Spotlight On: Adele Phillips – Producer, Red Ivory

One of the additional benefits of ReBalance 2024 is the increased number of talented folk working on each project. Being able to provide our artists with their five days of studio time is wonderful, but being able to pair them with each carefully chosen producer, assistant, engineer and studio has been a real joy.

Adele Phillips (she/her) is a South London based producer and engineer whose work can be heard across a number of increasingly renowned projects. Adele regularly freelances across multiple studios, predominately as an engineer/assistant. Adele was the sole producer on Red Ivory’s forthcoming project.

Notable credits so far include: Grian Chatten’s ‘Chaos of the Fly’ (engineer), Sailor Honeymoon’s self-titled debut EP (engineer), Royel Otis LP ‘Pratts and Pain’ (additional engineering), Celeste’s ‘There Will Come A Day’ (engineer) and Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’ (assistant engineer). We caught up with Adele over email to hear more about her time with Red Ivory, her best advice, and why you should probably be right on time…

Hi Adele, thanks for taking part in ReBalance this year, was a pleasure seeing you work with Red Ivory and hearing the results of your time together. Can you tell us a little about why you took the project on?

I was invited along to the ReBalance showcase in March with a friend, and Red Ivory really interested me. They were the only full band to perform that night, and definitely did not shy away from that. The ReBalance programme is a really supportive and necessary initiative, it was a pleasure to be part of.

You’ve worked with a number of different artists in your time as an engineer and assistant, at various studios. Are there any commonalities you’ve noticed when starting a new session – or does each artist approach recording differently?

Everyone has a slightly different approach depending on their experience. People work at different speeds. Most people are also really keen to get going, so the faster you get to trying out ideas, the more energy you get from them.

How do you adapt the way you work to each new project? Do you find it’s best to let the artist lead, or for the engineer/producer to take control and guide the session?

It always depends on the people. With Red Ivory, we spent two days on pre-production, due to a few things: me getting to know the songs, all of us getting to know each other, and the band coming to the studio for the first time.

Red Ivory were well rehearsed and definitely knew where they wanted their songs to go. Any changes we made during pre-prod were a collective effort. And the band rehearsed them further before the recording session. They definitely made the most of their time in the studio.

How do you balance the creative direction of a project with any technical requirements?

It’s something I’m still working on. Coming from an engineer background I tend to get caught up in the technical aspects. But as a producer you sometimes have to ignore a technical problem if it’s getting in the way of the big picture, which is the band and the song. Luckily, during the Red Ivory session I had Katie Forman, from Strongroom, assisting me. Her knowledge of Studio 1 is unbeatable and really helped me switch off from getting caught up in a technical issue.

Do you have any current favourite production tools or techniques?

Currently trying to get into the habit of using Auto-Align for drums.

Are there any producers you look up to?

Definitely. I’m very lucky to play in a band with two producers, Dan Carey and Benjamin Romans Hopcraft. Ben recently self-produced Warmduscher’s latest album. And I’m often in the studio engineering for Dan, I’m always trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible.

Thinking back to your time at Strongroom, how was it working with Red Ivory? Are there any key moments that stand out for you?

It was an absolute pleasure working with Red Ivory. Strongroom always has such a cozy and welcoming atmosphere, it’s the best place for new bands. A key moment for me was definitely showing them Studio 1 for the first time. Also having them all scream together in the live room (which you can see a clip of on this reel – editor). They were so curious about everything in the room.

What’s been your biggest lesson over the last few years? And what advice would you give anyone starting out in engineering/production?

Probably that no one’s career path is directly upwards. I’m always jumping between assisting, engineering and producing. It takes much longer than you originally expect. But there’s always more to learn, no matter what position you’re in. My advice: learn to read the room.

Any key pointers you were given when starting out that helped?

Being early is just as annoying as being late.

Any words on ReBalance or your time being part of the programme?

ReBalance is a great initiative, and more companies should be investing in new/developing artists.

Lastly, any favourite tracks you’d like people to listen to right now – either that you’ve worked on or just in general?

Moreish Idols’ track ‘Slouch’ (I did a very small bit of additional engineering on it). And just in general, anything by Tiberius B.

You can find more from Adele via her Instagram, and be sure to listen to her band too, find them at this link.