Mick Lister - Songwriter and Producer
Tuesday 30th January 2007
Mick Lister has penned tracks for Holly Vallance, S Club, Bad Company and several Pop Idol acts. He is currently ensconced in his most exciting project yet, recording the winner of the Channel 4 show Chancers, and his mic of choice is the sE Gemini…
Mick Lister has playing in bands since he was ten, enjoying a long spell of success as a member and co writer of The Truth who had several UK hits and who also scored well in America with a Top 40 hit and a Hollywood movie score.
After leaving life on the road behind, Mick became a songwriter and producer…
"We split up in about 1990," he remembers. "I didn't want to do the live thing anymore as we'd done so many American tours, so I spent a year out writing with unsigned bands and getting into production. I got signed to a publisher called Strong Songs under the Telstar umbrella writing for pop and rock, different genres…"
Mick then worked with a production company called DK in Denmark and Sweden and wrote songs for all sorts of pop acts. "The great thing was that I didn't have to produce it, just write it," he says. "I did the first single for a Pop Idol finalist Rosie Ribbons, called Blink which was a top 10 and also wrote a top 10 hit for another Pop Idol band called Fixed."
As well as song writing, Mick also produces and works with Steve Chrisanthou who produced a lot of the recent and hugely successful Corinne Bailey Rae material. It was Steve who introduced Mick to his number one mic, the sE Gemini…
"He co wrote and produced Put Your Records On and used the Gemini on all her vocals," Mick reveals. "Obviously hearing the sound of that I was so impressed by the mic with its warmth and clarity. I just had to have one and it was so reasonably priced as well."
Mick's also taken delivery of another hit sE product, the Reflexion Filter…
"It is absolutely fantastic," he says. "My studio is in my loft and Steve's is in a basement below an art shop so the Reflexion Filter is great for us, just such a great invention that just does what it says on the tin. It's fantastic, just deadens the sound and there's no reflection - it's just brilliant to work with."
Both sE products are being used to the full with Mick and Steve's latest and most exciting project yet…
"We are working with an artist called Katie Shotter who was the winner of the Channel 4 program, Chancers," says Mick. "Eight urban kids were taken over to Mathew Knowles stable (Beyonce's dad) and he gave them all the best coaching and handpicked the winner (Katie) who got a deal with Sony. We are three tracks through her album at the moment. I'm also going over to America in a couple of weeks to work with Mathew Knowles' producers because they've gone mad over one track that we've written and think will be the first single."
"With Katie's voice, the thing about the Gemini is that it's brilliant for a subtle vocal like hers. Obviously with the Corinne Bailey Rae stuff it sounds fantastic and with Katie the detail is amazing on it."
As if his work with Katie is not enough, Mick is currently developing other bands with help from the sE gear, of course!
"There's a band called Go Audio who I've just got signed to Sony, and there's a great band called The Volts, a typical classic rock format like a mix between Cream and Free. They've just done a production deal with Hugh Padgem and are doing an album with him. I'm also working with a band called Kick Superb from South Wales and I'm developing them."
So, watch out for these bands and remember: you heard about them here first!
