Professional Sound - August 2019

PROFILE

Joel Livesey

By Andrew King

Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound.

Joel Livesey enjoyed a pretty enviable up-

bringing as far as some audio enthusiasts

might be concerned.

As the son of famed British record pro-

ducer and engineer Warne Livesey, he got

to spend time in some of the world’s most

iconic recording studios as a kid. But while he

began his own audio career in studio control

rooms, following in his father’s footsteps, the

younger Livesey has since built a successful

career in live sound, and now finds himself

working in a whole new set of hallowed

venues as a touring professional with an array

of different acts.

Livesey was born in London, England,

and spent much of his childhood going

back and forth between the U.K. and Austra-

lia. His first job out of school was as a runner

at Metropolis, a famed London recording

studio, though in 2001, he moved to Van-

couver and began working as an assistant

engineer at Mushroom Studios and as a Pro

Tools editor with a slew of accomplished

producers and engineers.

In 2005, one of his recording clients was

looking for a new FOH engineer and Livesey

figured he was up to the task. “It was a huge

learning curve,” he admits in hindsight. “I

realized quickly that a lot of the techniques

we rely on in the studio to make a band

sound great weren’t going to work live, so I

learned a lot on the fly.”

In the years since, he has dedicated

plenty of time to honing his craft and ex-

panding his skillset, and has built himself an

impressive résumé in the process.

Currently, he’s touring with California

rockers Young the Giant as their production

manager and monitor engineer, and is also

the go-to FOH engineer for seminal emo

outfit Dashboard Confessional. “Those two

bands keep me very busy, but in my down-

time, I also help a number of other artists with

playback and monitor solutions,” he tacks on.

Looking back at his professional path

thus far, Livesey considers his time with

alt-rockers Brand New from 2012-2018 as

a career milestone that paved the way for

much of his success since. “I loved their mu-

sic before I ever met them, and every night

working with them was a huge thrill for me,”

he enthuses. “One of the biggest highlights of

touring with them was working at legend-

ary venues like Madison Square Garden, Red

Rocks, and the O2 Arena. Since then, I’ve

been back to those same venues and they’re

still incredible and exciting, but nothing

compares to the first time... I hold a lot of

fondness in my heart for those memories.”

Making the leap from engineering to

production management was also a sig-

nificant professional undertaking, but one

that’s proven to be quite rewarding. “Most

of the job comes very natural to me, but

there is a lot to learn outside of audio,” he

says. “As prepared as you think you are, there

will always be things that come up and need

to be solved for the show to go on.”

Of course, overcoming the inherent

challenges of life on the road is a lot easier

with a trusted team surrounding you, and

Livesey acknowledges that it’s the people –

crews and artists alike – that make pro audio

such a rewarding professional endeavor.

“I consider myself very lucky to work

with such talented and hardworking

people,” he says of his current and past col-

laborators. “Every day is a new adventure.”

He’s also pretty fond of the people he

gets to spend time with off the road. “When

I’m not out on tour, I can mostly be found

in my studio or at home with my family,”

he says. “One of the best things about our

profession is that you can take extended

periods off between tours,” and that typically

means quality time with his loved ones.

He and his family enjoy travelling to-

gether, so it’s not uncommon for them to

plan extended trips around Livesey’s diverse

tour schedule.

The engineer and production man-

ager says that 2019 is already shaping up

to be one of his busiest years yet, in large

part thanks to Young the Giant’s exten-

sive tour schedule. The band is currently

crossing North America alongside Fitz

and the Tantrums and will do so through

mid-August before setting off for a string

of European shows in September. That’s

in addition to a few high-profile festival

dates throughout the summer at events

like Osheaga in Montreal and Reeperbahn

in Germany.

“I’m really looking forward to new

challenges and new experiences,” Livesey

shares after a scan of his schedule. “You

never know where you might end up, but

you always know it’s going to be exciting.”