Five Questions With… Tony Cousins

Five Questions With… Tony Cousins

Tony Cousins became a cutting engineer in 1980 at the Townhouse before becoming a fully-fledged audio mastering engineer when he, Ian Cooper and Tim Young started Metropolis Mastering. Since then, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Adele, David Sylvian, Steve Winwood, Elton John, Carla Bruni, Amadou & Mariam, Amr Diab, Tom Odell and Foxes all have one thing in common… Tony’s worked with them all!

1. What’s been your favourite release you’ve worked on in 2016 so far & why?

Tough one… probably Rumer singing Bacharach & David catalogue. Brilliant songs done with great attention to detail and mood, she inhabits them. But there are several others I also enjoyed mastering – Inconscientes by the Basque guitarist Iñaki Antón, for example.

2. What are your top three releases you’ve worked on in your career so far and why?

Ha! That’s impossible to answer… As a project probably the Peter Gabriel remastering and his other releases. All the work is considered, usually with sufficient time to make further adjustments as required.

3. How can an artist / band best prepare their tracks for mastering?

By having a good idea of what they are trying to achieve and being able to either illustrate it or discuss it.

4. What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring mastering engineer?

Don’t be straightjacketed, listen to as great a variety of music as possible… and wash regularly.

5. What artists should we be looking out for in 2017?

Keep an eye out for Jacob Collier and Eivind Aarset. Both incredible artists.

Metropolis Studios invites you to try our unattended Mixing & Mastering services with a special discount offer for a limited time only. Utilising our offer you can book Tony Cousins to master your next project at an unbeatable price. If you place any iMixing orders before the end of the year, you will automatically be entered into our prize draw. Announced in the New Year, you could win a half day studio session with one of our engineers here at Metropolis!