Originating from Long Island in New York, two-time Grammy-nominated mixer and engineer and producer Daniel Malsch has enjoyed – and continues to relish – an illustrious lap under the rock and hard metal scene. Self-taught and well-chiselled in his work behind the sound desk, the Queens native rhapsodised his relationship with music, romanticising his trade as his sole passion, the only thing he’s ever known.
In between being his own harshest critic and deepening his knowledge in music as a highly motivated individual, he recalled with a nostalgic chuckle how much of an impact his older brothers had on him during his formative years. With them being part of a band, he admitted that he looked up to them and that they were the greatest driving force which spurred him forward. Their influence and the matrix of growing up in a musical space conspired to set in motion what would be a lifelong quest as a soundsmith.
“My brothers were in a band, so I always kind of looked up to them till it became something I wanted to do. I’ve been surrounded by music my whole life and with the band I was in, Wicked Maraya, we got a chance to record in this really great studio with the producer Jim Morris and I got the bug,” he said.
As a mixer and producer, he primarily credited his success and longevity to his communication skills and being able to keep in step with his clientele and their briefs. Malsch touched on how integral the understanding of the nuts and bolts of the job is, such as arrangement, but that it’s an aspect that should be nursed without neglecting interpersonal interactions. Having observed pitfalls in the careers of others due to the lack of this skill, he hinted that translating the language of the heart to coherent art depended not merely on knowing what to do with the music but on what to do to realise what the client initially visualised.
“As a producer, the most important thing is understanding that honing your craft is learning how to deal with the people you work with more than anything. I mean arrangement is really critical and so is picking good songs and knowing your way around the studio. Those things, though, are a given no matter what. But being able to deal with clients and communicating properly matters most – things like making artists feel comfortable in the studio and just being there for them to give them whatever they need. That’s the reason I’ve been able to do this for so long. It’s being able to work things out with clients in the studio until there’s a finished product they can be proud of,” he said.
An ever-learning master in his field, he listed four instruments as his go-to picks, with the guitar being his childhood sweetheart. Just as an experienced chef could upend ingredients and methods of cooking to conjure a fine dish, he provided a slim keyhole as to how he worked with his choice vessels of sound.
“Well, yeah, the guitar is definitely one of my favourite instruments, and drums, piano, and vocals, even though vocals are not really an instrument. If you listen to my mixes, there’s always a lot of impact in the drums, and I concentrate on them a lot to inject some power into a song,” he said.
Speaking on industry greats who have been of great influence on his craft, Malsch wasn’t particular, indicating that, throughout the years, he has been inspired by different mixers, engineers, producers, and songwriters.
“As a mixer, since that’s what I mainly do besides producing, it would probably be Andy Wallace because I’ve been an admirer of his work since I was a 16-year-old kid. As far as producers go, I think Bob Rock was really good in the 90s and Daniel Lanois. When it comes to instrumentalists, I was a big Eddie Van Halen fan back in the day, but I’m into songwriters more than anything else. Tears For Fears is one of the big bands I liked back in the 80s and 90s, but now I listen to a lot of country. It’s hard to pinpoint a favourite, so I’ll just go back to my pick as a mixer: Andy Wallace,” he said.
Owing to him being a selfless merchant of intelligence extruded from decades spent in the business, Malsch has built an enviable rep as a producer’s producer. As a founder and owner of Soundmine Recording Academy, he has lent a helping hand in launching the careers of a plethora of producers, engineers, and mixers. The old Biblical proverb is proven true in this case: that the one who guards a fig tree eventually ends up eating its fruit. He spoke about the thorn that caused him to get up and establish the academy.
“It all goes back to this being the only job I’ve ever had fresh out of high school. I would work with bands and had a little recording studio in the basement. I had a lot of interns; different producers and engineers would approach me and ask me for a job or advice. And there were a lot of things I felt they were missing. For example, people went to certain schools, but when I spoke to them, I’d be surprised at just how much they didn’t know considering how much money they were spending on those classes and schools. Their knowledge was very much lacking. So I opened my own and basically taught them how I went about my sessions and mixes and working with clients,” he said.
A self-styled chameleon when it comes to blending in with whatever colours his clients assumed, Dan professed to possess an eclectic palette, taste gleaned from the diversity the cosmos of music had to offer. He alluded to it being an attribute that has been vital to his stay at the summit of the industry.
“It’s difficult to stay on top of every genre. I think what’s most important, as a person who loves a wide range of music, is to listen to other styles of music. So even though I’m known as a hard metal guy, I also listen to pop, hip-hop, and country,” he said.
One of his most treasured records as a producer was working on Framing Hanley’s “You Stupid Girl”. The song served as the alternative rock band’s lead single from their sophomore album A Promise to Burn (2010). The Nashville band’s track peaked at number 35 on the US Active Rock chart.
“That was one of the first songs that really put me on the map. The arrangement was great, and so was the band. We got to spend four months in the studio and perfect what we were doing. Everything about the song was good; the chorus, the verses, and the singer delivered an incredible performance. It was one of the biggest turning points for me as a producer,” he said.
Watch “You Stupid Girl”:
