John Davis
The Killers / Gorillaz / The XX / Celeste / FKA Twigs / Dua Lipa / Led Zeppelin / Lana Del Rey / Primal Scream / U2 / Jamie T / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Blur / IDLES
John Davis began his career as an audio mastering engineer in the late 80s, cutting 12-inch singles for London’s club dancefloors.
Labels such as Ministry Of Sound, Boys Own, Classic and Def Jam with artists like De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Soul II Soul, Carl Craig and DJ Harvey benefited from his expertise during the exciting early years of the DJ and club scene.
A week in his mastering studio could encompass anything from Gorillaz, The Killers, Noel Gallagher, Years & Years or Dua Lipa – who have all visited recently. He has been described by Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) as ‘a master of his craft’ and Damon Albarn (Gorillaz) states “The dark arts of Mastering have always amused and fascinated me. John is an adept and I’ve always enjoyed watching him cast his mercurial magic.”
John always likes to work with the artist, producer and engineer present so that their collective vision can be communicated. Music is all about feelings and emotions, so a trust has to exist between artist and engineer. This direct input from the client enables John to take their music to a place where the tracks are enhanced and become ‘super-real’, maximising all the positive aspects of a mix and ironing out any potential problems. John’s favourite part of being an audio mastering engineer is the variety of the projects undertaken.
Every day he meets creative and interesting artists at the top of their game, so it’s vital that a connection is made quickly so the musical vision can be agreed and approved while the tracks are being mastered. That’s the way to get magical results, instead of playing safe and sounding generic.
