Engineer

Garth Hudson, founding member of the Band, dead at 87: ‘He was always all about the music’

The Windsor-born multi-instrumentalist was part of the Canadian contingent of the famous band. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star The last living charter member of The Band has died. Keyboardist, saxophonist and occasional trumpeter Garth Hudson, perhaps best known for his powerful, blasting Lowrey organ intro for the classic Band song “Chest Fever,” passed away peacefully in his sleep after a lengthy illness Tuesday morning at a nursing home…

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Canadian musicians remember record producer Steve Albini as ‘an extremely generous and kind soul whose work did unmeasurable good’

Albini, who died Tuesday, engineered seminal albums by Nirvana, the Pixies and P.J. Harvey, but he also loved working with Canadian bands.  by Nick Krewen Special to the Star Thirty years later, Toronto’s Don Pyle still sounds shocked that legendary producer and engineer Steve Albini told a music magazine he’d rather work with Pyle’s Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet than British synth superstars Depeche Mode. The year was 1993 and Albini…


Boi-1da reflects on his career — from being a Toronto kid rushing out to buy an Eminem album to a Grammy nominated producer

Boi-1da has produced for music superstars, including a long association with Drake. On Sunday, he’s up for Non-Classical Producer of the Year for the second time By Nick Krewen Special to the Star When the 65th Grammy Awards are held Sunday in Los Angeles, all Canadian eyes will be on the Non-Classical Producer of the Year category. That’s because Toronto’s Matthew Samuels – better known publicly as Boi-1da – has…


‘He was a great man’: Bob Rock on Gord Downie and Lustre Parfait: their happy accident album.

Love of family and hockey bonded the late Tragically Hip frontman and the Payola$ co-founder and producer. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star So, it turns out that Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie had at least one more album in him. But there’s a difference between Lustre Parfait, the brilliant work he recorded with Payola$ co-founder and über-producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Michael Bublé, Mötley Crüe) that’s out Friday and…


Depeche Mode’s death-tinged Memento Mori isn’t about the passing of Andrew Fletcher, Martin Gore says.

The Depeche Mode songwriter talks about the loss of Fletcher, hit song “Ghosts Again” and how it felt to turn 60 By Nick Krewen Special to the Star If the Depeche Mode video for their current hit song “Ghosts Again” offers  you a sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone. Directed by noted photographer and director Anton Corbijn,  the music video reflects the theme of the British electronic outfit’s 15th album Memento…