There are a
lot of producers
out there that go
in, “It’s my way
or the highway”
kind of thing, and
they finish up with
it being more of
the producer’s
record than it
is the artist’s.
photography and the record producer is
the director. [The producer is] there to pull
the performances out of the artists. They’re
there to help with the arrangements. The
producer can be a shrink, he can be a dictator, he can be your BFF. He has to be a
million different things. But ultimately, the
way I look at my gig, it’s to get the best
performance out of the artist in the way the
artist wants it put across. There are a lot of
producers out there that go in, “It’s my way
or the highway” kind of thing, and they finish up with it being more of the producer’s
record than it is the artist’s.
Ken Scott sports a managerial look, circa 1983. Photo courtesy of Ken Scott
Do you go into a project with an end in
mind? Do you know what it will sound
like before you even start?
To a point. Not wholly. I don’t like to do
too much pre-production. I’ve found that
if you go in with a set idea of how something has to be, something can change in
the studio. You do the song fractionally
faster or the sound is slightly different
from when you were in pre-production,
and a guitar part suddenly won’t work.
If you’re fixated on that guitar part or
whatever it is, you’re going to waste a
lot of time trying to get back exactly
what you had in pre-production—and it
might never work. So as long as the basic
arrangement is there going into the studio,
that’s it for me. I have a certain idea of
what it’s going to be like … it’s probably
50/50. I know 50 percent of what we’re
heading for, but leave the other 50 percent
up for grabs once we’re in the studio.
Was that the same when you were
working with the Dixie Dregs? Steve
Morse composed all the parts in
advance, did he not?
Yeah, it was the same with the Dregs. The
first time I ever met them was in pre-
production. I walk in and they play their
first song, one called “Take It off the Top,”
and I stopped them in the middle and
immediately laid into the drummer [Rod
Morgenstein]. [Laughs.] He was just over-
playing so much, it was a constant battle
between him and everyone else. Steve was
trying to get as many notes in as possible,
the bass player was trying to get as many
notes in as possible, and Rod was trying
to get as many hits in as possible. We took
small sections of the song, and I just had
him pare it way down. He hated me. It’s a
great story between us, because he absolute-
ly detested me at that point because I was
stopping him from showing off. But once
he heard it starting to come together in the
studio, more as the song as opposed to their
individual pieces, then he suddenly realized
what I was getting at. He re-thought all of
his drum parts. He now says that thanks to
what I did that day, he still has a career.
