I've worked with The Cure, Tricky, Pnau, David Byrne, Neneh Cherry, Erasure, Cyndi Lauper, The Human League, Alison Moyet, Marilyn Manson, David Bowie & Mick Jagger, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Robert Plant, The Mission (UK), Marcella Detroit, John Lydon, Yazz, Yazoo, Femi Kuti, Lisa Stansfield, The Chameleons, Depeche Mode, & The Sugarcubes.
I grew up in rural Hampshire on a farm - a long way from cool record shops and clubs. My music listening growing up was mostly pop radio. And I still love good pop music. I'm always looking to make a song more mass appeal. I love coming up with musical hooks on guitar or keyboards. I do a lot of additional production these days where I have creative input to add parts to take your song to the next level. I'm also just as happy to mix what you send me. I love EDM as much as I do rock, pop, goth and indie.
I'm also a drummer and drum programmer. I work in Logic Pro using Universal Audio Interfaces and have some pretty awesome old school outboard equipment like Telefunken, Neve, and Api mic pres and eqs and Manley, Urei, and API compressors. I also use many of the great UAD and Wave plug-ins. I have Arturia and Native Instruments virtual keyboards as well as some vintage Roland and Kurzweil synths.
I played in bands as a drummer before starting at West Side Studios in London, owned by the great producers, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, where I assisted on sessions with great acts like Duran Duran, The Human League, Madness, Asia, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions and I graduated to engineer in time to get some credits for working with David Bowie on the Absolute Beginners soundtrack and Mick Jagger and Bowie's version of 'Dancing In The Street'.
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Credits
- The Cure
- Tricky
- David Byrne
- Erasure
- David Bowie
- Mick Jagger
- Cyndi Lauper
- the human league
- Neneh Cherry
- Alison Moyet
- Marilyn Manson
- The Mission UK
- Marcella Detroit
- The Sounds
- Shiny Toy Guns
- The Mavis's
- Femi Kuti
- The Sugarcubes
- Ian McCulloch
- Coldcut
- Mory Kante
- Yazz
- Yazoo
- Lisa Stansfield
- Bomb The Bass
- Depeche Mode
- Robert Plant
- The Chameleons
- Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
- Madness
- robert wyatt
- Sandie Shaw
- Madonna
9 Reviews
Endorse Mark Saunders- check_circleVerified
Mark took my bedroom project and added sounds and arranged it into a real banger. With a lot of feeling and artistry and feeling for the details. I suspect we must have somewhat similar musical tastes because it was scarily close to what I myself would like to do not have the skills for. I can warmly recommend Mark to everyone. Mark is a genius in my eyes!
I thoroughly recommend Mark Saunders. He has a proven track record of working with big name artists and has brought the same passion to our music. He has produced and mixed 4 songs for the Last of the Fallen Angels and taken each song to another level. I have been really impressed with his ear for picking out the best in our tunes and his attention to detail. His musical additions and drum programming are subtle yet bring out the best in our songs.
Mark’s skill as an engineer and producer is on the highest level. His ability to understand exactly what a song needs is remarkable. He has an incredible attention to detail and listening to his mixes in headphones is amazing. Mark is also a multi instrumentalist. If he does feel inspired to add something it will definitely enhance the song making it even more what you were going for.
Mark will take your song to a level beyond.My name is Marcella Detroit aka Marcy Levy. I was part of the band Shakespears Sister and also have worked w Eric Clapton, Elton John & more. Mark produced an album for me in 1995 called "Feeler" and it still sounds so fresh and relevant! He's very deft with sound design, incredible engineering skills, plus he's a fantastic musician. He also produced a song of mine in 2021 called "My Weekend" on my album released in November of that year and did a fantastic job. I can't recommend him more! He's very creative too and likes to try interesting approaches to music which I love.
I could sum Mark up in one word ‘Genius’ and leave it there but I will also go onto say that Mark is the full package, not only an incredible producer, mixer, remixer, musician, writer, creative and Wizard behind my latest single ‘I AM WITCH’ but also an absolute gem of a human being with a heart of gold. Highly skilled and easygoing at the same time.
Being a musician and a composer made me have the tendency to look behind the curtains to find the names of the unsung heroes that make the magic happen in the studio. Mark has definitely been one of them for me being a huge Cure fan. I was actually surprised at how approachable he has been as I quickly asked him to help me with the songs I needed to mix and master. Not only has he made them sound way better, he even took the time to make a few needed artistic decisions that have elevated the music. Mark has truly big ears and has the experience only the best producers possess. A real gem!
I first came across Mark in the 90's through his work with Tricky, Neneh Cherry and Cyndi Lauper. I asked Mark to mix my recent album and it was a great experience. He made everything sound as I'd hoped and was very easy to work with, easily accommodating any changes I wanted to introduce. No hesitation in recommending Mark and I look forward to working with him again soon!
Mark Saunders gets my highest recommendation as a mixer, engineer and a talented and creative musician.I have worked with Mark since the late nineties and the last mix he did for me, for my 2022 release “Everything Is Different, “ was delivered with punch and atmosphere - truly a standout on the record!
Mark has also come up with outstanding tracks and production for songs and commercials and he is always a pleasure to work with ( he has a great sense of humor!)Having admired Mark’s work for decades, I finally plucked up courage to approach him about producing some remixes for The Vaulted Skies.
The very first bounce I received of ‘What If I Were They Boy?’ was everything you could wish for from a Mark Saunders remix and more. With the need for collaboration minimised in relation to this epic initial version, Mark was generous with his time in broader discussions about songwriting and production generally, and the delivery of a radio edit. They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, but I can only find positive things to say about Mark.
Interview with Mark Saunders
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Please don't be shy to reach out. If I like what you are doing/creating, I'll do my best to accommodate you!
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: If I could afford a full time studio maintenance guy, I'd go for analogue any day. The tape machine would have to be from the mid 70s to the early 80s - I think that was the greatest era for most gear actually. The problem is keeping the old gear up and running!
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That generally working on music doesn't feel like 'work'. When I'm working on something I love, time fly's and I don't want to stop!
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: How many tracks/parts have you laid down in the song you want me to mix.....and then I pray it's under 48.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My 1968 Epiphone Riviera electric guitar, my laptop with Logic Pro, a good two channel mic pre, my Flares Pro headphones and my Soundelux U96 mic.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Clean up the bottom end! Get rid of extraneous low end from vocal mics and acoustic guitar mics. It all adds and contributes to muddiness and confused bass notes.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I work in Logic Pro (since V1.0 in '94!) using a UAD Apollo interface and UAD Plug-ins. I also have old school outboard mic pres, compressors, eqs though by Manley, Neve, Api Urei. I use Arturia, Native Instruments, ReFx Nexus and Addictive Drums for synth, keyboards and drum sounds. My favourite vocal mic is my Soundelux U96 but I also have a Neumann U87 and other Neumann, Audio Technica, Sennheiser and Rode mics.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Hard questions to answer as I love lots of different musicians and production styles. At the moment, I love the production on the Dua Lipa records and Harry Styles - I also really like them as artists. I love Steely Dan and the production, musicianship and especially the engineering on those records. I'm all over the map really. Love Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Cure, Kate Bush.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: More mixing and additional production these days
I was the Co-producer, Engineer, Programmer, Mixer in this production
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $700 per song
- RemixingAverage price - $1500 per song
- ProducerAverage price - $2000 per song
- Track minus top-lineContact for pricing
- Electric GuitarAverage price - $150 per song
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $150 per song
- Songwriter - MusicContact for pricing
Turn around usually one to two weeks. 2 x revisions included - after that extra charges may apply depending on how many/how big the changes are...but I am a reasonable guy!
- The Cure
- The Human League
- Logic Pro
- UAD Apollo
- Manley
- Pye
- Neve
- Roland
- Kurzweil
- Neve
- Api
- Urei
- Soundelux
- Neumann
- Sennheiser