Gareth Jones (music producer)

Background

Jones was born in Warrington, Lancashire. He is married and currently living in North London. When he was young he played different instruments but became more interested in music technology. He owned a simple valve tape recorder and began experimenting with tape editing. He later trained at the BBC and began working in recording studios, such as "Pathway" in the early 1980s. At "Pathway" he recorded and mixed John Foxx's Metamatic album in 1980 and the first Madness single, "The Prince", in 1979. While working with a band in Vienna the band's manager suggested Jones mix the recordings in Germany. He did the mixing at Hansa Studio in Berlin. The studio was the most high tech he had worked in. He decided to live in Berlin and began working with lots of bands at Hansa. Many English bands began recording in Berlin as the exchange rate made it cheaper. At Hansa, Jones began experimenting with recording atmospheres. Bands would play their instruments through large amplifiers which were then recorded with microphones creating a large arena type sound. This sound would catch the attention of bands like Depeche Mode who used this method on many recordings.

Gareth Jones was a pioneer in the use of digital equipment. He introduced sampling to many bands such as Depeche Mode and Einstürzende Neubauten. He began recording with new electronic instruments such as AMS digital delays and the Synclavier sampler synthesiser, which was brought in by Daniel Miller of Mute Records. In the mid 1990s he moved back to London and worked in famous studios such as Abbey Road and The Strongroom in London.

Jones uses mostly software these days which keeps him more mobile for work. He has an outstanding knowledge of "Logic Audio" music production software.