Julian Kindred on Nashville, his Hybrid Studio Setup, and oeksound Plugins

Multi Grammy-winning producer, engineer and songwriter Julian Kindred – who’s made records with a broad and varied range of artists for nearly three decades – speaks to Headliner about the hybrid setup in his UK-based studio, and the interesting ways he uses oeksound plugins throughout his workflow...

The few months that followed the first UK lockdown in the spring of 2020 was – needless to say – a particularly grim period of time for creatives, especially those working in music. Luckily for Kindred however, the drought caused by the initial cancellation and postponement of projects was superseded by an influx of work, and he has remained extremely busy since.

“There are a few exciting projects I’ve been involved with recently in both a production and mixing capacity,” he tells Headliner. “Some really inventive, creative and experimental stuff that’s, gratefully, just been a joy to be a part of.”

Heavily inspired by the likes of The Police, The Smiths, Talk Talk and Tears For Fears, Kindred caught the recording and production bug around the age of 16. Peter Gabriel’s music had a massive impact on the young Kindred, as – like Kindred himself – Gabriel’s producer Daniel Lanois was also a Canadian.

In the early ‘90s, Kindred was presented with an opportunity to go to Nashville, where he ended up working at a studio that created demos for publishing houses, recording many of the city’s legendary session musicians. He’d spend any free moments gatecrashing his colleagues’ sessions in neighbouring studios around Music Row.

“It was an incredible environment to be in,” he recalls. “Everybody was competitive, but also very supportive, and it all contributed to a healthy, nurturing and thriving community.”

Back in the UK, where he has resided for the best part of two decades, Kindred carries out his musical duties from his own Nonsuch Park Studio, a facility that he has lovingly created at the end of his garden.

“It has a mix room and a reasonably sized vaulted live room with a ‘65 Ludwig Super Classic in there,” he reveals. “It’s a really lively space, but one that I can control very easily in terms of making a dead drum sound or live drum sound.

“It’s completely hybrid, because I wanted to make the setup as flexible as possible so I can handle specific requests,” he continues. “I have situations where things are completely in the box, but because I’m also tracking my live room, I have 16 inputs going into the computer via Pro Tools HDX with a pretty healthy and recognisable complement of high quality front end gear, such as Neve, Focusrite and Amek.”

And when it comes to plugins, there are two particular offerings from Finnish company oeksound – soothe and spiff – that Kindred admits wishing had existed much earlier in his career.

“The thing a lot of people are typically using soothe for – which is so beneficial – is just the easing down of really sudden, spiking frequencies; putting it directly on vocals, vocal parallel returns, and sometimes drums,” he explains. “The reality is that it’s also an extremely creative tool; I’ve done some pretty interesting things, like overdoing it and using it as an effect. It’s a very good substitute for things like low pass envelope filters, and automated tricks against loops/vocals etc.

“I think there’s always some exploration that can be done within a track. Sometimes I’ll let go of any mix template and surprise myself, and soothe and spiff are both very, very good at throwing surprises your way if you’re open to how they can be used. They’re very future-driven plugins, producing very progressive possibilities. Despite that, I do encourage people to develop their craft without relying on them, just through pure engineering and tactical miking. Then when either are used, whether by necessity or creative impulse, you really discover what they are capable of.

“Spiff and soothe are examples of a new kind of sonic weaponry. You can do things to the upper punch or the body of the kick drum, or you can make the actual low frequency roundness thump harder,” he adds. “These and so many more uses are powerful, whether you’re applying to taste or using them drastically.”

That being said, Headliner is not surprised to learn that every one of Kindred’s mixes from the last four years include some application of soothe or spiff...

“There are some exciting things going on here in the studio at the moment. I’m also currently working on some of my own music,” he lets on. “There’ll be lots more stuff coming to light in the near future.”

You can listen to the full interview with Julian via the Headliner Radio podcast here: