WCA #608 with Julian Kindred – Canada, America, England, and Thirty-Five Years of Making Records

For episode 608, Matt talks with Julian Kindred — Canadian producer, engineer, and songwriter based in London, where he runs Nonsuch Park Studio in Epsom, Surrey. Julian grew up in St. John, New Brunswick — a working-class port city he describes as a place where people punched in all week and played blues in bars on the weekend — and found his way into recording through a part-time job at a music shop and access to synthesizers. Too broke for Berklee, he took a corporate function band gig that got him to Nashville, where he cold-called Music Row for a year and a half before landing a spot at Studio Nineteen. Ten years on Music Row followed, and then a move to London in 2003. They talk about what Nashville taught him about song craft and on-the-floor tracking, learning persistence in two different cultures, surviving a lull before the Ellie Goulding record turned things around, managing money as a freelancer, and why longevity attracts a different kind of client than talent alone ever did. Enjoy!

In This Episode, We Discuss:

- Growing Up in St. John, New Brunswick

- "Sultans of Swing" as a Portrait of His Hometown

- A Musical Family and a Father Who Taught Guitar

- Keyboards at Eleven and a Part-Time Job at a Music Shop

- Access to Synthesizers and the Recording Bug

- Too Broke for Berklee — and the Corporate Function Band That Got Him to Nashville

- Cold-Calling Music Row for a Year and a Half

- Studio Nineteen: A Five-Week Course, a Trident Desk, and Patsy Cline's Living Room

- Learning the Craft in Nashville's Legendary Rooms

- What Ten Years on Music Row Taught Him About Song Craft