I am a producer, engineer and songwriter (music and/or lyrics) with 25 years experience in various roles within the music industry. I produced, mixed and co-wrote the 2009 Mercury Prize-winning album. I can make your tracks stand out from all the noise!
Whether you need a full mixdown, or you just need a few tweaks to perfect your mix I can help.
I have a wide selection of plugins including the entire Waves collection. I am an official Steinberg Artist so I have all the latest Steinberg software including Cubase PRO 10.5 and Wavelab PRO 9.5.
I also have some great analogue and hardware gear too, such as the Empirical Labs Distressor (it's great on drums!)
A bit about me...
I started in the music industry in 1993 as a “tape operator”. First at Motown UK’s East London studio and then Rollover Studios in West London. I assisted in many recording and mixing sessions for a wide variety of artists from Leftfield to Seal.
In 1997 I became the engineer for independent UK hip-hop label, Sound Of Money records. There I helped shape the sound of a young Rodney Smith, AKA Roots Manuva.
In 1999 Roots Manuva signed to Ninjatune’s newly formed Big Dada label. I produced tracks for the first 4 albums (Including the critically acclaimed “Brand New Second Hand”, and the Mercury Prize-nominated “Run Come Save Me”). I also directed the Run Come Save Me UK and European tours.
In 2003 I signed to Big Dada as an artist in my own right. I produced the 2009 Mercury Prize-winning album “Speech Therapy” by Speech Debelle, who beat artists such as Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Bats for Lashes to take home the prize.
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Credits
AllMusic verified credits for Wayne Bennett- Nattali Rize
- Nattali Rize
- Nattali Rize
- Nattali Rize
- Speech Debelle
- Speech Debelle
- Speech Debelle
- Speech Debelle
- Speech Debelle
- Speech Debelle
- The Streets
- The Streets
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Lotek Hi-Fi
- Lotek Hi-Fi
- Lotek Hi-Fi
- Lotek Hi-Fi
- Lotek Hi-Fi
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
- Roots Manuva
Interview with Wayne "Lotek" Bennett
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: There are benefits to both, editing and managing the audio is much easier with digital and its possible to get a perfectly good sound entirely with plugins but i think some things like spring reverbs and tape delays just sound better with the real thing.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I started off as a tape operator in 1993 and work my way up from making the tea and cleaning the tape machine to engineering the sessions. Eventually, I started producing music and by 2000 I was also performing live. I toured Europe with Roots Manuva as his musical director. I signed my own record deal in 2003 and released two albums on the label, along the way I built my own studios and collected a variety of gear.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a combination of hardware and software that I use to produce music. I started making beats in the early 90's on AKAI samplers and I still use an S900 sampler for its 12bit crunch and will sometimes program on an MPC to get the swing. My main sequencer/DAW is Cubase which I have used since 1992, I'm an official Steinberg artist so I have a license for the entire product range which gives me a huge selection of instruments and effects to choose from. I do some of the mixing "in the box" but for some things that can't be convincingly recreated digitally, I have the hardware. I have 2 vintage spring reverb units and a selection of compressors and other signal processors, including a few homemade creations and some modified units.
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $200 per song
- Mastering EngineerAverage price - $50 per song
- Beat MakerAverage price - $200 per song
- ProducerContact for pricing
- RemixingAverage price - $200 per song
- Cubase 10
- AKAI MPC2000XL
- AKAI S900
- AKAI S3000XL
- Emperical Labs Distressor
- RME interface
- WAVES plug ins
