Nicolas Launay (born 5 March 1960) is an English

record 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 ...

, composer and recording engineer, currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds,

Anna Calvi Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi (born 24 September 1980) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Awards, Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has b ...

IDLES Idles are an English post-punk band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Adam Devonshire (bass), Joe Talbot (singer), Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), and Jon Beavis (drums). After spending eight yea ...

, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are compleme ...

and

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

. Noted for his flamboyant style, he is among the most successful producers of the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

era, helming records from pivotal acts including

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon (previously, as Johnny Rotten, lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene (a founding member of the Clash), bassi ...

, Gang of Four,

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

, The Birthday Party, and The Slits. Launay is known primarily for his passionate approach to recording with emphasis on raw sounds and capturing mood. Some of the artists he has worked with include:

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided int ...

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

, Grinderman,

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, The Veils,

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

The Living End The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...

Band of Skulls Band of Skulls are an English rock band from Southampton, fronted by Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals). Emma Richardson ( bass, vocals; 2002–2021) and Matt Hayward (drums; 2002–2016) were previously members. The group formed after meeting i ...

, Silverchair and

. He lives in Hollywood, United States and travels to London frequently. More recent work includes producing

' ''

Mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

'', '' It's Blitz!'', mixing

's '' Neon Bible'' and ''

The Suburbs ''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 3, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May".

'', producing and recording Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' '' Push the Sky Away'', '' Skeleton Tree'' along with '' Grinderman'' and '' Grinderman 2'' and '' Cartoon Darkness'' by Amyl and the Sniffers. He is also known for setting trends by finding lesser known recording studios in the world and making them popular. In 2012, he encouraged Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to record what became the '' Push the Sky Away'' album at a little-known studio in France called La Fabrique. At the time, no foreign band had worked there. Since then

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

, and Foals have all followed suit. Similarly with La Frette studios he produced ''Skeleton Tree'' and then recommended it to

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. They comprise lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. The co-founder and original bassist Andy Nicholson ...

via Domino Recording Company owner Laurence Bell. Alex Turner now records all his projects there, and others have followed.

Biography

Background

The son of French author

André Launay André Joseph Launay was a novelist, essayist, humourist and dramatist of French descent who wrote in English under the pen names André Launay, Drew Launay, Andrew Laurance and Drew Lamark. He was the author of family dramas, psychic thrillers, h ...

and fashion model Eve Launay, he was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England and moved with his family to the village of Frigiliana in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at age eight, where his parents adopted a bohemian lifestyle. The family returned to England in 1976, where Launay developed a love of

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 ...

Career

In 1978, he began working at Tape One studios on Tottenham Court Road, where he was trained to edit hit songs for

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

Top 20 compilation albums, reducing their length to 2½ minutes in order to fit 20 songs on one album. He recalled: "The trick was to keep all the good bits that people would recognize." According to his website, Launay was late at work one night "frantically editing and reconstructing an experimental version of " Pop Muzik" by UK pop band M, for his own amusement, when he was visited by respected mastering engineer Denis Blackham." Blackham was so impressed with the new extended version, he played it the next day to M's Robin Scott. Launay says his version was released as a

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

and became a Top 10 hit in the UK and other countries. In 1980, Launay moved to Virgin Records' Townhouse studios, where he worked as an assistant engineer on albums including

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

’s '' Sound Affects'' and XTC's ''

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

'', assisting producers John Leckie, Tony Visconti,

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...

and Hugh Padgham. In 1981, as the most junior member assistant engineer, he was conscripted to work on a

recording session for a single, "Home is Where the Heart is". In a PiL fan site interview Launay recalled: Days later Launay was told PiL wanted him to mix a new song they had worked on. He was asked by the Townhouse manager whether he had done a mix before. "I remember lying and saying, Yes of course I have," he said. "She told me I would have to work alone, as no other assistant would do it. Once again I couldn't believe my luck." Launay co-produced the band's '' The Flowers of Romance'' album (1981), which brought praise for its sonic oddities and prompted other bands including

, The Slits, The Birthday Party and Gang of Four to collaborate with him in the studio. He worked for two months as engineer on

’s self-produced '' The Dreaming'' (1982), about which he remembers: He worked with producer

Colin Newman Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire (band), Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury ...

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

on the Virgin Prunes' ''If I Die I Die'' (1982) before securing his first major production role on the fifth album by

, '' 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'' (1982).

Production technique

Asked in the ''Mix'' interview for his formula for making a record, he said he usually went into rehearsals for about two weeks, experimenting with songs and arranging them in different ways, but with "strong, solid ideas" about how the songs should be arranged. After about two weeks' work, he enters the studio with the band:

Production credits

* 1980: "

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgium, Belgian company in the African interior. Th ...

" by Positive Noise * 1981: " Flowers of Romance" single by

* 1981: '' The Flowers of Romance'' by Public Image Ltd * 1981: " Follow the Leaders" single by

* 1981: '' What's THIS For...!'' by Killing Joke * 1981: "To Hell with Poverty!" single by Gang of Four * 1981: " Release the Bats" single by The Birthday Party * 1981: "Earthbeat" single by The Slits * 1982: " Empire Song" single by Killing Joke * 1982: " Pagan Lovesong" by Virgin Prunes * 1982: '' Junkyard'' by The Birthday Party * 1982: '' 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'' by

* 1983: '' Seance'' by The Church * 1983: '' The Pleasure of Your Company'' by

* 1983: '' Grapes of Wrath'' by Spear of Destiny * 1984: '' Red Sails in the Sunset'' by Midnight Oil * 1984: '' The Swing'' by

* 1985: '' Big Canoe'' by Tim Finn * 1985: '' Out of Mind, Out of Sight'' by Models * 1985: ''Over the Rainbow'' by Virgin Prunes * 1985: '' Waiting for the Floods'' by

The Armoury Show The Armoury Show were a British New wave music, new wave band, formed in 1983 and consisting of Richard Jobson (television presenter), Richard Jobson on vocals, Russell Webb (musician), Russell Webb on bass guitar, John McGeoch on guitar and J ...

* 1988: '' Bonk'' by Big Pig * 1991: '' Honeychild'' (album) by Jenny Morris * 1992: '' Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites'' by

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

**"Popsicle", "Gangster of Love", "Lifetime Piling Up" * 1992: '' Uh-Oh'' by

* 1993: '' Earth and Sun and Moon'' by Midnight Oil * 1994: ''Peach'' by The Lupins * 1995: ''

Example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...

'' by For Squirrels * 1996: '' Amazing Disgrace'' by

The Posies The Posies were an American rock band. The band was formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, United States, by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. Their music has its origins in Merseybeat and the Hollies. They are influ ...

* 1997: ''

Freak Show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

'' by Silverchair * 1997: ''Transmitter'' by Automatic * 1997: ''Never Bet the Devil Your Head'' by Subrosa * 1998: '' Feeling Strangely Fine'' by Semisonic * 1998: '' Freak*on*ica'' by Girls Against Boys * 1998: ''Vicious Precious'' (EP) by Primary * 1999: '' Neon Ballroom'' by Silverchair * 1999: ''Chronicle Kings'' by Earth to Andy * 2000: ''

Consent to Treatment ''Consent to Treatment'' is the second album by Blue October. Pre-production sessions took place in Nashville with producer Blue Miller, and the final album recording sessions took place at Bay 7 Studios in Valley Village and Media Vortex in ...

'' by

Blue October Blue October is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Houston, Texas, formed in 1995. It currently consists of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist #Personnel, Ryan Delahoussaye, b ...

* 2000: ''Stereodreamscene'' by Deckard * 2001: '' Roll On'' by

* 2002: ''Androgynous Jesus'' by Must * 2003: '' Nocturama'' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds * 2003: '' The Art of Losing'' by American Hi-Fi * 2004: '' Aiming for Your Head'' by Betchadupa * 2004: '' Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus'' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds * 2006: '' Nux Vomica'' by The Veils * 2006: ''

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

'' by The Living End * 2007: ''

Young Modern ''Young Modern'' is the fifth and final studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released in Australia on 31 March 2007 and in the United States on 24 July 2007 and co-produced by Daniel Johns and Nick Launay. The tit ...

'' by Silverchair * 2007: '' Grinderman'' by Grinderman * 2007: '' Welcome the Night'' by The Ataris * 2007: '' Is Is'' by

* 2008: ''

Diamond Hoo Ha ''Diamond Hoo Ha'' is the sixth and final studio album by British alternative rock band Supergrass, released in the UK on 24 March 2008, and offers a return to punchier Supergrass songs, in comparison to the more mellow '' Road to Rouen'', their ...

'' by

* 2008: '' Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds * 2009: '' It's Blitz!'' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs * 2009: '' Quicken the Heart'' by

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band currently consists of Paul Smith (English singer), Paul Smith (lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Tom Engli ...

* 2009: '' Ignore the Ignorant'' by

The Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary Jarman, Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The ...

* 2010: '' Grinderman 2'' by Grinderman * 2011: '' Ornaments from the Silver Arcade'' by

Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, currently based in Wantage, Oxfordshire. The group consists of brothers Henry Dartnall and Thomas Bonsu-Dartnall (the latter known professionally as "The House ...

* 2013: '' Push the Sky Away'' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds * 2013: ''

'' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs * 2014: '' Himalayan'' by

* 2015: '' Coming Forth by Day'' by Cassandra Wilson * 2015: ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

'' by

Refused Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guita ...

* 2016: '' Skeleton Tree'' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds * 2018: '' Wrong Creatures'' by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club * 2018: ''Hunter'' by

* 2018: ''Joy as an act of resistance'' by

* 2019: '' Scatter the Rats'' by L7 * 2019: ''Ride Again'' by Shakespeare's Sister * 2019: ''Devour You'' by Starcrawler * 2024 '' Cartoon Darkness'' by Amyl and the Sniffers

Mix/Recording credits

* 1981: '' The Dreaming'' by

* 1981: ''

Face Value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...

'' by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

* 1985: '' Behind the Sun'' by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

* 1990: '' Suicide Blonde 12"'' by

* 2004: '' A Song Is a City'' by Eskimo Joe * 2005: '' Animal Serenade'' by

* 2007: '' Neon Bible'' by

* 2008: '' Twenty One'' by Mystery Jets * 2010: ''

'' by Arcade Fire * 2018: '' Joy as an Act of Resistance'' by

* 2019: ''Peek'' by CRX

Filmography

* '' Plush'' (2013)

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Nick Launay for ''

'' by Silverchair , Producer of the Year , , , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, Nick Launay for " The Door" by Silverchair , Engineer of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2",

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, rowspan="2", Nick Launay for "Supposed to Be Here", "24000", "This Is the Sound" and "Come to Take You Home" by Primary and '' Neon Ballroom'' by Silverchair , Producer of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , Engineer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2",

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, rowspan="2", Nick Launay for '' Roll On'' by

, Producer of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , Engineer of the Year , , - , rowspan="2",

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, rowspan="2", Nick Launay for ''

'' by The Living End , Producer of the Year , , rowspan="2", , - , Engineer of the Year , , -

References

External links

Official site

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Launay, Nick 1960 births Living people ARIA Award winners English audio engineers English record producers People from Hammersmith English people of French descent English expatriates in Spain