an astute ear for talent and the ability to
bring the rockabilly sound up to date. In fact,
were it not for Foot Tapping, the world may
never have caught wind of a certain soon-to-
be major star named Clabby...
None of Duffi n’s childhood peers cared
much for rock’n’roll and he spent his
formative years surrounded by mods in
Harringtons, but he clearly had the good
stuff pumping through his blood. “I suppose
certain music just adopts you,” he posits.“I was the only one who was into rockabilly.
I can remember my dad saying there was
nobody as good as Eddie Cochran, so from
a young age I always liked Eddie and most
rock’n’roll.” That love of Cochran would
eventually translate into the label, and the
50s icon also played a part in bringing a
powerful ally – Darrel Higham – into the
fold early on – even though Duffi n’s day job
as a farrier (shoeing horses to you and me)
almost got in the way...“I fi rst met Darrel at a gig in Basingstoke.
I had a book co-written by him, Don’t Forget
Me, all about Eddie Cochran and I asked if
he would sign it. We got talking about what
I was hoping to do with regards to setting
up a label and that if he was ever interested
in releasing a CD with us that would be
fab. I think he thought, ‘Yes, I’ve heard it all
before!’ but he must have seen that I meant
what I said. He tried to call me but I was out
shoeing horses, and I did not have a mobile
phone at the time. He left a message on our
answerphone, saying he’d call around for
a chat and it’s just grown from there.”
Good things inevitably arise when
artist and label share a vision, and FootQ&A
GRAHAM DOMINY
He cut his teeth alongside Eurythmics’ Dave
Stewart at his famous Church studio and has
since been on the other side of the glass for
a diverse range of big names from Rocky
Burnette to Tom Jones. 20 years on, as
in-house engineer and producer at Foot
Tapping’s Embassy Studios, Graham Dominy
has become an indispensable member of the
team helping bring the
label’s varied rock’n’roll
roster to life.What was it like beginning
your career with someone of
Dave Stewart’s calibre?
Without question, he made
me the engineer I am today.
He loved to drop you into a
chaotic situation where you
had no idea what was happening next and see
how you handled it. A genuinely lovely guy,
super-talented and very mischievous.When did you fi rst get involved with
Embassy Studios?
It was around 2007. I had been doing some
work for Universal and they asked if I’d record
some demos for a new artist, which was
Imelda May. We worked on four tracks
together and just really got on well. Some time
after we had fi nished Love Tattoo, Darrel asked
if I would be up for working with them on an
album at Embassy. It was their fi rst album for
Universal, Mayhem. I met Clive during the
recording, he’s instantly likeable. He was so
passionate about the music and his label, and
I had just moved to Hampshire from London.It all seemed to fall
into place.How did you fi nd working with Imelda?
I’ve worked with her all the way through to
Tribal and more recently doing poetry. She’s
an amazing talent and the band were brilliant.
It’s hard work and long hours, as she’s
incredibly focused, but
Imelda is always a lot of fun
to work with. She has a
wicked sense of humour.Are you a purist when it
comes to rock’n’roll?
I like to mix the old and new,
it mainly comes down to
what the band wants. With
rock’n’roll, I’ve realised most
artists have their own interpretation of how it
should sound and how authentic it needs to
be. I co-produced the Dylan Kirk album with
Darrel, and they wanted a very authentic
sound, so everyone was
together in the same room.
That’s tricky when you have
drums and piano with live
vocals. Darrel went in the room
and got them all to balance
their instruments around the
piano – when it’s something
totally authentic, there’s no one
better to have on the session.It must have been a privilege to record
Rocky Burnette...
I really enjoyed those sessions. He wasn’t inthe best of health, so we gave him
plenty of time on his vocals, but he
always managed to summon the
energy to get in the booth and give a great
performance. We would push him for more
takes and try things, which he would do no
problem. I think it was a really good bunch of
songs and he sounded great. We did spend a
lot of time chatting and he shared some
stories about his dad and family. A genuinely
lovely guy and nice to be around.What have been your peak moments at
Embassy so far?
It’s really diffi cult to say, so many sessions and
all good. I’ve been working with a young artist
called Chris Berntsen – he is an incredible
singer and really good songwriter. Darrel
heard him and decided he wanted to try
something with him. Clive helped to pick some
tracks, as did Darrel, and there are a couple
of originals. Darrel did an amazing job on
arrangements: his brilliant guitar playing and
Chris’s outstanding vocals
are worth checking out.
I have done lots of work
with Darrel and it’s
something I feel lucky to
be able to do. We did his
album Hell’s Hotel
together, probably the
highlight being Robert
Plant joining us at the
studio to record a track.
To have someone like that to add to it was
amazing, another brilliant session, super nice
guy and, well... it’s Robert Plant!Were it not for Foot Tapping, the world
may never have caught wind of asoon-to-be major star named Clabby
Label Story: Foot Tapping Records