SAE Magazine 13-3

56 PEOPLE & BUSINESS // CHRIS ECKMAN There is a great story that happened during the mak- ing of Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run album. Steven Van Zandt was not in the E-Street Band at this point. He was a friend of Bruce and he stopped by the studio. They were recording the brass on the 10th Avenue Freeze Out and he basically sat on the couch for a while. He just could not help but speak up and said: “No, you got that part wrong!” and walked out of the re- cording room and interrupted the session. He started to sound out the part of the horn section which was adopted and after that point they did not let him leave the studio. In fact he stayed for the rest of the recording of the album and he is in the band to this day. Working as a producer you often have to estab- lish yourself as a communicator between the band members as often the tensions rise high. Do you feel the need to act as a negotiator eve- ry time band members start disagreeing with each other, or do you leave it to them to work it out if the creativeness is at its peak? I do not think you can act as a negotiator for every decision as you need to let many things happen naturally. But part of what you do in the studio is to try and ensure some consensus is achieved. Art can never be completed by consensus but there needs to be a sense that people are involved and are signed up to do it. If people feel like they are literally having their teeth pulled out to play the part a certain way, or to ap- proach the song as a band in a certain way, it just creates a lot of negativity a pollutes the project. There needs to be some not think great art usually conflict. Common purpose searching for. You produced the Mali bas fuses traditional African m ern music styles such as you find yourself working cians? I came across Tamirkest t cess. In 2006 I decided th of some fresh musical inp because I did not really w was making. I just really felt like I want ferent way. As you work business as an artist or a to get lost in your own way own obsessions and habi of this. I had been very intrigued b African country Mali for m I would go and travel ther and went to Mali for one m There needs to b tension but I do n usually comes fr conflict. Commo important and wo

SAE Magazine 13-3

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