Gareth Jones (music producer) facts for kids

Gareth Jones (born 1954) is an English music producer and engineer notable for working with Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire and Erasure.

Early life

Jones was born in Warrington, Lancashire. When he was young he played different instruments but became more interested in music technology. He owned a simple valve tape recorder and began experimenting with tape editing.

Career

Jones trained at the BBC and began working at Pathway Studios in North London. While at Pathway he recorded Madness' first single, "The Prince", in 1979 and mixed John Foxx's 1980 album Metamatic. When Foxx established his own London recording studio, The Garden, Jones began working there, and it was at this studio that he first worked with Depeche Mode, contributing to their 1983 album Construction Time Again, the first of three albums in a row that Jones would do with the band.

While working with a band in Vienna, the band's manager suggested Jones mix the recordings in West Germany, and took Jones to Hansa Tonstudio in West Berlin to do the mixing. The studio was the most high-tech Jones had worked in, and he decided to live in Berlin and freelance at Hansa. At the time, many English bands chose to record in Berlin as the exchange rate made it far less expensive than recording in London, and Jones worked with bands such as Fad Gadget and Wire at Hansa. At Hansa, Jones began experimenting with recording atmospheres. Bands would play their instruments through large amplifiers which were then recorded with microphones, creating a large arena-type sound. This sound would catch the attention of bands like Depeche Mode, who used this method on many recordings.

Gareth Jones was a pioneer in the use of digital equipment. He introduced sampling to many bands such as Depeche Mode and Einstürzende Neubauten. He began recording with new electronic instruments such as AMS digital delays and the Synclavier sampler synthesiser, which was brought in by Daniel Miller of Mute Records. In the mid 1990s he moved back to London and worked in famous studios such as Abbey Road and The Strongroom in London.

Jones collaborates with American composer/producer/Our Silent Canvas label owner Christopher Bono on Nous Alpha, who release new album A Walk in the Woods in 2021.

In May, 2021, Jones and Daniel Miller, recording as Sunroof, released their debut album Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 1.

Gear

Since 2005, Jones has used mostly software for his productions which keeps him more mobile for work. He has an outstanding knowledge of "Logic Audio" music production software.

Hardware gear that he has used on in the past include: Roland 100M Modular System, Akai S-3200 sampler, Waldorf PPG Wave 2.v, the GMedia/M-Tron Mellotron, multiple hardware effects racks, and Revox G36 2-track. Software apps that he has used include: Reaktor, Reason, VST plug-ins, Arboretum Hyperprism, Battery from Native Instruments, FM7, B4, Absynth, ReBirth, Time Designer from SonicWorx, TC Works Mercury-1 and BIAS Peak.

Notable work

Personal life

Jones is married and currently living in North London.