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Youth
Youth's reputation as one of the most experienced and talented of the UK producers is well merited. From the majesty of the Verve's "Urban Hymns" a decade ago, to the stunning new David Gilmour/ The Orb collaboration, he continues to excite music lovers and deliver exceptional records for bands and labels alike.
2011 sees Youth continue to work on a huge array of projects. He has been dividing his time between his stunning Spanish studio and his favourite studio haunts in London (like State of The Ark) where he has been producing the eagerly awaited James McCartney album. His relationship with the McCartney family goes way back and James’s new record will go a long way to showing people his famous father is not the only uber talented musician in the family!
Youth has also recently made records with such luminaries as Mark Stewart (of Pop Group fame), written and produced songs for China’s most famous crooner Jackie Cheung, produced the new Echotape album and the latest single from Italy’s most celebrated techno/ rock outfit – Bloody Beetroot.
This year Youth has also been working with TV production company Pulse, creating a very special television program called Studio In Session, where the most highly respected UK producers are shown putting some of the hottest emerging talent and biggest headline acts, through their paces in the studio.
2010 was another exceptional year, with Youth working on artists of stunning statue, across all genres. A definite highlight for Youth this year has been producing a collaboration between The Orb and the legend that is Dave Gilmour. Called “Metallic Spheres”, it’s a beautiful sonic landscape of ambient synths, coupled with Dave’s classic and characteristic guitar playing. A very respectable chart entry at Number 12 in the UK National Album chart as well.
Youth has also been back on tour this year with the legendary Killing Joke after a new deal with Universal was signed and the resulting album “Absolute Dissent” was unleashed into the market place (entering at Number 4 on the rock chart week of release), an album which he produced earlier in the year. It showcases the band’s pioneering form of industrial rock as only Killing Joke can do it – huge walls of guitar with pounding drums and dark electronic components. Promo duties for the album were nicely rounded off by it winning Album Of The Year at the Metal Hammer Awards.
In 2010 Youth also produced the third album for Scottish songsmith’s The View, the last album for sadly deceased punk legend Polystyrene, produced tracks for Mercury’s Rachel Furner and co-wrote tracks with Decca signing and Chinese X Factor winning Mary Jess Leaverland, Australian blues rockers DeltaRigg and soul sensation Jay Picton.
2009 saw Youth again work on a wide variety of artist. He produced the debut album for Kirsty Almeida called “Pure Blue Green”, with it’s acoustic, jazzy overtones, and then also produced the new Charlatans LP “Who We Touch”, which has been universally hailed as a stunning return to form for the band and featuring the radio hit “My Foolish Pride”. He also produced the new Futureheads album “The Chaos” which gained a legion of new fans with the hit single “Heartbreak Song” a B list Radio 1 record. And last but not least that year he produced the beautiful “Hvelreki” for Belgium artist Ozark Henry.
2008 again saw Youth in huge demand and at peak creativity! A definite highpoint of the year was producing the Fireman album "Electric Arguments", a collaboration with the legend that is Sir Paul McCartney. The pair has collaborated before in the past on a more experimental tip, but this time around the album is packed with the sort of songs that McCartney has built his global reputation on. Tender ballads merge seamlessly with blues soaked, heartfelt melodies. Youth once again has brought a unique vision to Paul's song writing genius.
In 2008, Youth was also hard at work at his Spanish studio on Arno Carsten's solo album for Sony. Having made a name for himself as lead singer and writer of the hugely successful South African rock band Springbok Nude Girls, Arno's next record is a much more acoustic affair, but still showcases Arno's unique voice and song writing ability.
Also in 2008, Youth was drafted in by Primal Scream for the second time to work on singles for their latest release "Beautiful Future" and also produced new singles for The Grammatics and Atlantic's The Days.
Youth spent a considerable part of 2008 locked away in a studio with the original line‐up of the seminal Killing Joke. Due to popular demand, the band reformed and embarked on a worldwide tour that saw them pack out venues from Italy, to Japan and the States. The Killing Joke army came out in force to support them!
The latter part of 2008 saw Youth produce a new album by American rockers The Daylights who recently completed a tour in the States with Katy Perry. He finished 2008 producing the debut album for Screaming 66.
2007 was a hugely creative year for Youth. He finished the year producing an album for the hotly tipped girl trio The Like. Based out of LA and signed to Geffen, these girls write beautiful melodies and have a level of musicianship defying their young years.
Youth spent a good deal of time in his stunning Spanish studio in 2007. High in the Granadian mountains, on the edge of a nature reserve, it is a perfect place to be focused on creativity. This was discovered by The Futureheads when they went out there last autumn. The resulting album "This Is Not The World" that Youth produced, has reignited the army of Futureheads fans and first single "The Beginning Of The Twist" has marched straight onto the Radio 1 playlist working its way up to the A‐list and was also a Zane Lowe 'hottest record in the world!'.
The Delays also discovered the joys of working with Youth in Spain in 2007. "Everything’s The Rush" is a magical album, rich in texture and melody and seen the band gain fans all over the world. Another highlight for Youth in 2007 was producing The Infadels for Wall Of Sound. Recorded late summer in London's Premises studio, it shows the band in fine form. The stunning singles from the album, "Make Mistakes" and "Free Things For Poor People" were all play listed at Radio 1.
Youth also managed to find time in 2007 to concentrate on his writing skills during the first few months of the year by writing, producing and recording a new album for Transmission, and working with long time collaborator Alex Patterson on a new Orb LP.
In 2007, Youth produced the new album from one of rock's greatest innovators and ultimate tastemakers, The Cult. Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury reunited to create what has already been called the definitive Cult record.
2006 was another hugely prolific and successful year for Youth. The latest Embrace album "This New Day" reached Number 1 on the UK Album Chart and went on to sell platinum in the first two weeks alone! The band's first single, the sublime "Nature's Law", was a monster radio record and with their last single "World At Your Feet" (also Produced by Youth) being chosen as the official Football World Cup Theme, entered the chart at Number 3.
In 2006, Youth added yet another string to his bow by writing and producing the soundtrack to the new UK film Freebird, a quirky and hilarious story of two old bikers on one last search for adventure in Wales. "Think Easy Rider" meets "Withnail and I..." He also found the time to write, play and produce two very exciting music collaborations under the monikers of Transmission and Vertical Smile.
A highlight of 2005 was producing the new Primal Scream record "Riot City Blues" that went straight into the National Album Chart at Number 5. The 14 songs that were recorded at Olympic and the band's own studio, heralded the dawn of another love affair with the mighty 'Scream. The first single "Country Girl" was the band's highest single release ever when it charted at Number 3.
Also in 2005, Youth produced the debut album from Cord. Their first commercial release for Island Records, the stunningly beautiful "Winter", was a Record of The Week on Radio 1.
In May 2005, Youth produced the debut EP for Blackbud, the prodigiously talented blues influenced youngsters from Bath for Independiente.
2004 was also a fantastic year for Youth. Highlights include producing the debut album, "Mother" from Kubb. Hailed as one of the greatest new British songwriters, the singles "Grow" and "Remain" were both big radio records and the album went on to achieve multi-platinum sales.
In 2004, Youth also finished producing Embrace's (Independiente) UK Number 1 "Out of Nothing" LP which included the huge radio hits "Ashes" and "Gravity".
In 2003, Youth produced the Howie Day album for Sony US which has now sold more than a million copies in the States.
Youth is also in demand as a writer. He co‐wrote the last Embrace LP, and over the last few years has had highly successful writing sessions with The Ordinary Boys, Towers of London, including their last single "Air Guitar" Client and most recently Tricky. Previously he has written with artists including EMI's Anouk, Dido as well as WEA Australia's Missy Higgins. The latter's debut went to Number 1 on its Australian release.
In 2003, he produced Keith Flint's debut album for Polydor and an album by major US act String Cheese Incident. He also produced Minty Style's debut album and Phantom Planet tracks for Sony US.
And last but by no means least.... Youth is probably best known as the producer of The Verve’s seven million selling 'Urban Hymns'. The album was the pinnacle of success for the band and was hailed in its time, as one of the defining rock albums of the decade. It's still holds a special place in many people's hearts and continually tops 'best ever album' charts the world over.
Youth's production credit are simply too numerous to mention, but other hugely successful projects that he has been involved in was collaborating with Dido in 1999 and producing the track "Don't Think Of Me" off her multimillion selling album "No Angel". He also producing the multi‐platinum selling album for Crowded House entitled "Together Alone" in 1993 and worked with stunning Beth Orton producing the "Best Bit" EP.
BIOGRAPHY
In 1978 Youth co-founded and played bass for Killing Joke, an influential Art-Punk band. Killing Joke has been heralded as the band with birthed aggressive rock music, with public tributes from many of the greats, including Nirvana, Metallica, and Nine Inch Nails. The band experimented with a fusion of tribal rhythms; dub bass-lines & disco beats, with malicious, savage guitar noise.
Killing Joke also became known, and were celebrated in underground culture, for their use of black humour to expose the hypocrisies in politics and society.
Leaving the band in 1982, Youth concentrated on solo projects. These included The Empty Quarter and Brilliant with Jimi Cauty, as well as playing bass, his primal passion, on Kate Bush’s "Hounds Of Love". In 1986 he teamed up with the Killing Joke drum roadie, Dr Alex Paterson, to form a partnership, which would evolve into The Orb. During a brief period of collaboration, Youth produced and co-wrote on their first two albums, including "Little Fluffy Clouds", one of the band’s most famous releases. The Orb was celebrated for brining ambient music to the mainstream by adding a variety of samples and rhythmic beats to create a new danceable music genre.
Dance music has always been one of Youth’s passions: after working with artist Yazz, De La Soul, Fine Young Cannibals, James, Blue Pearl and Transglobal Underground, Youth went on to establish his own recording studio, Butterfly in Brixton, London and the first dedicated to trance label Dragonfly Records in 1991.
Dragonfly Records is still one of the most respected and long-standing trance labels. Dragonfly has expanded to include 2 sister labels, Liquid Sound Design and Kamaflage, and is now breaking new ground in Japan and the USA.
Youth rejoined Killing Joke in 1992 to produce two internationally successful albums. He then went on to collaborate with fellow band founder Jaz Coleman, writing and producing symphonic versions of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin classics, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1998 Youth Collaborated with his friend Paul McCartney on The Fireman, creating two ambient-trance albums, Strawberries, Oceans, Ships & Forests, and then Rushes. This was followed in 2000 by the Grammy Award nominated Liverpool Sound Collage album, of which Paul McCartney wrote "Pete Blake asked me to create a sound collage about Liverpool. I complied sounds and made the basic collage. I asked Cian Ciaran of the Super Furry Animals to mix something from it, which he kindly did, and my mate Youth used his talents to ad a final touch."
In his 2002 biography of Paul McCartney, Ian Peel devotes a substantial amount of the book to these avant-guard collaborations, he states that the inspiration received from working together "makes Youth McCartney most important collaborator in this area since John Lennon".
Widely recognised as a Super-Producer, Youth’s most notorious recent triumph was the production of The Verve album, Urban Hymns, which topped the UK album chart, containing a number 1 single and 2 top 10 hits, including anthemic single, Bittersweet Symphony. The album won the UK's 1998 BRIT Award for Best Album, while Youth himself won the Producer of the year award, after being nominated three times.
Ciaran Scott.
Discography
| Title | Artist | Label | Credit |
| Forthcoming LP | Maximillian Hecker | TBC | Produced |
| Forthcoming LP | Killing Joke | Spinefarm/Universal | Wrote/Produced |
| Forthcoming LP | James Macartney | TBC | Produced |
| Bread And Circuses | The View | Sony | Produced |
| Metallic Spheres | The Orb/David Gilmour | Columbia | Wrote/Produced |
| Purple Blue Green | Kirsty Almeida | Decca | Produced |
| Generation Indigo | Poly Styrene | Future Noise | Produced |
| Absolute Dissent | Killing Joke | Spinefarm/Universal | Wrote/Produced |
| Who We Touch | The Charlatans | Cooking Vinyl | Produced |
| The Chaos | The Futureheads | Nul Records | Produced |
| Hvelreki | Ozark Henry | EMI | Produced |
| Wonderful Wild | Arno Carstens | Sony | Produced |
| Switching On X | Fake | Coma Red | Produced |
| Electric Arguments | Fireman | MPL/One Little Indian | Produced |
| Riot City Blues | Primal Scream | Sony BMG | Produced |
| Universe In Reverse | Infadels | Wall Of Sound | Produced |
| Zombie | Primal Scream | B Unique | Produced |
| This Is Not The World | The Futureheads | Nul Records | Produced |
| Forthcoming LP | The Like | Geffen | Produced |
| Everything The Rush | Delays | Fiction/Universal | Produced |
| Born Into This | The Cult | Roadrunner | Produced |
| This New Day | Embrace | Independiente | Produced/Co Wrote |
| These Things Move In Threes | Mumm-Ra | Sony BMG | Produced |
| Freebird | Soundtrack | TBC | Produced/Wrote |
| Sea Of Trouble | Cord | Universal/Island | |
| Are You Listening | Delores o'Riordan | Sanctuary | Produced |
| Mother | Kubb | Mercury/Universal | |
| Out Of Nothing | Embrace | Independiente | |
| Stop All The World Now | Howie Day | Sony (US) | Produced |
| Forthcoming LP | Karma 45 | Warners | Produced |
| Mobscene | Marilyn Manson | Interscope | Addtional Production/Remix |
| Don't Think Of Me | Dido | BMG | Produced |
| The Fireman | The Fireman | Hydra | Wrote/Produced |
| Urban Hymns | The Verve | Hut | Produced |
| Bittersweet Symphony | The Verve | Hut | Produced |
| Lucky Man | The Verve | Hut | Produced |
| Sonnet | The Verve | Hut | Produced |
| Good Will Out | Embrace | Hut | Produced/Mixed |
| Come Back To What You Know | Embrace | Hut | Produced |
| Higher Sights | Embrace | Hut | Produced |
| All You Good People | Embrace | Hut | Produced |
| Night And Day | U2 | Island | Remix |
| Best Bit | Beth Orton | Heavenly | Produced |
| HMS Fable | Shack | London | Produced |
| Heartbeat | Blackbud | Independiente | |
| TBC | Missy Higgins | Virgin | Co Wrote |
| Come What May | The Music | Virgin | Produced |
| Set Adrift A Memory Of Bliss | PM Dawn | Island | Additional Production/Mixed |
| A Girl Like You | Edwyn Collins | ||
| Seven | James | Mercury | Produced |
| Oyster | Heather Nova | V2 | Produced |
| Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld | The Orb | Island | Co Produced/Wrote |
| She Sells Sanctuary | The Cult | Beggars Banquet | Additional Production/Mixed |
| Naked In The Rain | Blue Pearl | Malarky | Produced/Co Wrote |
| Vitamin | Sugarcubes | One Little Indian | 12' Remix |
| Blue Pearl | Blue Pearl | Big Life | Produced |
| Art Of Noise | Art Of Noise | China | Produced/Remixed |
| Together Alone | Crowded House | EMI | Produced |
| Drums Are Dangerous | The Drum Club | Instinct | Produced |
| Oyster | Heather Nova | Big Life | Produced |
| Siren | Heather Nova | Sony | Produced |
▶ Embrace | Gravity