Michael Shipley (7 October 1956 – 25 July 2013) was an Australian mixing engineer, audio engineer, and record producer. Shipley's music career spanned more than 30 years – mostly working in Los Angeles. At the
Grammy Awards of 2012 he won the
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical category for his joint work on ''
Paper Airplane'' (April 2011), by
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...
and
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
. Shipley died in July 2013, aged 56, of an apparent suicide.
Life and career
Michael Shipley was born on 7 October 1956, in Sydney, Australia; as a teenager he moved with his family to London. He became interested in a recording career while at school in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.
[ Note: to access further information, user may have to click on a tab, e.g 'Credits' or 'Awards'] He later recalled, "One of my teachers at grammar school there was a musician who asked me to come down and sing on a record he was making. I walked into this thing called the recording studio, and it just blew my mind. It was, 'This is home,' and I knew instantly and from that point on that all I wanted to do was to work there."
Shipley returned to Australia and completed secondary education at Camberwell Grammar School (class of '74) in Melbourne. He then returned to London, where he started as an assistant at
Wessex Sound Studios and worked with
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
and
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
.
His first engineering sessions were during the
punk rock
Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
explosion of the late 1970s and early 1980s and included recordings with
the Damned.
He worked alongside
Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Robert John "Mutt" Lange ( ; born 11 November 1948) is a South African record producer. He is known for his work in rock music as well as co-writing and producing various songs for Shania Twain, his ex-wife. Her 1997 album ''Come On Over'', whic ...
for decades.
His contemporaries at Wessex include producers
Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker (10 November 1946 – 12 April 2025) was an English record producer, songwriter and arranger who produced rock and pop songs.
Life and career
Baker was born in Hampstead, London on 10 November 1946. He began his career at De ...
and
Chris Thomas, and engineers
Tim Friese-Greene
Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and record producer, producer. He worked with the band Talk Talk from 1983 to their breakup in 1991. He currently releases solo albums under the name Heligoland. He is the grandson of filmmaker Cl ...
and
Bill Price. Shipley also worked with
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
on their albums, ''
High 'n' Dry
''High 'n' Dry'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 6 July 1981. ''High 'n' Dry'' was Pete Willis' last full-time album with Def Leppard. It charted at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 26 on th ...
'' (July 1981), ''
Pyromania
Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...
'' (January 1983), ''
Hysteria
Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...
'' (August 1987) and ''
Adrenalize'' (March 1992).
Asked to work with
the Cars
The Cars were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the New wave music, new wave Subculture, scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (l ...
, Shipley relocated to Los Angeles in 1984. Shipley later relocated to Hawaii for a sabbatical, but returned to Los Angeles to work for
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
,
Shania Twain
Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...
,
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...
,
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida, in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, ...
,
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...
,
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...
,
Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...
,
India.Arie,
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...
,
Green Day
Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
,
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...
and
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...
.
Death
Shipley died on 25 July 2013.
Cause of death, as stated on 9 August 2013 at the memorial service, was an apparent suicide.
Discography
Recorded work credited to Shipley:
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
References
External links
*
*
*
An Evening with Mike Shipley
LA Grapevine November 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipley, Mike
1956 births
2013 deaths
2013 suicides
21st-century Australian guitarists
Australian record producers
Australian audio engineers
Male suicides
Musicians from Sydney
Grammy Award winners
Suicides in California