Abbey Road Amplify: How To Build Your Career As A Producer Or Engineer 🎥
Abbey Road turns 90 this week and we’re inviting you to celebrate this significant anniversary with us. Over 11-12 November, Abbey Road Studios will open its doors to the next generation of artists and creatives for a free, two-day festival, Abbey Road Amplify.
The studio will be welcoming some of the leading players in the UK music industry, including the likes of Island Records, Universal Music Publishing, The Ivors Academy, Spotify, The MMF, Pitchfork, AIM, Sound on Sound, Mix With The Masters and Abbey Road Institute. The two days include a series of workshops, lectures, masterclasses, demos and more. All of the events will be live-streamed on the day and you can find out more below.
How to build your career as a producer or engineer
As part of Abbey Road Amplify, Abbey Road Institute is delighted to be hosting an award-winning producer and engineer panel that will be discussing their different routes into the industry. The panel is composed of Mix and Mastering Engineer Manon Grandjean, Producer, Engineer and Writer Aamir Yaqub and Engineer and Producer Ricky Damian. Drawing on their different experiences gained through work with the likes of Stormzy, Rihanna, Mark Ronson, Yebba and many many more, they’ll be sharing their personal journeys and insights into how to carve a career as a producer/engineer in the music industry today.
Hosted by Abbey Road Institute lecturer Charlie Thomas, we’ll be live from Abbey Road’s iconic Studio Two on Friday 12 November at 10 am. Watch the live stream below and scroll further to find out more about our panel.
introducing our Award-Winning Panel:
Aamir Yaqub
Aamir Yaqub is a London-based Producer, Grammy Award-winning engineer, and writer specialising in Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul and Pop music. Aamir’s sound bears heavy influence from his iconic idols and contemporary visionaries alike. Aamir worked extensively at Metropolis Studios, London, where he collaborated with a number of respected Grammy Award-winning artists, producers and engineers. He has worked with high-profile acts including Rihanna, David Guetta, Ne-Yo, Sia and Will.I.Am, as well as with major labels and brands. As an artist, Aamir takes his influences from a variety of genres from Rock and Bollywood to Jazz and credits legends such as Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye as his main inspirations. Working in London, Aamir has supported local talent, not only as a producer but as a mentor as well, helping them to invent, brand and shape their musical personas and sound. His career is set to flourish; his innovation as a producer and energy as a songwriter, backed by his technical nous, continues to be recognised by some of the industry’s most prominent and visionary musicians and professionals.
Manon Grandjean
Manon started her career as a runner at Livingston Studios in North London after moving from France to the UK for an internship. Shortly after she got a freelance assistant position at a vintage boutique studio in South West London called State of the Ark Studios. From 2010 to 2015 she was their trusted house assistant and engineer. She worked with world-renowned artists and producers such as Noel Gallagher, Kasabian, Alan Parsons, Ethan Johns, Jim Abbiss…This is also where she met the British band London Grammar and went on to engineer their platinum-selling album “If you wait “. She joined the engineering team at the well-renowned RAK studios from 2013 to 2015, where she carried on developing her tracking skills. In 2015 she started engineering solely for multi-award-winning songwriter/producer Fraser T Smith. During their 5 years partnership, Manon has worked on critically acclaimed and chart-topping albums such as Stormzy’s “Gang Signs & Prayer” and Dave’s “Psychodrama” not only as an engineer but also as a mixer. Both albums went to number 1 in the UK charts and won Album Of The Year at the Brit Awards in 2018 and 2020.
During that time, she also engineered and mixed a wide range of tracks for artists like Raye, Mabel, Craig David, Nina Nesbitt, Calum Scott, Gavin James, Kano, Not3s, Easy Life, Jorja Smith, Ray Blk, RagnBone Man, Professor Green, Anne Marie, Tom Grennan…In 2017, Manon received the award for MPG Breakthrough Engineer Of The Year at the prestigious Music Producer Guild awards. She went on to receive the award for MPG Engineer Of The Year in 2018.
Since 2020, Manon is freelance mixing and mastering in her studio at The Qube in Acton, working with a wide range of artists across genres such as AJ Tracey, Fredo, Nao, Faangs, Luz….So far Manon has been involved in 6 UK number 1s.
Ricky Damian
Ricky Damian is an Italian Grammy Award-winning engineer/mixer/producer based in London. Passionate about music since childhood, he started his journey at the age of 14 in a studio in Treviso, where he had the opportunity to see and start to learn about audio engineering and get familiar with analogue gear, tape machines and vintage microphones. Eager to pursue a career in audio, Ricky moved to London in 2012 to study audio engineering. During his student years, he worked as an assistant engineer in several studios, including Red Bull Studios. Shortly before his graduation, Ricky was offered the opportunity to work for Mark Ronson. He started his career path in the position of In-House Audio Engineer for Mark. Ricky worked around the world with incredible artists such as Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa. In 2016, Ricky was awarded a Grammy Award for “Record of The Year” for his work on the song Uptown Funk. After going freelance in 2017 Ricky has produced, engineered and mixed a variety of projects. Artists include Jorja Smith, Sampha, Sam Smith, Ezra Collective, Yebba, Masterpiece and many more.
Find out more about Abbey Road Amplify on the Abbey Road Studios website.
