Interview With Richard Dowling of Wav Mastering

Music
05 Sep 14

Their state-of-the-art Limerick studio has made Wav Mastering the go-to place for dozens of top Irish and international acts. Owner Richard Dowling talks to Stuart Clark about the new facility, and his remarkable career making everyone from Villagers and Foo Fighters to Jape and his beloved Suede sound their best.

The first thing that comes out of the mouths of everyone who walks into the room is ‘wow!’ They can’t believe a facility of this calibre exists in Ireland.” Richard Dowling is talking about the new Wav Mastering Studio in Limerick, a state of the art facility, which is the culmination of the 27 years he’s spent working in the industry on both sides of the Irish Sea.
“The thing that counts most in this business is experience,” Richard resumes. “After graduating from what is now the Limerick Institute of Technology in 1986, I got a job at PRT studio in London where I was fortunate enough to work with the likes of Bill Wyman, The Waterboys, Motörhead and Paul McCartney. PRT was then bought out by Pete Waterman, which introduced me to the likes of Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller. When you’re in that sort of company, you can’t help but learn and develop techniques that you incorporate into your own set-up.”
In addition to his own expertise, Richard brought Nick Whitaker, a vastly experienced English acoustician who’s worked for the likes of Munro Associates and Recording Architecture, over for three site visits.
“We spent six months on the build, making sure that everything is top-of-the-line. The new room is totally purpose-built with floating concrete floors, the best in acoustic treatments, a customised desk, room for clients to sit-down and observe the process if they want... you won’t find better in LA or London.”
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The list of acts Richard has mastered is staggering with Armand Van Helden, Carl Cox, Ben Folds Five, 2 Unlimited, Eurythmics, Groove Armada, Foo Fighters, Crass, Emma Bunton, Steps, Will Young, Sia, S Club 7, Orbital, Matchbox 20, Jools Holland, David Bowie and Danger Mouse all on a CV that’s constantly expanding and, since his 2006 return to Ireland, includes a wealth of Irish talent.
“My recent stuff includes Dott, Foxjaw,Hermitage Green, In Their Thousands, Leading Armies, Princess, Jerry Fish, Nadine Coyle, Moscow Metro, Raglans, Eskies, Rubberbandits, Windings, SOAK, and an act from Moscow that Tommy McLaughlin from Villagers sent my way.” he reveals. “I master pretty much all the stuff that gets mixed or recorded in his Attica studio in Letterkenny. I’ve done a classical album for Lyric FM, and yesterday mastered the first track from Pigtown Fling, a massive Limerick City of Culture project led by Noel Hogan from the Cranberries. I’ve a Christmas album on Friday, so it couldn’t be any more varied.”
The internet means that there are no frontiers in terms of the artists Richard works with. “The international online side of things keeps growing. I literally don’t know what’s going to land in my inbox next. Often I’ll get an email from an act saying, ‘I really like the sound of that record you mastered; can you do ours?’ It’s totally opened things up and means I can master artists from all over the world.”
Mastering is the process that comes after recording and mixing, giving a song the extra oomph that makes it sound great on the radio, a club PA or blasting through your headphones or speakers.
“It’s the last vital link in the recording chain and is an often under estimated art,” Richard nods. “I call myself a traditional mastering engineering because I just use two computers as if they were tape machines – no plug-ins, no software. All my kit is state-of-the-art hardware. I respect the mix. I’m enhancing the music, not changing it. I’ve got to the point where I hear something and instinctively know what’s going to make it sound great on iTunes or the radio. Once again, it’s all down to experience.”
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Richard often finds himself taking on a mentoring role with Irish acts who are still coming to terms with the vagaries of the music industry.
“I encourage them to join IMRO, team them with producers and engineers that I think will suit their music and generally give them advice and honest feedback,” he explains. “A band came to me last week who hadn’t been treated very well doing a demo, so I said, ‘Next time, come back to me and I’ll tell you where to go.’”
It’s essential, Richard says, to be on the same page sonically as the artists he’s working with.
“Often I’ll ask them for a reference – ‘Who do you think your music is similar to? What genre do you feel you belong within?’ You try to ensure that their expectations are realistic. You’re probably not going to sound exactly like the Foo Fighters if you didn’t use a hundred grand studio. We run through what they’re looking for and then give them the masters for approval. If they’re not happy with them, we make changes. “It’s worth saying that a lot of acts know exactly what they want and are able to articulate it in a very professional manner.
”Amidst all the Wav Mastering Studio hi-techery is a glorious reminder of what’s come before. “I’ve a Neumann VU meter taken from the lathe where they cut the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The Bollocks,” Richard enthuses. “I wanted something from the past and you don’t get much better than the Pistols!”
There’s more rock ‘n’ roll history in the Wav reception area where Richard proudly has on display the gold discs he received for editing and compiling the first two Suede albums, amongst others. “Unusual for the mastering stage, I also did the flanging/phasing effects on some of the tracks,” he concludes. “To be in on the start of something as special as Suede was a real privilege.”