Tom Lord-Alge is a legendary mixer whose credits we simply can’t do justice to in this format: He’s worked with a massive list of household names like Marilyn Manson, Sum 41, Green Day, Korn, Blink-182 and Weezer among countless others, and has maintained his position at the top of the audio food chain for well over three decades.
We’re thrilled to have Tom on the podcast to talk shop, including how he got his start, what role his brother Chris has played in his career, how his process has evolved over time to incorporate both digital and analog, and many, many more lessons he’s learned over the course of his incredible career.
Needless to say, with so many years in the game, Tom has a wealth of knowledge to share and we’re barely scratching the surface here– we could have talked to him for literally days. That said, listening to this episode is the closest thing you’ll get to downloading Tom’s experience directly into your brain, so you definitely don’t want to miss this one!
“Generally speaking, a good song is a good song is a good song. I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career to have some great songs on my console. And all my job was to make them sound really good and exciting and to bring out the key things in the songs to make them even better.” – Tom Lord-Alge
ON THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:
2:49 – Why Tom got into recording and where his love for music came from
12:15 – How Tom deals with turnaround times and and getting needed feedback from his clients
18:26 – When he realized that there comes a point when you get diminishing returns on your work
20:21 – How Tom communicates with musicians despite not being a musician himself
26:05 – How Tom got his start in the studio even though he wasn’t always a mixer
32:30 – Getting into using MIDI in the studio
39:58 – Working on “Higher Love” with Steve Winwood
51:14 – The story of Tom’s first hit and how he transitioned into mixing
1:00:52 – How Tom’s relationship remained strong with his brother Chris over the years
1:04:54 – Tom’s go-to gear and the role it plays in his process
1:13:17 – Why recalls never sound exactly the same in the analog world
1:16:52 – Tom’s requirements for every session that’s sent to him
1:26:24 – The critical role of reference mixes in Tom’s process
1:29:21 – How Tom works with repeat clients, and how to bring something new to the table for them
1:31:02 – The answer to ear fatigue
1:35:17 – How Tom approaches mixing a live album
1:42:24 – The mistakes and distractions that hold people back from making audio a lifetime career (and how to avoid them)
Tom Lord Alge On The Internet:
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