Pascal Gabriel (Kylie Minogue, Goldfrapp)

Over a career spanning thirty years, songwriter and producer Pascal Gabriel has worked on everything from S-Express's number one song, Theme from S-Express, Bomb The Bass's album, Beat Dis, EMF's multi-Platinum, Schubert Dip, and Dido's global hits Here With Me and No Angel. Other notable credits include remixes for Marc Almond (Soft Cell) and Yello, writing for Kylie Minogue, and producing and writing for Goldfrapp, Miss Kittin, and Little Boots.

Tell us about your current studio setup.

I have my own studio in London. The monitors I use are Powered APS, NS10s, and Auratones with a Bryston amp. I have an Apogee A/D and sum it through my mixing bus, which is typically Thermionic Culture Fat Bustard and Phoenix. My DAW is Logic Pro and some of my favorite plugins include UAD, FabFilter, Eventide, PSP, Valhalla, and the stock Logic plugins. The thing to remember is: it’s not about the gear, it’s about the ears. Mixing is first and foremost all about volume and pan.

Having produced so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about making music these days?

Creating a new piece of music has never stopped being exciting. It’s a new adventure every time. Starting on Monday without anything recorded and finishing on Friday with one or more tunes you’re happy with is the best feeling in the world.

How do you typically approach the production of a song: what's your process for working with an act? How often are you making big production decisions in your work?

Before I do anything, I always meet the artist and discuss at length what their ideas and expectations are about this particular recording, mix, or co-writing session. I call it the ’Cup-Of-Tea’ stage.

After that, if we seem to get on, we get stuck in. It’s a very important step, and often overlooked by ‘business’ people.