Ultimate-Guitar.com recently caught up with producer/engineer Mike Fraser, known for his work with AC/DC, METALLICA, CHICKENFOOT, SLIPKNOT and many more. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

UG: You worked on several AC/DC albums such as The Razor’s Edge and Ballbreaker albums…

Fraser: "AC/DC are always a joy to work with. They’re such normal unassuming guys and are great to work with. Once the gear is setup in the studio and they plug in it’s usually only a couple of takes before they nail the song. Almost all the songs on the records I’ve done with them are pretty much live off the floor. The only things that are over dubbed are the lead and solo guitars and the vocals. They are machines in the studio!"

UG: How did you go about capturing Angus’ guitar tone?

Fraser: "For Angus’s guitars we would go through their collection of Marshall heads and cabinets and pick out the best sounding combination. We usually will pick a 50 watt head and a 100 watt head and a couple of different cabinets. Angus always plugs straight into the head with no pedals at all between him and the head, I always use the shortest guitar lead and speaker lead I can so there’s no degradation of sound. I place Shure SM57s on the cabinets and just hang on!"

UG: You mixed Load and ReLoad by Metallica, how did you approach the mixes on those records?

Fraser: "For Load and Reload the band wanted to spend time on the mixes so they had Randy Staub and myself share the mixing duties, speeding up the mixing process. Randy was in one studio and I was in another one across the street. To give the record continuity we would constantly share and compare what each other was doing. He’d copy a drum sound I was going for or I would tailor the guitar sound to what he was doing. Every couple of days the band would come in and approve mixes."

UG: Not many fans are very fond of those two albums, what is your view in hindsight?

Fraser: "Metallica have always done the record they wanted to do. As a mixer my job is to help them realize their vision. For the hard-core Metallica fans, I think they will always prefer the earlier music as that’s what they were first drawn to and are used to. A lot weren’t happy even with the Black album, which ended up being their biggest seller. For a fan, change isn’t always good but I think it’s healthy for a band to continue to explore themselves and try different approaches. Even if it isn’t what the fans want or expect."

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