![]() So it's not just, ‘This is the way I want it to be, and bugger the band’, it would always be in conversation with everyone. And that doesn't necessarily mean that that I'm not listening to what everyone else is looking for I think I am very good at finding the collective idea of what a piece of music should be, internalising that, and then following that path. Once I've got an idea, I really do follow it to the ends of the earth to capture it. The very fact that I was there so much meant that I had a big influence on what was going on, and I'm very passionate about what I do. Then I would be left to make that stuff come together to fully realise those ideas, and often that would happen when I was actually working on my own. Often the guys would come in and do their thing, listen to what I'd been working on and tell me what they thought, and we'd sit and work on things together. So from the point of view that, there wasn't one thing that happened in the studio that I wasn't present for, so it meant that I had a pretty big influence on things. I got to do everything from programming, to engineering, and recording, playing, producing, writing, and even at times, some aspects of managing the band. I was pretty much the sole musical person in the setup. Massive Attack goes beyond just the music, there's something else going on, which I don't really know how to describe. So they're quite an unconventional band, and I don't even know if the term ‘band’ really suits them. I think Mushroom could play a little bit, but neither 3D or Grant can play an instrument. The guys are very talented, but they're not traditional musicians. How did their signature sound evolve, and how were you a part of shaping that? I've learned a lot of things over the years through trial and error and necessity, but I wouldn't call myself an engineer, I always prefer to get someone else to do that so that I can just focus on the music, the performance and on the emotion. This is funny because it's actually really so far from the truth – I am not an engineer, I really just make it up as I go along! I find out the information that I need, when I need it. I was introduced to people by their manager almost all of the time as, ‘This is Neil, Massive Attack's engineer’. Initially they called me their programmer, and then they called me their engineer. I think he saw me as an opportunity to fully grasp that side of his love of music. He wanted to pull in more of that post punk influence that greatly informed his young life, mixed with hip hop and other influences. That really suited his ambitions for Mezzanine, to follow a different path to the previous albums. We shared a lot of musical histories, we've been to many of the same gigs together, and we had a love for the same music. I got the phone call from their manager saying, ‘would I be up for helping out and finishing off the track – essentially co producing?’ I jumped at the chance! That was when 3D and I really bonded, which probably informed the decision for me to then go on and work with him on Mezzanine. They do a lot of scoring as well, and they were working on a track for the Batman Forever album with Massive Attack, with Tracey Thorn singing on it, and they just didn't have the time to finish project off. After they released Protection, their second album, they were working with a couple of guys in Bristol called The Insects. It was already kicking off for them when we met. You first worked with Massive Attack in the ‘90s, and notably you produced and co-wrote their seminal albums Mezzanine, 100th Window and Heligoland, helping to sculpt and define their critically acclaimed cinematic sound. ![]() He reflects on how he helped shape their sound over the years and the in-fighting that went on behind the scenes of their most commercially successful album, Mezzanine, including almost having Madonna featured as the vocalist on the iconic track, Teardrop. English record producer, songwriter, film score composer, musician, and occasional backing vocalist, Neil Davidge has worked with David Bowie, Snoop Dogg, Unkle, Damon Albarn, Elizabeth Fraser, Mos Def, has composed the soundtrack to the video game Halo 4, but he is perhaps best known as the long-term co-writer and producer for the music production outfit, Massive Attack.
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