Jim Abbiss is a British
music producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, best known for his work on records including the debut album of
Editors (''
The Back Room''),
Arctic Monkeys'
Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, ''
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'',
Kasabian's ''
Kasabian'' and ''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'',
Ladytron's ''
Witching Hour'' and ''
Ladytron'',
Sneaker Pimps' debut ''
Becoming X'', and
Adele's ''
19'', and ''
21''.
Career
Starting his music career, Abbiss played keyboards with Peterborough band The Pleasure Heads, on
Red Rhino Records, before getting his first studio job at Spaceward Studios near Cambridge, in 1986. It was here that he trained under maverick engineer & producer
Owen Morris. He moved to become an assistant engineer at Power Plant studios, London in 1988, and witnessed first-hand the acid house movement through countless remix sessions.
Abbiss went freelance in 1990, and
Steve Hillage became a regular collaborator on remixes & album sessions. He then met producer
Nellee Hooper, and worked as his engineer on albums for
Björk (''
Debut''),
Massive Attack (''
Protection''), as well as the
''Romeo + Juliet'' soundtrack & many more remixes. This association established Abbiss and led to a meeting and future collaborations with
James Lavelle &
DJ Shadow. More remixing (
The Verve -
Bitter Sweet Symphony) and the critically acclaimed
Psyence Fiction album by
Unkle led to him being offered more production work. He co-produced the
Sneaker Pimps debut, ''
Becoming X'', and the debut and only album by
Mono, ''
Formica Blues''. At the same time, song-writing with singer Laura Mohapi led to a publishing contract with
Chrysalis Music, and a short-lived return to the world of the artist with the band Darling.
Abbiss has also worked with
Stateless on their self-titled debut album ''
Stateless''. Other work includes both EPs and debut single by
Bombay Bicycle Club, as well as on their debut album ''
I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose''. He has also mixed
DJ Shadow's albums ''
The Less You Know, the Better''. and ''
The Private Press''.
Mixing tracks for
Kasabian in 2003 led to co-producing 2 albums with them (the self-titled ''
Kasabian'' and ''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
''), and gave Abbiss the first of 3 nominations for "producer of the year" at the
Music Week/MPG awards. He then worked on
Editors (''
The Back Room''),
The Noisettes (''
Wild Young Hearts'') and
The Temper Trap (''
Conditions''). While producing the track "My Yvonne" for
Jack Peñate, he met singer
Adele, whom Jack had asked to do some backing vocals. He was immediately blown away by her voice and asked if she had her own demos. She had just signed to
XL, and shortly afterwards Abbiss began work on her debut ''
19'', producing eight tracks. Producing two tracks for her phenomenally successful follow-up ''
21'' led to a
Grammy nomination.
In 2011, Abbiss worked on
The Kooks' third album, ''
Junk of the Heart''.
In 2012, Abbiss produced ''
The Unified Field'' for former
Sneaker Pimps vocalist and founding member
Chris Corner's project
IAMX.
Abbiss has continued studio productions with
Emeli Sandé,
Peace,
The Family Rain,
Birdy &
KT Tunstall and maintains ongoing projects with a variety of artists.
In 2016, Abbiss co-produced the ''
Blind Spot (EP)'' for the band
Lush.
In 2020, Abbiss produced
Amy Macdonald's fifth studio album ''
The Human Demands''.
Main productions
*
Adele: ''
19,
21''
*
Arctic Monkeys: ''
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not''
*
Birdy: ''
Birdy''
*
Bombay Bicycle Club: ''I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose''
*
Editors: ''
The Back Room''
*
Kasabian: ''
Kasabian,
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
''
*
KT Tunstall: ''
Tiger Suit''
*
Ladytron: ''
Witching Hour''
*
Noisettes: ''Wild Young Hearts''
*
Placebo: ''
Sleeping with Ghosts''
*
Sneaker Pimps: ''Becoming X''
*
Stateless: ''Stateless''
*
The Kooks: ''
Junk of the Heart''
*
The Temper Trap: ''Conditions’'
*
The Music: ‘’The Music"
References
External links
Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbiss, Jim
British record producers
English record producers
Living people
20th-century births
Grammy Award winners
Year of birth missing (living people)