We got the chance to talk to Julian and get some insight into his craft.

Vintage King: Where did you get your start?
Julian Standen: I started as a Tea Boy (intern) at Matrix Studio's, London, 1982, a 3-studio complex that had a Trident A range, Trident TSM & a custom built console. Over the years I worked there the studio bought the old prototype SSL B from the Townhouse, The A range got flooded, and replaced by a Soundtracks (sob!) and an SSL G replaced the custom console.

VK: How long were you there for?
JS: 6 years, then I left to go freelance in 1988.

VK: What would you say was your "niche"?
JS: I have become a guitar band "first record / demo master" guy...I usually do the first 2 singles then the band gets a deal, and moves on to a bigger producer.

VK: Doesn't that bug you?
JS: No, it's a zone I am comfortable with, there are some benefits, little or no A&R involvement, lack of time demands on the musicians (like video shoots / interviews etc) Bands at the stage I work with em are 100% optimistic and un-jaded. I'm usually only working on a few tunes at once and that suits me, I can't focus on 10 or more songs at one time, I am too scatter brained!

VK: Why did you set up your own studio?
JS: I could see the value of a small "producers private studio" as a freelancer, in my field, money is tight, having my own place means I can grab ALL OF IT! And do stuff for nothing in dead time. I started a publishing company to offer spec deals to bands I like that can't pay my fees but in reality, I don't do too many of those.

VK: What do you charge?
JS: I charge per track.

VK: How much?
JS: I hold the musicians upside down and shake them till every last penny falls out of their pockets take that and usually tell them to go get some more.

VK: Does that make you feel guilty sometimes?
JS: Not when they can score a record deal right after the sessions I did with em!

VK: How did you come to start Gearslutz.com?
JS: When I decided to open my own studio, my world became one of equipment review magazines, catalogues and a giant pad of paper where I would sketch the ideal gear inventory for my studios budget. I spent a year studying magazines and phoning people like Vintage King up and bugging them with questions!

VK: So you became a recording gear info addict...a gearslut?
JS: Right, then I bought ProTools and found it very hard to get going on, so I would read the Digidesign User Group forums to get info, particularly from rock n roll engineers on there who were making the difficult transition from tape to DAW. I also got hooked on the newsgroup rec.audio.pro and Recording.org forum. I got a break from a friend who was moderating at Recording.org who was moving on and I took over, it got real popular, from there I decided to start my own and invite friends I had made online over 4 years to join me as co-moderators with me. We now have 8 regular moderators and we often have guest moderators.

VK: It's a busy site!
JS: Yes, last count the pages of the site are looked at over 1.8 Million times per month. Our membership is due to pass the 10,000 mark soon, that's a lot of engineers! It could be said it was the premier recording hardware discussion forum site on the web.

VK: Are you proud of it?
JS: I am too busy reading it, learning stuff from it and administrating it to think about it. It's the global mix that I am most pleased with, there are folks from all over the world contributing.

VK: OK, here's the ultimate test scenario for a gearslut! Your studio is on fire; you have time to get 10 items out before it goes up in smoke... What do you grab out of there and give your reasons why.
JS: Ok, here goes...