Q – I'm not a huge fan of 'Easy Pieces' so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the Langer & Winstanley mixes of 'That Boy' and 'Fool You Are' on 'Ashtrays'. Your booklet notes suggest that their hiring was a record company decision or recommendation. If money and time was no object, who would you still like to work with as a producer?
A – I was surprised that I liked them better now than I did at the time, for sure… There are only a few people I'd really like to work with. Back when I was younger I'd listen to records I liked and those were the producers I'd want to work with. That isn't always smart. We almost worked with Booker T because I had the 'bright' idea – I'm sure it would have been a disaster. If I had the budget I'd like I'd make most of my records with Chris Hughes and I wouldn't want anyone but Mick Glossop to mix them. I may have that budget, or most of it, for my next album. Keep buying from my shop and I will! I love the sound T-Bone Burnett gets for the Gillian Welch albums, especially the really minimalist tracks like My Morphine – he's the only guy out there these days I'd like to have a try with. If I ever make another Negatives album I'd like to persuade Adam Schlessinger to make the whole thing – on the last one he only worked on a couple of tunes. And you can't rule out Eno and Lanois, except I think I'm past wanting to make my own Oh, Mercy, and I'm not sure if producing Coldplay is something one can be forgiven for… Bob Ezrin is still worth consideration if you can afford him, but the one time we met him – in Canada in the mid 80's – he's just finished working with Twisted Sister – that ended the conversation pretty quickly!
Maybe I'll add to this later if I have any more bright ideas. Feel free to remind me of the obvious folk I'm forgetting.