Dave Mattacks

Dave Mattacks' ("DM") professional career started in the UK with big bands before joining the influential folk-rock group "Fairport Convention", freelancing extensively throughout his tenure with the band. In March 2000, Dave left the UK and moved to Boston, MA where he continues to enjoy a full career in Music, spanning live and studio work, both as a Musician and Producer.

DM's discography includes 5 CD's with Paul McCartney and various CD's / tours with - among many others - Elton John, George Harrison , Jimmy Page, Everything But The Girl, Mary Chapin Carpenter , Richard Thompson , XTC , Jethro Tull , Joan Armatrading , Brian Eno , George Martin, Susan Tedeschi , Nick Drake and Loudon Wainwright.

DM's early career began as an Apprentice Piano Tuner then he worked at London's "Drum City" Music Shop under Johnnie Richardson. His first professional engagement was with a provincial "Mecca" Big Band which spanned a 3 year period; it included residencies in Belfast, Glasgow and London. During this time, he played with a variety of Jazz groups throughout the UK which provided the foundation for his continuing affection for the artform.

It was in Autumn of '69, DM joined "Fairport Convention": recording seven LP's with the group (including "Liege & Lief" ) and extensively touring the UK, US, Europe, Antipodes and Japan. He left Fairport in '74 to focus on his freelance career (See "Recording Credits" / "Film work"/ "Tours" etc., ) but re-joined in late '85.

DM successfully combined "Fairport's" schedule with his freelance commitments for 12 years; however he left, finally, in March of '98 and moved to the US in early 2000.

Recording "Mock Tudor"
Some of you may have seen a recent edition of the U.S. "Modern Drummer" magazine that contained an article entitled "Inside Track" ; the subject centering around the recording I did in Nov '98 for Richard Thompsons' wonderful "Mock Tudor" . I thought it may be of interest if I elaborated with notes on each song.

An overview: I used two sets for the recording - set up side-by-side - tuning & mic'ing techniques were quite different for each and with the agreement of the producers - Tom Rothrock & Rob Schnapf both great engineers too - I chose one or the other depending on what I thought pertinent for each song. I also "mixed and matched" snare drums and cymbals accordingly. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had only a small selection of my 'Zildjian' cymbals with me so I'm indebted to Ross Garfield of Los Angeles' " Drum Doctors " for supplying a whole bunch of stuff very close my requirements.