John Leckie

At XpoNorth, a music industry event in the Scottish Highlands, John Leckie talks to musicians starting out, and first corrects the impression left by his best-known credits. Alongside the famous British records he has made African and Indian records and a good deal of electronic music, and the variety is what keeps the job fresh.

Asked what mistakes bands make on a first visit to a studio, he answers at once that they are not rehearsed enough. Songs turn up without an intro, or without an ending, because nobody has decided. His rule of thumb is to arrive about 80 per cent rehearsed, which leaves room for something to happen; at 50 per cent a band ends up writing in an expensive room.

The second mistake is equipment. Amplifiers that hum and guitars that are not set up properly and will not stay in tune can burn a day and a great deal of goodwill.

He refuses the idea of the producer as dictator, while noting that somebody has to call time, because a record has a budget and a Friday at six o'clock, and the job includes steering towards it.