From Brutal Truth to Neurosis, from Acid King to Buzzov'en, from Crisis to Eyehategod, from Jawbreaker to Mr. Bungle and The Melvins, Billy Anderson has produced 'em all. The man is responsible for some of the most emblematic extreme releases in history, and here at Deaf Sparrow I've been meaning to get his story ever since this birdie was conceived. Recently, he was kind enough to donate a few minutes from his busy schedule to us. Read on and spread the word!

- First of all congratulations, I was just going through my collection and realized I own at least fifteen records produced by you. Really, thinking about it I wouldn’t think there is one underground metal fan in the planet without at least one record produced by you. You got some classics in your discography; Brutal Truth, Neurosis, Melvins, Jawbreaker, Eyehategod, Sleep and the list goes on. So my first question would be, do you choose who you work with or do bands approach you first and then you make a decision?

It depends. Some of both. When I first started out, I would go to a lot of shows and sorta pimp myself to bands I liked. That’s how I got a lot of work then. After a while, word-of-mouth became the way I got most of my work, bands who liked my work would seek me out. I have luckily never had to work with much stuff that I don’t like. I feel very lucky for that fact.

- Musicians usually get inspired after a great performance; how was it for you? I mean were you once listening to a particular record and went; 'holy shit, I want to hole myself up for 50 hours in a studio until I can get these sounds out of these bands'?

Haha! Well, something like that. I was inspired to start recording because I was a musician first and we tried to record and the guy doing it just didn’t get it, so I said ‘I could do this’ and that was my first inspiration. After that, yeah, I’m inspired always by a great performance. In the studio, it’s always a challenge to know how to get a good performance from somebody.

- Have you ever said NO to a band? And if so, what would be a reason why you would choose not to work with someone? Are you open to all styles?

I’m definitely open to all styles. I have done all kinds of music; from reggae to hip hop to you name it. I have said no before to people, because of various reasons. But the bottom line is that if I don’t feel it, I won’t get into recording it and there will be somebody better for the job.

- I know you are also a guitarist with Blessing the Hogs; but what came first; production or playing in bands? Were you schooled? And how do you think that being an actual musician influences/improves your stand as a producer?

I played in bands first. I started playing piano when I was 4-1/2 years old, then drums then guitar at age 14. I started a couple of punk bands and that’s how I started engineering. I got a 4 track recorder and when my band went to record, I figured I could do it, so I did it. I did go to recording school briefly, I learned some stuff there. But I learned more in a week working in a real studio than I did in 6 months of recording school. I’m definitely a musician first just because I always have been. I think it’s important to be a musician as a producer because it’s really difficult to tell somebody what to play or make suggestions without being able to explain or maybe show them what you’re talking about. I can’t imagine being a producer who doesn’t play.

- There are different ways to see the work of a producer; and apparently the role of such has changed with time. Some bands see a producer as someone who would guide the recording sessions, mixing and mastering and also guide the performers to an optimal point. It seems to me that many bands have different ideas of what role should the producer play. How do you see the role of a producer?

For me, the role of producer changes from project to project and varies. I basically approach it like this: I will be the role the band at the time needs for the project. In other words, if they just need me to engineer and say ‘sounds great’ and ‘try it again’, stuff like that, then I will take that role. But I will also assume the role of co-arranger, additional musician and sometimes drill sergeant. It just depends on what is needed of me at the time.

- There are many great records infested with shitty songs. What happens when you are producing a record and you think; ‘this song is shit’. Do you ever confront bands because you consider some of their material to be subpar? I mean it’s gotta be hard to be totally sincere.

Well, that’s a hard one. Thankfully, bands I work with tend NOT to write shitty songs. I try to keep my opinions pretty neutral. But if it happens, I try to tactfully suggest things that may make the song better, then the band can take it from there.

- Your site’s discography cites Sleep’s Vol 1 and Buzzov’en’s To A Frown as the first records you produced, which one was first? How did you get the chance?

I actually don’t remember what exactly was the first stuff I produced, but it was around that period for sure. I think the Sleep record was before Buzzov'en. I was working in a studio in San Francisco called Razor's Edge. There were a lot of bands in and out of there, I had been engineering for 3 or 4 years. I had done some stuff for a label called Very Small, some singles and stuff, and the owner came to me and said ‘I'd like you to do this band called Sleep, they’re really good’ and he gave me a tape. I liked it, and we went to Razor's Edge and did it in about 4 days, something like that. Before that, I had been working first as an assistant engineer, then as an engineer, I had done a couple albums and singles, etc before that. I started there at Razor's Edge in 1988 and left in 1992 during the Melvins’ Houdini sessions.

- Brutal Truth’s Kill Trend Suicide and Songs of the Animal Kingdom are bonafide classics. What can you tell us about the recording of these ones?

Well, Kill Trend Suicide was a nightmare. It's one record that I’m not very fond of, just because it was such a struggle to make and it didn’t come out as good as I wish it did. The label basically gave like 1,000 dollars to make the whole thing, me included, so we had to be in this crappy studio that wasn’t even finished yet.. I was literally up under the patchbay soldering shit to get it working. It sucked. We had to do it in like 3 days. Sounds of the Animal Kingdom was different. By then the label felt they should invest more in the band and we had a nice studio and a good amount of time. Both times I went to New York and hung out with those dudes, I stayed with Kevin Sharp. He’s a maniac. Fun times.

- What about Core’s Revival? I remember this trio was on a major label which was kind of rare for a band like this, it just seemed so out of place. Was the label looking for a new Monster Magnet?

That was a great record to be involved in. They signed to Atlantic right around the time when majors were looking for 'grunge' bands and shit like that. I don’t think the label was looking for Monster Magnet (even though they’re from the same town...) but more like something that would fit into the Stone Temple Pilot/ Soundgarden kinda scene. That seems silly to me because Core was nothing like either of those bands. I took the record because I heard some demos and loved the heaviness. I remember Finn was still in high school and his parents made him wait to graduate before signing the contract. They had been playing together since they were kids. I went to New Jersey and did some pre-production, then we went to Warren, Rhode Island to a studio there. I had worked there mixing Sick of it All's Scratch the Surface album and loved it. A tiny little town with a world class recording studio. We were locked in there for a couple weeks. It was great. After we got the basic tracks in 5 days or so, basically Finn and I proceeded to layer it up with guitars and vocals. Almost everything I could think to do he liked and did very well. I remember being impressed with his talent at such a young age.

 -The Melvins’ Houdini is one of my favorite records, what can you tell us about this particular sessions?

Another interesting story..That album was started at Razor's Edge with a few of the songs, Kurt Cobain was there producing with the band. Some shit happened with the owner there and the band decided not to work at that studio anymore.. That was right at the time I decided not to work there anymore. I was doing live sound for them at the time, so after the sessions there, we went on the road for a short tour. One song was recorded on the road at a studio in Seattle. Some other things happened on the road (can’t really get into it) but let’s just say that upon returning from that trip, Buzz took a 'vacation' and Lori quit the band. After a month or so, we resumed recording at Brilliant Studios in San Francisco. I actually got to play bass on a couple of the newer tracks and by now I was the full on engineer of the project. GGGGarth Richardson was brought in to produce a couple tracks and we all went in together to mix it. Definitely an interesting experience.

- Neurosis, you worked with those guys twice (Enemy of the Sun & Through Silver in Blood). I remember seeing them live in a shitty place in Missouri and after the show was over I had the most massive headache of my life because the show was so intense. How were these recording experiences?

Very intense. Enemy of the Sun was done pretty quickly because of budget concerns, so there were many late night and long sessions. Definitely you can hear the intensity and struggle on that album, kind of a do or die situation. Through Silver in Blood was even more intense, for different reasons. I had gone on the road with them, etc, and become good friends with them. At the time we went in the studio to do it, there was some intense and tragic stuff going on with some members. I think it was a really deep and intense time for all of us. I still get chills when I listen to that album.

- Which record are you particularly proud of?

Amongst others, I’ really proud of the Mr. Bungle albums because we spent so long on them (9 months on Disco Volante and 5 on California) and they both became really demanding and difficult and demanded the utmost concentration and stamina. Basically, I’m proud of most everything I’ve done, some of the above mentioned albums for the reasons I mentioned. It’ not easy making a record; getting the ideas of the band together in a studio and through the mics and cables onto tape. I feel that any album that comes out is deserving of some amount of pride.

- What would you recommend to someone looking to get into record production?

Don’t do it. No, seriously, I would say just work hard, be willing to put in the extra effort and hours getting to know the bands and how they work internally and best. It’s the hardest part. The equipment is just equipment, but working with multiple humans can require great amounts of patience and time.

- I understand you’ve spend a few months in Argentina, how was living in South America? How is the Argentinian hard music scene?

I lived in Argentina for 9 months. It was really intense in many different ways. I mostly had a great time. I realized how much we take for granted here in the states.. Nothing there is convenient. It’s a lot of work to do anything there, and there’s really no money to be made, most people are poor. But they are generally happy, which made me ask myself ‘what do i have to complain about in the U.S?’. I had been there a few times to record with Los Natas, who are still my favorite band there. I actually started a band there called Solodolor with Sergio from Los Natas and a few other dudes. The scene there is pretty cool. Fans are way more appreciative of music there I think. Any show is worth going to for the people there, just because its a show. There are a lot of good bands there, some of my favorites are Los Natas, Milica, Taura, El Otro Yo and Agente Naranja.

- What's next in your plate?

I’m in the middle of mixing and recording a lot of stuff right now…like 7 albums. I built a mixing studio in my house, so I take a lot of mixing gigs now in addition to recording at various places. I’m mixing a band from San Francisco called Saros, they are amazing. Just finished an album for Grey (killer doom band from Seattle) Ill be doing the next Cattle Decapitation album in August.

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