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Exclusive Interview

Apr 23, 2020

Produced by: Rudy Manager

Edited by: Ben Jamieson

Sean D - "It’s all about just keeping the sound that the artist wants."

We organized a masterclass with engineer Sean D In November 2019 at the London College of Music. The event was organised with the help of The MNGR; a student society, and was hosted by Harrison Lloyd. 

Sean D’s engineer credits include work on tracks by artists like Lil Baby, Gunna, D Block Europe, M Huncho and Headie One to name a few. Sean D has also co-founded record label 'The Plug Records', releasing its first album Plug Talk in 2019 which he A&R-ed, engineered and mixed.

We are excited to share Sean D's story in this interview about his experience as an engineer, 'The Plug Records', and his advice to up-coming music engineers.


How did you get into music and being an engineer?

First I was a DJ, and I used to be on pirate radio, and I had jobs in retail, and I kept getting fired. I wanted to find a career in music, and I thought that maybe engineering would work. I saw some other engineers doing their thing. My friend had a garage at his mum's house, and we converted it into a studio, and we were literally just recording guys in my area. From that, we progressed into a better block, it was still a shit-hole, but there I met Big Narstie and I started meeting bigger artists. Then like seven years later I did a song called 'German Whip', and after that I started getting loads of work.

(Sean D worked on ‘German Whip’ by Meridian Dan feat. Big H & JME)

Did you make music before you started mixing?

Yeah, I messed around with Fruity Loops when I was 13. I used to DJ, I used to play the guitar, just anything to do with music, and then I found a career and just stuck with it.

When you are mixing a song do you take full control of what is being done, or do you get artists who are particular about what sound they want?

Sean: When I started, I used to just take a song and be like 'fuck it' I’m just gonna do my thing, but now I’ve realised that you can't do that because, at the end of the day, it is the artist's work so, you have to listen to the rough mix and keep the sound, and work with the artist, and work with a lot of feedback. It’s all about just keeping the sound that the artist wants. You have to learn what sound the artist wants because you can just go off and do something that you think is good, but the artist won't agree and at the end of the day it’s the artist's work.

I am guessing that it is easier when the artist is in the studio.

I don't like mixing with an artist in the studio. I record an artist, but then the artist doesn’t want to sit there while you’re playing with the kick for four hours. They just start getting all aggravated. It’s more like I get a mix to a certain level, and then the artist will come in and I just get feedback, if I can.

How many hours do you spend to get that first good-sounding mix that you are happy with?

It’s always so different. I’ve done a mix in half an hour that I thought was amazing, and then I’ve done a mix that took me five hours a day for a week that I’m still not happy with. If I get stuck with the kick and the bass and how they’re sounding, then I could sit there and work on that, I would have breaks for my ears, but I could work on just a kick and the bass for five hours.

Do you usually mix in a studio environment or do you have a bedroom studio?

I’ve just got a flat with a spare room and I mix there. The room is the most important thing I find, it’s more important than anything. I got my carpenter friend to build me 16 bass traps and I’ve got them all around the room, and I use focal twins, but as long as the room sounds good, I can mix.

Are there independent artists hitting you up or is it mostly labels? How do you get your clientele?

They come and they go. I’ve been engineering for 11 years, so a lot of people I’ve met when I was engineering and when they were on the come-up. I’ve met a lot of people at a good time, it’s just right place, right time, and then I’ve kept them as clients. Then some jobs my manager sorts out, and it's just label jobs, and they come in like that. Once you have a brand people just come to you.

Do you think that branding is important for engineers and producers?

Yeah, nowadays a lot of artists don't even know what a good mix is. You get some artists who are quite musical, and they’ll really want a certain sound. But some artists are just gonna choose you because you’ve got the brand, and they’ve seen your Instagram and know what you're doing. I think that because of social media it’s really changed.

Do you also get tunes that you can't mix because of the quality of the recording?

Sean: All the time, some artists are recording in some really ghetto studios. You don't know what you’re going to get. A lot of the time the problem is that they don't want to re-record because you can't recreate the feeling they had when they were in the studio, so you have to just make it work.

Would you do something that 'sounds wrong' just because the client wants that? It is about your image as a mixing engineer and if you do something that sounds bad it might influence your brand.

I choose what I promote on my social media to control my branding. Obviously, the client is always right, so if they want something that doesn’t sound good, you have to do that as an engineer, otherwise, they would use someone else. But I choose what I promote. So if it is something that I don't like, and the song has gone somewhere where I don't like, I just won't put my name to it and I’ll just take the job. But it’s not an ideal situation, and normally the clients trust you.

Do you have a favourite song you worked on?

I have had songs that kind of changed things in my career. 'German Whip' was the first tune that went Top 20 and charted, and then I had 'Golden Boot' with Headie One, that was quite a big one, and obviously, 'Broken Homes', the first tune I was an A&R for. But I wouldn’t say that I have one.

Who is the favourite artist or project that you have worked with?

Well, The Plug is the biggest project. With The Plug, I A&R-ed it as well as engineered it. It was like a new thing for me to put the songs together. But it is really who you have the most fun with. M Huncho is more like a friend, so we get into a studio and we just vibe. In terms of sonically, I think that D Block Europe has quite an interesting sound, so when they send me a song, I really like to be creative with it.

Could you tell us more about The Plug album and what went into that? Did you have to travel a lot because of the collaborations with US artists?

I'll break it down into how we started it. I’ve got a friend who I’ve known before I’ve done music, and he runs 'The Plug' brand. So he would just get up to stuff in our area, and he started a weed cafe in Barcelona and it blew up, and then 10 years later he messaged me and we rated what each other were doing and we were like: why not, let's try to do an album. A lot of artists go to his cafe, so when they go to Barca or Dam, he’s the guy they get their weed off, so that’s how he gets the connections, and then I know a lot of the UK artists, so we just managed to make it work. In terms of going over to America, we did it twice, once for the Roddy Ricch video and once for the M Huncho and Gunna video, but mainly the collaborations are done through e-mail. The Young Dolph was when he was in the UK. It’s just making it work any way you can.

From a business standpoint, how did The Plug album work?

We were just friends and we both had this idea. Obviously, he has got a lot of funds from his weed brand and he’s got a lot of connections with the Americans, and I’ve got all the connections with the UK and I know a lot about music. So it kinda just worked and we started a business, ‘The Plug’ records.

So, reaching out to artists wasn't a big problem.

No, because he knew his guys and I knew my guys, it was just organic.

How long did it take to put together The Plug album?

The whole album from start to release took about nine months. Everything in the music industry, I find it’s just kind of doing what we can, even the major labels. I’ve worked on projects with major labels and they’re just scrambling to get stuff together to meet release times, so you just kind of wing it until it comes together.

(Sean D worked on Plug Talk by The Plug)

Did you record the ‘D Block Europe – Nookie feat. Lil Baby’? What is your process of recording tracks?

For the song ‘D Block Europe - Nookie feat. Lil Baby’ I didn’t record anything. D Block’s done it with their recording engineer and Lil Baby flew over here and I think he’s done it with D Block's recording engineer, and then they just sent me the file. Normally a lot of artists like Yxng Bane and all these guys who I would work with; I would do a main and then split it. Everyone is different, but nowadays a lot of people just like the clean sound, but then some artists do a bit of layers, two stabs, left and right, and then an adlib, and then a chorus you’ve got left, right and center usually.

(Sean D worked on ‘Nookie’ by D-Block Europe feat. Lil Baby)

What do you wish you knew when you first started in the industry?

Pretty much everything. When I first started engineering, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn't even know what a compressor did. I just kind of blagged a template that sounded half good when I was recording vocals and I just learnt. You get to a stage where you have to learn to progress; and I wanted to progress, got motivated and taught myself.

What skills both personal and professional do you think are important to be successful in music?

I think it is just motivation and hard work. When I started I didn’t know anything. I didn't do any course or anything. If you have the motivation you put in the 10,000 hours. I think that anyone can get there if you put in the work.

Do you have any favourite engineers who inspire you?

Yeah, in the UK it's Fraser T. Smith, MsM, Lewi White, a lot of the older engineers that were doing it before I started, I saw what they were doing before I got into the scene. But then my big inspirations are from America, like; Alex Tumay, KY Engineerin', Young Guru, and MixedbyAli, he’s one of my favourites.

If someone wants to be an engineer how would you suggest they go about starting? If they don't know any artists or producers, they could work with. How would they start?

Just start really. Everyone has a friend who raps nowadays, and you always have the rappers in school. Just literally record anyone you can. I used to record for free in my bedroom, and as soon as one person recommends you your network builds, it’s all about reputation.

Follow Sean D on Instagram: @seandofficial

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