Audio Pro

The landscape of Surrey, UK is a green wave rolling out from under the lap of London’s architecture. Somewhere between the waves, crunching out his own, unique brand of controlled distortion, is Sean Genockey: a young maverick producer who lives and breathes for his craft.

The guitarist and producer for the South London-based band Moke, Genockey moved seamlessly into the role of grunt engineer after the band’s demise, learning from some of the biggest names in the business.

Fifteen years later, Genockey has credits on albums and singles by Suede, Manic Street Preachers, South and Kula Shaker. His early days as an engineer are equally impressive as he worked alongside famous producers like Dave Eringa (Idlewild, Ash, Manic Street Preachers), Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies, Feeder) and Bob Clearmountain (Bob Dylan, Free, Big Country).

“I learned a lot from the producers I worked with over the years,” comments Genockey. “Gil Norton really took me under his wing and taught me how be aware of everything that is happening during a session and how to spot problems and work through them. He is a great producer. Honestly, working with him on a project is like going from a Channel 4 production to Lucas Films.

“From Dave Eringa I learned how to finish on time, work within a budget and create a good vibe in the studio, which are things I do everyday. There is no point in giving a band a CD with eight songs on it because I ran out of money and couldn’t finish the record.”

With an efficient and unconventional work style learned from some of the biggest names in the business, Genockey has many return visits from artists and a recent influx of work flowing in from the States. His ability to safely stay within a budget’s boundaries, which can be an extremely tight squeeze, have also allowed him to make great records for up-and-coming bands.

“It’s easy to just go along with the big money gigs, but to move forward and progress I have to do things I believe in and enjoy. Otherwise, I would not excel at what I’m doing. It would get to the point where I am constantly looking at the clock worrying about how much money I am making on a project rather than trying to make it sound good. Some of the best bands I have worked with have little to no budget,” explains Genockey.

This attitude has bode well for Genockey and allowed him to work with up-and-coming acts like Reuben (V2 Records) and Baddies, who are now on tour with the Futureheads.

“The industry has gotten back to what it should be like. It reminds me of what it was like in America in the late 90s; musicians are draftsman again. There is a renewed necessity to master your instrument and learn how to make a sound. Now people just have to figure out how to get the revenue back to the artists,” he says.

In light of these circumstances, Genockey started Black Dog Studio in 2006. The studio is nestled within the suburbs of Surrey’s Worcester Park where he does most of his post production and mixing work. Equipped with a Pro Tools HD3 system and a host of high-end outboard gear, vintage guitars, amps and a bag full of guitar and bass pedals, he is able to bring back tracks recorded at bigger, high-end studios like Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and London’s Livingston Studios to do overdubs, mix and edit on his own clock and at his own – considerably reduced – expense.

“I think it is amazing that you don’t need a 20 thousand pound tape machine and a maintenance guy to make a record anymore,” comments Genockey.

“I treat Pro Tools as a giant tape machine anyway. I do things with and without click and Beat Detective. I think the conversion is at a point where it sounds really good, and there is some wonderful high-end gear out there. These days you can afford a single channel of SSL. You couldn’t do that ten years ago because someone would have had to pull apart their SSL board.

“I love the Thermionic Culture valve gear. I use its Earlybird 2 and the Universal Audio 1176LN for vocals. The Earlybird is a really musical amp. It has tons of headroom and it’s clean as a whistle with no noise, but it also distorts really beautifully.

“The Thermionic Culture Culture Vulture is also great because it helps me avoid using drum samples. I can gate a snare though it and manipulate the sound into anything that I want; whether it needs to sound really hard and forward or round and wide open.

“If I had to pick one piece of kit it would probably be the SSL XLogic E Signature Channel because you can almost make a whole record with it. It is actually a channel from an E Series desk.”

Black Dog has also recently added a Tubetec SSA 2B stereo summing amp, which Genockey feels has brought his recordings up a big notch, making everything that goes through it sound much wider.

“I am now at a point where I can do everything at Black Dog. I don’t have a huge amount of gear, but each piece does a big job and it all gets used. Essentially, the sounds are sculpted from the out board gear. I can’t do the things that our outboard units do on a big multichannel board. I really like refined distortion. It can sometimes be hard to make a bass or a vocal pop out of mix, but the Thermionic Culture Pullet and Early Bird and the SPL De-esser can make it happen,” says Genockey.

While he relies heavily on the outboard racks, he does use some plugins. He explains: “I use The Massenburg DesignWorks eq and other plugin eqs for fixing things and dialing in very narrow frequencies. I also use a variety of SoundToys effects plugins: the Echoboy, Filter Freak, Tremulator and the Crystallizer; these are things I simply can’t do without.”

Preparation is also an asset that Genockey feels has helped him increase his workload over the years. Him and his engineer like to have everything ready for a band when they walk in the door, so they can start getting sounds and record right away.

“With most of the projects I work on, time is of the essence. It used to be that bands had three months to record an album, but that has all changed. I used to work at RAK Studio a lot, and I remember a conversation I had with Mickey Most, who had seen everything from making The Animals records in a day to seeing people spend three or four days on the drum sound. He couldn’t understand it, and it had to change. If not for all the wasted money, then for the sake of everyone’s sanity.”

With Black Dog set up and a fully booked schedule, Genockey can have up to six projects on his plate at one time. “I am seeing a lot of work coming from the States lately. I think it is because people have heard my work, and I learned a lot in America. For example, my use of compression; Bob Clearmountain is an absolute master at picking the right compressor. That is one of the things that the Americans are masters of, and it is interesting to see how people like my take on things.”

Although Genockey is a producer, he still approaches recording a song from the reference point of a musician and a music enthusiast, inspiring musicians to open up to new ideas at every session.

With credits across the spectrum, from established bands on the majors to up-and-coming indies, Genockey represents a new breed of engineer: fast and reliable with just the right combination of know how and gear to get the right sounds on track quickly, which seems the only way to successfully exist in today’s recording industry.
www.myspace.com/seangenockey