Mixmaster of Townshend, Daltrey and Co.

Paul Ramsay is on board with The Who

 

Heilbronn/Germany, June 11, 2007 - - For a guy who started out by mixing bands in cramped English pubs, Paul Ramsay has certainly worked his way up the rock-and-roll ladder. Today, he mans the front of house mix for The Who - a job that not only involves overseeing the live sonic blend, but feeds to various internet streams, multi-track recordings and DVD sountracks. It's akin to juggling six balls at once - Ramsay, 34, approaches the task with as much aplomb as Roger Daltrey twirling his trademark, duct-taped SM58, and he learned the ropes using Shure mics, right from the start.

 

"I started out doing local gigs; college gigs, my friend's bands in pubs, humping gear around for not much money - until I went into touring and rigging," says Ramsay. "My first sort of biggish band was Skunk Anansie; big over in England. I had a Shure endorsement with them back in 1996 - so I've used Shure mics always. I remember watching Live Aid and seeing Shure mics!"

 

Ramsay started to follow in his father's footsteps, by taking drum lessons at age 8, and then discovered the world of sound engineering by age 12.l Trying his hand as a studio engineer at 15, he found it to be a sterile environment and began begging sound companies for a job. To this day, Paul Ramsay has never had a 9-to-5 job, and now he mixes for one of rock's legendary bands.

 

"Yeah, I guess you never thought that would happen, would you?" Ramsay asks rhetorically. "It's a dream, really. When you step back and look at it, it really is unbelievable."

 

As for Daltrey's legendary microphone technique, Ramsay insists that the taped up SM58 is still very set in stone when it comes to a Who performance.

 

"I've heard stories about Roger smacking the mic on the floor, over and over, and picking it up - and it still works," recalls Ramsay. "He sells the old 58s for charity; mics with a little bit of stubbly cable cut off, and we raise thousands of pounds. That's the good thing: None of them get thrown away."

 

Ramsay is currently on tour mixing for The Who's European tour.

 


Release 16