Vancouver BC, Canadian three time Grammy award winning producer David Bottrill recently wrapped up work remixing RUSH’s Vapor Trails album.
Known for working across several genres, Bottrill travels to various studios to work with an impressive list of artists including Peter Gabriel, Godsmack, Kid Rock, Mudvayne, Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria and Silverchair.
He is particularly enjoying the up and coming bands who seek his talents and mentorship. “I think young bands are now more entrepreneurial. They understand better the state of the industry and what it takes to be successful. They work hard and are much more switched on with regards to social media and building a fanbase.”
Bottrill credits his nine year tenure working in Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio with his ability to work in so many genres and achieve such consistent success. This ability also translates into his comfort settling into studios all over the world and getting to the business of producing.
Bottrill’s arsenal of gear includes a Radial JD7, JDV, a couple of Tonebone pedals and, most recently, the new Cherry Picker and Gold Digger.
His current project is with the American post-hardcore band Chiodos. Working at Applehead and Dreamland studios in Woodstock NY, Bottrill brought along his new Gold Digger (studio mic selector) and Cherry Picker (mic preamp selector) products built to increase efficiency in the studio.
“We used both the Cherry Picker and Gold Digger to select mics and preamps and it was so easy to use,” Bottrill explains. “Our choices were the M251, my M7s and a C37A. Preamps were a Neve 33115, API 512 and a Boutique model from Applehead.
“We went with the C37A into a Neve, but we wanted to keep a few options open and quick switching between 3 different mics, so we left the Gold Digger in line so we could easily and quickly switch between mics for different performances.
“We even added a 58 for screaming through the Gold Digger and it has sped up our workflow without having to switch inputs and mic pre’s each time we wanted to change performance areas. Today alone, we did two lead vocals through the C37A and chants as well as multiple scream sections through the 58. Great units, and of course sound transparent and clean.”
