Greg Wells tell us a little about Mika ?

[Jam]

I might be putting two and two together and getting five here, but a mate pointed me in the direction of a new artist called Mika and the name Greg Wells came up.

So I wondered if that was "our" Greg Wells. Anyway I liked the music and wondered if you wanted to fill in the details or deny your involvement ?

Jam

[Greg Wells]

Just saw this - I spent most of the last 6 months producing the new Mika record, which will see a Feb. release.

Mika is a great artist and record maker... don't know where to begin. You can hear 3 tracks :

www.myspace.com/mikamyspace

[noiseflaw]

Just visited.........yeah I get this guy - he is gonna break through pretty well I'd say - great stuff, good quirky, danceable pop with humour, nice.

[Mind-Over-Midi]

Just listened to "Grace Kelly" and "Billy Brown" I instantly found this big smile spreading over my face. I was a big fan of Queen and this takes me back. Good stuff though I don't think George Bush will be buying.

[nathanvacha]

Greg, is it your place in the orchestral shot on his myspace?

[Faderjockey]

I may be weird...But I thought Grace Kelly had this Freddy Mercury meets Scritti Politti vocal vibe...

[Greg Wells]

Originally Posted by nathanvacha

Greg, is it your place in the orchestral shot on his myspace?

I wish - that's Capitol Studio B.

I just set up a silly little myspace.com page for my studio at:

www.myspace.com/rocketcarouselstudio

[andymixer]

Ah, Greg, I think you are the first guy on gearsluts I have worked on the same record as. Let's hope Jesse McCartney sells big this week!!! Cheers.

[Jam]

Thanks Greg

I heard the Mika Stuff from a friend a while back and loved it. This was just an unsubtle way of drawing attention to it.

Jam

[Greg Wells]

Mika is not so subtle - I appreciate you mentioning it!
G

[mika]

awww man... guess I'll have to change my name now

[mika]

really liked the music though

[True North]

Originally Posted by Greg Wells

I just set up a silly little myspace.com page for my studio at:

www.myspace.com/rocketcarouselstudio

Nice shot of your rack, you have some serious issues..... welcome

[Greg Wells]

a little birdy told me the BBC is going to name Mika the artist of the year for 2007... and his record's not even out yet. i can't wait for people to hear the whole thing.

here's the sophie muller directed video for "grace kelly":

http://exodus.interoutemediaservices...elivery=stream

[Sqye]

hey, congrats.

[Greg Wells]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6230415.stm

[Jam]

Word on the grapevine is that Mika will be the face of one of the big fashion houses this year as well. Lets hope a big year for Mika equals a big year for Greg as well.

Jam

[Greg Wells]

Originally Posted by Jam

Word on the grapevine is that Mika will be the face of one of the big fashion houses this year as well. Lets hope a big year for Mika equals a big year for Greg as well.

Jam

Thank you... and free man-purses for all Gearslutz! Seriously, whoever nabs Mika as the face of their house of fashion is lucky to have him. His mom and sisters have been making their own amazing clothes for years... his mom has a small boutique clothing line. His family is rather amazing.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by Greg Wells

a little birdy told me the BBC is going to name Mika the artist of the year for 2007... and his record's not even out yet. i can't wait for people to hear the whole thing.

here's the sophie muller directed video for "grace kelly":

http://exodus.interoutemediaservices...elivery=stream

Wow...I mean WOW do I love that song. How did I miss this the first time around? It is very Queen like but not as a direct rip just as an influence.

Great work Greg! I am blown away. Any ETA on the whole product?

[not_so_new]

On 2nd listen...












I still love it...



Also I get a little "Billy Squire" out of it as well and I mean that in the most positive of ways. Very very cool.

[Greg Wells]

Originally Posted by not_so_new

Also I get a little "Billy Squire" out of it as well and I mean that in the most positive of ways. Very very cool.

I know what you mean. Thanks for the kind words!

The record is released in early Feb., and MTV starts airing the "Grace Kelly" video in a few weeks.

[Blast9]

Heard it on the radio the other day... Shades of... Where do I start?

Itchycoo Park, Killer Queen, touches of Elton. Sounds very authentic!

LOL That line "So I try to be Freddie"

[JFK Chopper]

The track sounds amazing Greg. Do you mind if I ask:

1) how the whole project came about.

2) What was your Production/recording process. i.e. Did you play everything yourself, or did you cut it with band.

Thanks for hanging out at Gearslutz.

JFK

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by JFK Chopper

Thanks for hanging out at Gearslutz.

JFK

I 2nd that!

[Greg Wells]

Originally Posted by JFK Chopper

The track sounds amazing Greg. Do you mind if I ask:

1) how the whole project came about.

2) What was your Production/recording process. i.e. Did you play everything yourself, or did you cut it with band.

Thanks for hanging out at Gearslutz.

JFK

Mika was in with Trevor Horn and it didn't work out.. not sure why. Mika had been put with other people before that as well, usually in co-writing situations, to see if there was a producer/artist click. Thankfully for me, he never found the right person. Tommy Mottola is the one who put me up for the project... he basically convinced everyone that I had to produce it, despite other well known producers getting competitive and saying bad things about me... one of these people was my "friend". That was a bit yucky, but all's well that ends well.

Mika and I spent a total of 6 months on the record, and then Tommy and Mika insisted that I mix, even though I didn't want to (I wanted Spike Stent but he was producing Maroon 5 and couldn't give us a start date to mix).

We used a lot of different musicians on the record - Jerry Hey and his horn section (played and arranged horns on all the Quincy Jones produced records), Paul Buckmaster arranging/conducting strings, Matt Chamberlain on drums, Tim Pierce and Lyle Workman on guitars, Dan Rothchild on bass, trumpet monster Lee Thornburg, a gospel choir on two songs, and programmer synth genius Fabien Waltmann.

The single "Grace Kelly" is mostly me being the band, with Lyle Workman and I sharing the electric guitars. That was the first song we recorded, and the purse strings hadn't been fully opened at that point. We had somewhat limited time and money and had to create a masterpiece in a few days.... no pressure or anything! I think that's why I wound up being most of the band on that track, to keep momentum and save time/money. The same thing happened on the 2 song we did, titled "Lollipop". Once the light fully turned green and we got a proper budget in place, I started hiring more outside musicians and Matt Chamberlain spent a week with us, with other musicians coming in and out. Sometimes if I know I'm the guy for a track, I'll play the part, and I love producing other players and getting the best out of them. To me, it's whatever serves the song and the record the best.... and it doesn't matter who does it, as long as it sounds right.

Mika himself was so full of great ideas that I insisted he share production credit with me. He is a veritable volcano of talent and inspiration. Having Joe Chiccarelli record everything was also nothing short of a blessing.

[krid]

Greg what did you use for mixing ?

Did you use the Portico 5043 and 5042 on the mix bus ?


I really like the single "Grace Kelly", great song

[abit]

[JFK Chopper]

Thank-you Greg. Very informative.

I am really looking forward to hearing the record.

BTW, How did you mix was it ITB, or on a desk? Any specifics would be great.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

J.

[Greg Wells]

I mixed it on my Neve 5114 slightly modded console, and in addition to using 8 channels of Portico compression on individual tracks (lead vox, kick, snare, bass, piano, backing vocals), the 5042 tape box and a sixth 5043 compressor never left the mix buss.

[mcballs]

Originally Posted by Greg Wells

I mixed it on my Neve 5114 slightly modded console, and in addition to using 8 channels of Portico compression on individual tracks (lead vox, kick, snare, bass, piano, backing vocals), the 5042 tape box and a sixth 5043 compressor never left the mix buss.

Man, you are really loving those Protico compressors... I've got to try them out. And the 5033's.