Ben Hillier - Engineer And Producer
From People & Music Industry by Sound On Sound
April 17, 2026 · 1h 14m
About this episode
Music producer Ben Hillier shares his journey and insights from his extensive career in the recording industry.
Music producer Ben Hillier reflects on his journey from orchestral percussionist to studio producer, from assisting on recordings to working with Elbow, Blur, Depeche Mode and Nadine Shah, sharing insights on feel, creativity and making records from his distinctive straw-built studio. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 02:36 - The Studio Design 03:56 - Recording Orchestras 08:51 - From College to Assisting 16:03 - Being A Good Engineer 20:08 - Recording Elbow 28:40 - Working With Blur 35:19 - Encouraging Creativity 40:35 - Engineering Depeche Mode 43:36 - Getting Feel Into Electronic Music 50:12 - Collaborating With Nadine Shah 57:46 - Being A Good Producer 59:20 - Creating A Good Studio Environment 1:01:13 - Choosing Which Projects To Work On 1:07:34 - Preferred Tools And Workflows Ben Hillier Biog Ben Hillier has been working in the recording industry for nearly 40 years. He spent the 90’s engineering and programming for various producers including Steve Osborne, Steven Street, Gil Norton and Nelly Hooper around London and internationally. In the 2000’s he moved into production making albums with bands like Elbow, Doves, Blur and three albums with Depeche Mode. In 2010’s he also…
People in this episode
Guest: Ben Hillier
Topics covered
- music production
- studio design
- recording techniques
- creativity in music
- collaboration
- engineering
Keywords
- Ben Hillier
- music producer
- recording
- studio
- Elbow
- Blur
- Depeche Mode
- Nadine Shah
- creativity
- engineering
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Elbow, Blur, Depeche Mode, The Pool Studios, Miloco
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