So much of what makes music special occurs in a world just beyond the spotlight, where unseen technicians make the decisions that will define the songs and albums we love...For the last 25 years, Philippe Weiss has quietly established himself as one of the greatest mix engineers around. He rarely gives interviews or enters the public eye, and yet he’s worked for Madonna, David Guetta, Usher, Kendrick Lamar, Selah Sue, Oxmo Puccino, Charles Aznavour, Drake, Martin Solveig, Ben l’Oncle Soul and Alicia Keys to name just a few… and he’s reaped number one hits and multi-platinum records on both sides of the Atlantic. “I’ve always had one goal in my head,” says Philippe, “understand what the producer and the artist have in their minds, and then put it between two speakers.”
Learning the ropes in Studios Davout, Weiss watched as artists like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Charles Trenet, Michel Legrand and NTM wandered in and out. Within a year he was assisting the acclaimed American engineer Tony Smalios (Tupac, Elton John, A Tribe Called Quest) and working almost 400 hours per month on any album he was assigned to. “Basically, those years built me,” he says.
In 1995, he decided to take a gamble with Assassin’s Rocking Squat and New York’s MC Supernatural. “I’d never mixed a record before, only assisted,” he says. “I told them: let me mix your next song, and if you like it you can pay me. They said yes, so I mixed it, using just instinct, vibe and emotion. When the record came out it sold over 100,000 copies. Since then, my career has never stopped.”
Weiss now works from a studio in his house in Paris, which he built himself. From this laboratory of music mastery he’s mixed tracks for Drake, Diplo, and the South African house music megastar Black Coffee. He also teaches, and right now he’s building a range of amplifiers which he will soon be released under his Red Lab banner.
“To be a good mix engineer,” concludes Weiss, “you must put your ego to one side and focus on your artist. You need them to be happy. You must interpret their ideas. I put so much energy into everyone I work with. After all that, you need a deep understanding of music culture. I mean, how can you mix music if you do not have style and passion?”
Listen to Philippe’s Mixes - Hip-hop & Jazz, Pop & Club, Alternative
Selection of Work
