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SXSW Scene: Daniel Lanois
“I’m keeping my answers short because I’m losing my voice and I have to play at 8 tonight,” superproducer and musician Daniel Lanois said during a brief chat at the Austin Convention Center Friday afternoon.
Wearing a zipped up black leather jacket to ward off the 90-degree chill, the midwife to albums by everyone from U2 to Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan joked he was “just trying to get some rest” while in town this week to promote his album and film, “Her is What Is,” a documentary that he says celebrates the “beauty of creation” and offers a window into the creative process.
Long celebrated — and sometimes mocked — for creating works exuding mood and atmosphere, Lanois laughed at the idea of his lighting incense and burning candles in the studio to create a vibe. His secret is much simpler, he said: “I just associate myself with people who deliver.”
Being on the same wavelength with artists is a result of having “four philosophical discussions” with bands before the process starts, he said, and he’s begun to have those conversations with U2, with whom he’ll work again soon.
“They’re looking for an innovative, hand-played electro record with soaring melodies,” Lanois said. “And Bono’s got them.”
While some artists who are comfortable onstage cringe at seeing themselves on a film screen, Lanois said he didn’t have that problem.
“Vanity comes into play a little bit, which is a problem,” he said. “But I might have a career. I just got an agent.”
Asked who he would choose if he could work with anyone living or dead, Lanois didn’t have to think long before naming his choice: Jimi Hendrix.
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By Yazid Manou
March 14, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
“Asked who he would choose if he could work with anyone living or dead, Lanois didn’t have to think long before naming his choice: Jimi Hendrix.”
Very very good answer !
YM