Songs For Tibet II - Sonos Interview Can you tell us more about your involvement with the MIDI Foundation and the early years of that technology - what was your role? In the early 80s I was asked to join the IMA(International MIDI Assoc) in no official capacity, just as a supporter. As I recall there were a few associations belonging to artists with a more technical leaning eg Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush and their musicians, such as Larry Fast and Tony Levin. We were, in effect, ambassadors so my job was specifically to pass on the message and it’s hard to believe how revolutionary that message was given that up until that time all keyboard manufacturers had customised their own communications protocol and protected their software diligently. So this surprising stab at a universal language began at the end of the 70s with some trepidation and sceptisism. All the more extraordinary then that here, over 30 years later, we are still on V1.0 (version one). Officially there was a V2.0 (version two) but in effect it only altered the way in which the information was collated and not the basic software protocol itself.  What - out of all the incredible projects you have done - what would you say that you are most proud of? This is a very hard question given that there are close to 140 albums/projects to choose from so, in no particular order, though broadly chronological...Kevin Ayres, The Confessions of Dr. Dream: the first time as a producer I was able to both arrange and record the artist’s music in much the same way as I did my own.  Meaning that rather than adopting a primarily professional approach, I tackled everything as though I was the artist only concerned with matters of communication, expression, passion and the truth. Of course, this was not likely to be the most commercial direction, but certainly served to amplify the artist’s originality. Kevin was already one of my favourite artists from the time he first emerged as part of the original line-up of The Soft Machine. Cafe Jacques Round The Back: quite simply the first production that achieved all goals set out at the onset. The best sounding album I had ever made up to that time and one where the arrangement and production input was seamless and always productive. Still to this day it sounds gorgeous. The Fixx, Reach The Beach: the third such example of these “incredible projects” despite the Fixx’s first album Shuttered Room being an obvious contender for such a list, this sophormore album stands proud as it had everything that I was thrilled to achieve with the Cafe Jacques album only these several years’ later, coupled to a technical understanding that came from working on my own solo albums of the early 80s. On all levels a great example of when you get everything right. Various Artists, One World One Voice: a remarkable and unusual project commissioned by the BBC as a two-hour long television project. Part of an international consortium of television production companies, it was commissioned to be the musical element for this global initiative. Inspired by a simple idea from Kevin Godley (10cc, Godley & Creme etc), it was in effect a musical chain letter and starting with baseline from Sting and Beatbox contribution from Africa Bambaataa, in New York, it launched itself off on a long route around planet earth that culminated some four months later in a 52 minute long, continuous piece that involved some 300 musicians in total. A melange of Western artists, such as Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Chrissie Hynde and Laurie Anderson infused with World music such as Ryuchi Sakamoto, Ray Lema, Remi Ongala and Marie Boine-Persen. Duncan Sheik, Duncan Sheik: Duncan’s first album became something of a watershed. After ten years of producing many different artists, in many different genres and at ever deepening levels of complexity in their production, and being presented with a first-time artist who was already displaying such levels of complexity, I was desperate to take this young artist back to the zenith of each song and present things cleanly, clearly - honestly.Duncan’s demos were so fleshed out with his undeniable multi-instrumentalist ability. So much so, that when I asked him could he play these songs to me just on a guitar or piano I had great suspicions that they were built as multi-track constructions from the get-go. I was wrong - and as soon as I heard his voice and guitar just on their own - beautiful songs simply sung - I was bitten. For me, as a producer, it became a welcome arrival at the world of minimalism.  The mission of non-violence, peace and compassion is something that His Holiness always has worked for and towards and he does not seem to slow down with age. Celebrating his 80th birthday on July 6th and still actively traveling around the world. How involved has His Holiness been in this project?Whilst the impetus for the original Songs for Tibet in 2008 was largely political, specifically geared to the Olympic Games in Beijing, which is why the release date for the album was the opening day of the Games, volume II was always to be more of a celebration of His Holiness’in this 80th birthday year. Therefore, there was no direct involvement as this was intended to be a gift from some of the World’s most interesting musicians.  Where have you worked and produced this album [studio/country/city]?As with Volume I, you cannot expect artists of this calibre to be able to travel specifically to a certain studio in a certain country that’s not on their itinerary. So it’s a question of fishing. With some artists there is an alternative version of a song that they already thing might be appropriate and my job is to follow those leads and provide any assistance if that recording, for example, incomplete or unmixed etc. With other songs, there is the suggestion of a live performance and that may need choosing and mixing etc. In other cases, there is the idea of re-mixing a song in a different way, especially for our collection.Sometimes that will require specialist remixers, such as Bob Clearmountain on Volume I and Stephen W Tayler on Volume II  Producing a record like this is likely different from other albums - where this is clearly connected to a cause and the people involved reflect this. What is the process of selecting the artists part of this and curating the songs on it, compared to another production that is not related to a foundation such as this one?The musical landscape has changed dramatically since the production of the first album. It is interesting that the song to finally kick Volume II into being was the same song that narrowly missed being on Volume I - Peter Gabriel’s Signal to Noise. The curation of a project such as this is always going to be a blend of several attributes. There are those artists that we associate with global causes and we all too easily fall back on them. They are often iconic and interesting as people, which makes them even more attractive. With this album I particularly wanted to encourage younger artists, and those still on the first steps of a fresh career, to be involved, too. A balance of the two would, of course, be ideal.It is much harder to know enough about the ideology of young artists because their voice is still new and we are yet to learn much about them; in which case instinct is as valuable as good research. In the end it has much to do with the sense of awareness that an artist demonstrates through their music, and openness to ideas beyond their personal experience.  If you selected one of the songs from the new LP to listen to out loud to at home - turn the volume up and enjoy - which one would it be?Sting’s The Book of My Life.  What other projects are you working on right now?With my co-founder, Alan Graham, I have been working on the World’s first micro-licensing engine for user generated content(UGC) on the internet. It is a much-needed mechanism and has been very exciting thus far.