Andrew Dawson (record producer)

Last updated

Andrew Dawson
Born (1980-03-12) March 12, 1980 (age 45)
Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
  • Piano
  • guitar
Website http://soundeq.com/

Andrew Dawson (born March 12, 1980) is an American music producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter based in Maryvale, Arizona. Dawson is a three-time Grammy award winner and six-time Grammy nominee, having won for his work as engineer and mixer on Kanye West's Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) – each winning the Best Rap Album category. [1] [2] Dawson is also credited with additional production on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy . [3] Although Dawson made his initial breakthrough with hip hop artists including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Common, Tyler The Creator, and P.O.S, Dawson has also moved on to produce and work on records for pop, indie and rock bands including fun., The Rolling Stones, Pet Shop Boys, Sleigh Bells, Baskery and Night Terrors of 1927.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Life and career

Personal life

Dawson began playing piano at the age of five, studying jazz and classical piano at a private music conservatory until the age of 16. During the last few years of high school, Dawson interned at a Minneapolis recording studio and during the summers did live sound mixing for outdoor concerts. [4] Dawson then attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where he majored in Music Production & Engineering. While living in the Boston area Dawson worked at Lexicon - a company famous for manufacturing digital reverb units including the 480L. [5] In 2001 Dawson moved to New York City, where he worked as an assistant then later became a staff engineer at Sony Music Studios. [4] [5] [6] Dawson prefers to work on projects that have meaning, due to his passion for music, and work with artists who are equally as passionate about their records. [7]

Work with Kanye West

In 2003, midway through the recording and producer sessions for Kanye West's The College Dropout , Dawson was called to try for the position of Kanye West's engineer. The rap artist and producer Kanye West had gone through a string of seven engineers, all of whom were fired. [8] Dawson was able to impress the rap star and maintained his position. Since then Dawson has worked as Kanye West's primary audio and mixing engineer. In a period spanning almost 9 years, Dawson has been directly involved in all five Kanye West studio album releases, totaling in sales of over 11 million records [9] [10] [11] and four #1 US albums. [12]


Studio

The majority of fun.'s chart topping album Some Nights , including #1 single "We Are Young" was recorded at SoundEQ Studios. [13] Dawson has hosted co-writing sessions with artists and writers including Andy Grammer, Hudson Taylor, Baby E, Zack Waters, K.Flay, Michelle Branch, Kimbra, and Jimmy Harry.

Discography

ArtistYearAlbum Producer Engineer Mixer Co-writer
Code Orange 2020 Underneath Yes check.svg [14]
Teyana Taylor 2018 K.T.S.E. Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Baskery Coyote & SirensYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
Mike Shinoda Post Traumatic Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Pusha T Daytona Yes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
Linkin Park 2017 One More Light Yes check.svg
Childish Gambino 2013 Because the Internet Yes check.svg
Night Terrors of 1927 Guilty PleasYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
Tyler, The Creator Wolf Yes check.svg
Kanye West Yeezus Yes check.svg
Phlo Finister Poster Girl EPYes check.svgYes check.svg
Sleigh Bells Bitter RivalsYes check.svg
The Rolling Stones 2012 GRRR! Yes check.svg
Kanye West Cruel SummerYes check.svg
Pet Shop Boys ElysiumYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
VersaEmerge Another AtmosphereYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
POP ETC POP ETCYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
P.O.S.We Don't Even Live HereYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
fun. Some Nights Yes check.svg
Beyoncé 2011 4 Yes check.svg
Kanye West, Jay-Z Watch the Throne Yes check.svg
Big Sean Finally Famous Yes check.svg
Snoop Dogg Doggumentary Yes check.svg
Chamillionaire "When Ya On" singleYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg
T.I. 2010 No Mercy Yes check.svg
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy *co-P
Yes check.svg
Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Rick Ross Teflon Don Yes check.svg
Various ArtistsJust Dance Vol. 3Yes check.svg
Common Go! - Common ClassicsYes check.svg
Mr. Hudson Straight No Chaser Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Thirty Seconds to Mars 2009 This Is War Yes check.svg
Mary J. Blige Stronger with Each Tear Yes check.svg
Kid Cudi Man on the Moon: The End of Day Yes check.svg
Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 Yes check.svg
N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo Yes check.svg
Kanye West 2008 808s & Heartbreak Yes check.svgYes check.svg
T-Pain Thr33 Ringz Yes check.svg
T.I. Paper Trail Yes check.svg
Kanye West feat. Chris Martin "Homecoming" singleYes check.svgYes check.svg
Lil Wayne The Carter III Yes check.svg
Kanye West 2007 Graduation *Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Chrisette Michele I Am Yes check.svg
Ne-Yo Because of You Yes check.svg
Consequence Don't Quit Your Day Job! Yes check.svgYes check.svg
John Legend Once Again Yes check.svg
UGK 2006 Underground Kingz Yes check.svg
Common Finding Forever Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Jay-Z Kingdom Come Yes check.svg
Nas Hip Hop Is Dead Yes check.svg
The Game Doctor's Advocate Yes check.svg
Monica The Makings of Me Yes check.svg
The Notorious B.I.G. 2005 Duets: The Final Chapter Yes check.svg
Paul Wall The People's Champ Yes check.svg
Kanye West Late Registration *Yes check.svgYes check.svg
Common Be Yes check.svg
John Legend 2004 Get Lifted Yes check.svg
Destiny's Child Destiny Fulfilled Yes check.svg
Maria Mena White Turns Blue Yes check.svg
Kanye West The College Dropout Yes check.svg

References

  1. Kanye West: Past Grammy wins
  2. Berklee College of Music: Alumni Shine in Hip Hop Hits
  3. AllMusic My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantast Credits
  4. 1 2 An Interview with Grammy Award–Winning Mixer/Engineer/Producer Andrew Dawson Archived June 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Andrew Dawson: Interview
  6. ".: Kanye West's Sound Engineer Andrew Dawson Interview with L.A. Times". December 28, 2010.
  7. "Andrew Dawson: Mixing Projects With Meaning". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  8. Producer's Corner: Andrew Dawson
  9. "Chart Watch Extra: The Top 20 New Acts Of The 2000s - Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  10. Nabavian, Evan (February 24, 2010). "Kanye West Returns With 'Coldest Winter' Video". Billboard.com.
  11. Jacobs, Allen (February 22, 2012). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 2/19/2012". HipHop DX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  12. Peak chart positions for albums in the United States:
  13. Interview: Andrew Dawson
  14. "Underneath - Code Orange | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .