Special report by Martin Popoff

Legendary German knob-twiddler Michael Wagener has worked with OZZY, ALICE, DOKKEN, ACCEPT, GREAT WHITE and RAVEN, plus a myriad of others. But he says that XV, his second production with KING’S X, is “one of my top three favourite albums ever.”

Explains the famous Double Trouble production guru, “The thing is, we did one record together before this one, which is Ogre Tones, and then after that, we knew each other better. So you didn’t have to say as much. Everything went more, ‘Oh yeah, that’s how we do it!’ And in terms of other records, for me, that is one of the few bands that plays everything at the same time. They play as a band, they track as a band, and then it’s done. But there’s not that much difference from Ogre Tones, in terms of us working together. They’re very efficient, because they are absolutely amazing musicians. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You know, sometimes when you are working, you ask a guitar player, ‘Can you try this and this?’ They have to practice the riff or something. Ty just plays it. You just suggest something, and the next thing you hear is what you just suggested. It’s just great. And that’s the same with Dug. It’s just wonderful to work with them. They are very relaxed, very cool, very on top of things, and they aren’t against trying stuff. So it’s a lot of fun.”

So you’re saying rhythm guitars, bass and drums all once?

“Yes, and vocals after. For two reasons, number one, the room is occupied with the drums (laughs). And you know, vocals is another thing. You’ve got to be in a different mindset to sing than to play bass.”

Is there a Michael Wagener sound?

“I hope not! (laughs). I hope that I do with each band their own justice, and get it to the point where it sounds like that band. Of course, if you engineer your own stuff, then there is always the thing that you probably use very similar tools to do your records, and by that, there might be a little similarity here and there. And obviously taste is the thing. But I hope that I can do every band justice by doing exactly their sound, not mine (laughs).”

Looking into the future, Michael reveals that, “Right now I’m working with a band called CROOKED X. All the band members are 14 years old. They’re from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We just did seven songs for the game Rock Band for MTV, and they are going on tour with KISS, managed by Doc McGhee and Spencer Proffer, and they are a very, very cool band. 14 years old. I mean, they started when they were 13 (laughs). But they are just raw rock ‘n’ roll. There is no drum aligning, no auto-tuning - there is nothing with that band. They just play and it’s just very, very cool. And they don’t sound like they are 14. They have real songs, real lyrics and real vocals, and he sounds like he’s 40. I’m also doing a lot of workshops, production workshops, where people come in from all over the world, and we record and mix one song with a live band. It takes nine days, and people come from South Africa, Hawaii, England, all over the world, and so that’s a pretty cool thing. It’s a lot of fun and it’s education for me, and it’s just like passing on the word…”

See www.michaelwagener.com for more.