Sean Slade

{{Short description|American record producer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Sean Slade | background = non_performing_personnel | image = | landscape = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1957|11|14}} | birth_place = [[Lansing, Michigan]], United States | origin = | death_date =  | death_place = | genre = [[Alternative rock]] | occupation = [[Audio engineering|Recording engineer]], record producer | instrument = | years_active = 1978-present | label = | website =  }} '''Sean Slade''' (born 14 November 1957) is an American [[record producer]], [[Audio engineering|engineer]], and [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixer]]. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with [[Paul Q. Kolderie]].

==Career==

Slade was born in [[Lansing, Michigan]], United States. He graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1978. Slade and Kolderie became friends at Yale, where they played in bands together. They both later relocated to [[Boston]], where they became members of [[Sex Execs]], a [[new wave music]] band of the early 1980s.<ref name="ConsequenceofSound">{{cite news |url=https://consequence.net/2016/07/how-bostons-fort-apache-studio-captured-the-sound-of-an-era/ |author=Bray, Ryan |title=How Boston's Fort Apache Studios Captured the Sound of an Era |work=Consequence of Sound |date=11 July 2016}}</ref> The duo had their formative experience as producers while they were in Sex Execs. Most of the group lived in a house in [[Dorchester, Boston]] that was wired up as a primitive studio. In a 2018 interview, Slade discussed how their career as producers got started at that house with a four-track reel-to-reel recorder they had bought in New York.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/brother-brother-brother/e/56451260 |author=Lewis, Wyndham | title=Episode 112: A Conversation with Sean Slade | work=Brother Brother Brother |date=27 September 2018}}</ref>

Other bands came over to record as well, including a local act called [[Three Colors (band)|Three Colors]], which featured saxophonist [[Dana Colley]], later of [[Morphine (band)|Morphine]]. As Sex Execs became more successful, they started recording in professional studios such as [[Syncro Sound]], which was owned by [[The Cars]]. As Kolderie recalled, they learned a lot from the engineers there.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://standing-room-only.info/article/joe-milliken/sro-interview-grammy-award-winning-producerengineer-paul-q-kolderie |author=Milliken, Joe |title=SRO Interview With Grammy Award-Winning Producer/Engineer Paul Q. Kolderie |work=Standing Room Only |date=21 August 2015 |archive-date=20 August 2019 |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820212020/http://standing-room-only.info/article/joe-milliken/sro-interview-grammy-award-winning-producerengineer-paul-q-kolderie |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1985, Slade and Kolderie co-founded [[Boston]]'s [[Fort Apache Studios]],<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sean-slade-mn0000314283 Sean Slade biography at AllMusic Guide]</ref> along with [[Jim Fitting]] (another friend from Yale and Sex Execs) and [[Joe Harvard]]. The studio originated in [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]], but later relocated to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. "We were all a part of that [[DIY]] kind of culture," said Slade. "The whole idea of getting someone in to design [the studio] wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was, 'Get a control room, get a playing room, get the wiring right, get a console, and then just start recording'."<ref name="ConsequenceofSound"/>

Slade remained active as a musician in the 1980s. He played rhythm guitar and occasionally sang and wrote songs for the Boston indie band [[Men & Volts]], which also included Kolderie.

Slade and Kolderie co-produced [[Radiohead]]'s debut album, ''[[Pablo Honey]]'', which was released 1993. They were pivotal in convincing [[EMI Records]] to release "[[Creep (Radiohead song)|Creep]]" as the band's debut [[Single (music)|single]] prior to the album's release. The song initially failed to achieve commercial success, but after the album release in early 1993, "Creep" was re-released and became a worldwide hit.

Slade has produced and/or mixed recordings by such artists as [[Hole (band)|Hole]], [[Warren Zevon]], [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], [[The Lemonheads]], [[Juliana Hatfield]], [[Morphine (band)|Morphine]], [[Big Dipper (band)|Big Dipper]], [[Dinosaur Jr.]], [[HumanKind]], [[Uncle Tupelo]], [[Tracy Bonham]], [[Spacehog]], [[the Mighty Mighty Bosstones]], [[Suddenly, Tammy!]], [[Lou Reed]], [[The Boo Radleys]], [[New Collisions]], [[Sebadoh]], [[Lush (band)|Lush]], [[the Go-Go's]], [[The Dictators]], [[Beth Sorrentino]], [[Weezer]], [[Kim Boekbinder]], [[The Dresden Dolls]], [[Echobelly]], [[Buffalo Tom]], and [[Papas Fritas]].

He co-produced (with Kolderie) Hole's ''[[Live Through This]]'', which went [[platinum]] within a year of its release and spawned four [[Single (music)|singles]].

Slade is an Associate Professor of Music Production and Engineering at the [[Berklee College of Music]].<ref>[https://college.berklee.edu/people/sean-slade Sean Slade faculty page at Berklee College website]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://soundcloud.com/bolt-records/a-pop-diary-sean-slade "A Pop Diary" (Podcast, 1 December 2009)]: Sean Slade, producer and engineer discusses how records are made * [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Sean+Slade Sean Slade Discography] at Discogs.com * [http://www.synmuse.com/sean-slade-lecture-2010.html Sean Slade lecture] to the student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society of [[Emerson College]], 23 April 2010 (attendee rough transcript)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, Sean}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Record producers from Michigan]] [[Category:Yale University alumni]] [[Category:American audio engineers]] [[Category:American rock guitarists]] [[Category:Boston University faculty]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Lansing, Michigan]]