Marc Whitmore
...is not your typical producer and engineer. He is a musical visionary who blends old-school analog techniques with cutting-edge digital technology. His debut album, Analytic Inverter, is a testament to his creative genius and versatility. The album showcases his skills as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound engineer, as he explores a wide range of musical genres and styles. From the funky groove to an ambient soundscape, Marc takes the listener on a sonic journey that is both captivating and unpredictable.
He also collaborates with some of the most talented artists in the industry, such as Jon Batiste, who lends his piano prowess to the track “Soulful”. Marc and Jon have a long-standing partnership that has earned them two Grammy nominations for “Album of the Year” for their work on Jon’s albums We Are and World Music Radio. Marc won a Grammy for "Album of the Year" for his recording and mixing work on Jon Batiste's We Are album.
His second solo album, Mirages, is expected to be released in winter of 2023, and promises to be another masterpiece of musical innovation. Marc Whitmore is a rare talent who deserves to be recognized as one of the most influential and original producers, engineers, and musicians of our time.
Q&A
How do you balance your personal and human side with your professional roles as an artist, producer, engineer and more?
I’ve learned that for me it is less about balance, and more about allowing the two to blend into one. Whether I am making my own music or producing/engineering for another artist, it is an incredibly personal process to me. If I’ve decided to take it on, it’s because I deeply care, and there is really no way for me to take myself or my emotions out of it at that point.
Your song, “Track 02” creates a great sound and an amazing and outstanding atmosphere, what are the techniques and tools that you used to create it?
Thank you! I believe it started with a voice memo of me playing upright piano. Brought that into Pro Tools and started stacking other instruments on it, in a few different studios ad places. The drums were recorded in the living room of the house I was living in with three mic’s. The bass and guitars were mostly done in bigger studios.
When you work on an instrumental track, what is the key factor that you focus on?
When there are no lyrics for the listener to process, they are able to notice much smaller details the instrumental performances. It also allows your mind to put your own meaning to the music. You aren’t being told what to think about by a singer. The key to instrumental music is really analyzing and perfecting each instrument. It is less about having support instruments for a lead and more about how everything works together as a whole.
I’ve read that you like to work with analog tape machines and vintage consoles, what are the advantages of working with them in your opinion?
I do! There is absolutely a difference in the sonic quality when you’re using vintage equipment that I prefer, but it is actually more about the workflow than the sound to me. I want to be limited to the knobs and buttons in front of me and I enjoy the pressure of recording to tape. You have to focus more and make decisions on the spot.
Especially with my music, I do a lot of arranging and editing in Pro Tools, but I still need to capture the sounds the way they are in my head instead of trying to replicate what I thought I wanted weeks later with plugins.
What can you reveal about your sophomore album, ‘Mirages’ that is coming out this winter?
Compared to the first album, this one is much more of a journey from start to finish. The concept in my mind was something like psychedelic cowboys with access to a big recording studio. Maybe it was 50-ish years ago, but also maybe it was yesterday.
Most of the songs are based around the acoustic or electric guitar. The drums are much more sparse on this record than the first one. There are also some more vocals on this one, including one track with full lyrics and singing!
How do you determine that a song is finished and ready for release or good enough for an album?
So I kind of have a physical tell. I move around a lot when I’m working on music, a lot of head bobbing, but this honestly only happens when everything is hitting just right. I know if I’m sitting still during a section of the song, it’s not done. I’m always listening very critically, and I know a song is finished when I never stopped bobbing my head, even for a second, start-to-finish.
You have a wide range of genres in your music, do you have a favorite one or do you enjoy them all equally?
I’ve never identified with a specific genre too much. Especially in the music I listen to. It is hard to describe, but I hear the tone and personalities of individual musicians coming through more than what a record is labelled as. I’ve heard the some of the coolest fuzzed out guitar tones on soul records that a typical “rock” fan would probably never go near.
You have done a lot of amazing work in the last years, what are some of the highlights for you personally?
No session has been less than amazing honestly. I spent a week at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La countless hours of jams with a variety of musicians and producers. I did a live 16-track tape recording at Carnegie Hall with Jon Batiste. I’ve worked with a lot of really cool indie bands in New Mexico, even recorded one in a solar-powered shack way out in the desert.
I have also gone to Tokyo a couple of times to work at Victor Studio, which is a next-level studio environment unlike anything I’ve seen in the US. I also have to say that winning a Grammy in 2022 and being nominated again this year has been pretty incredible!
If you could have a conversation with any musician, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
Jimi Hendrix. To this day when I listen to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, I am utterly floored. His music is so visceral and tapped into human emotion. It still sounds unlike anything else, and those sounds are so innovative and revolutionary. I always imagine what it would be like to be some average person in 1967 hearing “Are You Experienced” for the first time. Your head would explode. Jimi was tapped in to something spiritual with his music, and I would love to discuss that connection and feeling with him.
You plan to move to the north of Italy, what are the reasons and expectations for this change?
This is actually pretty far into the future, and plans are vague as of now, so I think it would be best to stay focused on where I’m at currently for this interview.
2023 is almost over, how would you summarize it and what are your goals for 2024?
It was a great year. I began and finished my new record, worked with tons of amazing artists, and got nominated for a Grammy. My goal for the future is always to continue working on music that I am inspired by.
I am unsure if I will create any more solo work this year, but I will be releasing music under my other projects, “Cat Cult” and “Disco Dial”. Mostly I just want to keep creating.
