mode: the biography (1st ed.). London: Andre Deutsch. p. 228. ISBN 9780233994253.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ "THE CURE: Recording Wild Mood Swings". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  7. ^ Stereoboard.com. "Sohodolls Announce UK Tour - Stereoboard". Stereoboard.com. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  8. ^ hohxb (2018-02-16). "PARADISE LOST, réédition de l'album Host [Actus Metal]". Freakin' Geek (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  9. ^ "Reamonn – laut.de – Band". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  10. ^ Colombo, Lorenzo (2016-05-02). "Steve Lyon, storico collaboratore dei Depeche Mode al Fim di Erba". Erbanotizie (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  11. ^ "Depeche Mode Biography Interview with Steve Lyon". depechemodebiographie.de. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  12. ^ Redazione (2024-06-12). "Bloom, esce il 28 giugno il primo album della band di Giusy Ferreri". 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲 (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  13. ^ "Musica: arriva in radio "Mai Più", il nuovo singolo di Bloom, la band di Giusy Ferreri". www.primapaginanews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  14. ^ newsic_redazione (2024-04-23). "BLOOM: la super band sul palco del CONCERTO DEL PRIMO MAGGIO". Newsic.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  15. ^ a b ROTA, Alma (2024-06-22). "Rolling Stone Live Sessions: Un vinyle 5 titres enregistré au Blues Passions". Rolling Stone (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  16. ^ Buzzacchi, Dario (2023-08-31). "STEVE LYON - LASCIA STARE I TREND - INTERVISTA". WU (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  17. ^ Crétal, Léa (2024-01-09). "MIDEM+ 2024 : De La Soul, Baxter Dury, French 79... réunis à Cannes - TSUGI" (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  18. ^ "MIDƐM+24 : les événements à ne pas manquer". Palais des Festivals (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  19. ^ Rédaction, La (2024-01-23). "Midem+ 2024 : le programme complet". Rolling Stone (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  20. ^ "Steve Lyon (ingénieur du son Depeche Mode, The Cure...) : "L'industrie n'aide plus les artistes rock à se développer"" [steve lyon (sound engineer, Depeche Mode, The Cure): the music industry no longer helps rock artists to develop]. www.pressreader.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  21. ^ "🇸🇲 First jurors revealed for Una Voce Per San Marino". That Eurovision Site. 2021-11-18. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  22. ^ "Giuria Casting Una Voce Per San Marino - Steve Lyon - Una Voce per San Marino". 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  23. ^ Rock, Sanremo (2020-09-03). "Steve Lyon tra gli " Stellati Internazionali" della giuria 33^ 2020 - Sanremo Rock" (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  24. ^ Rédaction, La (2024-11-04). "Le Soundedit Festival célèbre les producteurs de musique". Rolling Stone (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  25. ^ "Calle 13 Leads List of 2009 Latin Grammy Nominations". BMI.com. 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  26. ^ Colombo, Lorenzo (2016-05-02). "Steve Lyon, storico collaboratore dei Depeche Mode al Fim di Erba". Erbanotizie (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  27. ^ Rédaction, La (2024-11-04). "Le Soundedit Festival célèbre les producteurs de musique". Rolling Stone (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  28. ^ "Steve Lyon". soundedit.pl. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
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