Mike Shipley

Over the years, engineer/mixer Mike Shipley has worked with <a href="spotify:artist:5e4Dhzv426EvQe3aDb64jL">Shania Twain</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6DCIj8jNaNpBz8e5oKFPtp">the Cars</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1LB8qB5BPb3MHQrfkvifXU">Cheap Trick</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0K7VN4aHxHcEb7PqkfoIVA">Shawn Colvin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6H1RjVyNruCmrBEWRbD0VZ">Def Leppard</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2Uz58cSxlJgefDaSikxYQ7">Thomas Dolby</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1yFJnlNMiBUBplMaOP5CMX">Lene Lovich</a>, Guster, <a href="spotify:artist:4tpUmLEVLCGFr93o8hFFIB">Blondie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7oPftvlwr6VrsViSDV7fJY">Green Day</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3HC7NcxQx2Yk0fWoRKJ0xF">Starship</a>, Splendor, <a href="spotify:artist:5krkohEVJYw0qoB5VWwxaC">the Black Crowes</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6mQfAAqZGBzIfrmlZCeaYT">Chaka Khan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0UKfenbZb15sqhfPC6zbt3">Devo</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6IRouO5mvvfcyxtPDKMYFN">Foreigner</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn">Tom Petty</a>, Neve, <a href="spotify:artist:7Ey4PD4MYsKc5I2dolUwbH">Aerosmith</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2JXDwIo5HsiwTcTPQytrZ8">Sponge</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5hW4L92KnC6dX9t7tYM4Ve">Joni Mitchell</a>, and producers <a href="spotify:artist:52nLyltGxLUNmtyL5cY707">Robert John "Mutt" Lange</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0sZa9vWsMzMfgEjnLqWCdI">Patrick Leonard</a>. The native Australian started his recording career after his family moved to London because of his father's business. While in his teens, a schoolteacher asked Shipley to sing on a record that he was making. After the experience, the teenager instantly felt that he'd found his life profession. Returning to Australia, Shipley graduated from high school and after a brief stint in art school, he quickly returned to London. A fan of the rock group <a href="spotify:artist:1dfeR4HaWDbWqFHLkxsg1d">Queen</a>, Shipley contacted Wessex Studios (where the band recorded their music). Beating out 200 other jobseekers, Shipley was hired by the studio manager. His first engineering sessions were during the punk-music explosion of the '80s and included recordings by <a href="spotify:artist:1u7kkVrr14iBvrpYnZILJR">the Sex Pistols</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6VeL8VhaMjHTPc5uovFl3h">the Damned</a>. His contemporaries at Wessex included producer <a href="spotify:artist:5UnZl2Izl86NC6yfVwG0CT">Roy Thomas Baker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4gAVmxB52ArQhbSXE5DLNY">Chris Thomas</a>, and engineers <a href="spotify:artist:7Dx9xrykZrUZd5aemucBMi">Tim Friese-Greene</a> and Bill Price. Asked by manager Elliot Roberts to work with <a href="spotify:artist:5hW4L92KnC6dX9t7tYM4Ve">Joni Mitchell</a>, Shipley came to Los Angeles.

When the alternative grunge sound became popular, Shipley was out of work, and he headed for Hawaii for a while to mull over his options. The turnaround came when he began getting calls from young bands who idolized <a href="spotify:artist:6H1RjVyNruCmrBEWRbD0VZ">Def Leppard</a>'s Pyromania. As busy as ever, one of Shipley's projects, <a href="spotify:artist:5e4Dhzv426EvQe3aDb64jL">Shania Twain</a>'s Come on Over, sold 15 million albums. In mid-1999, Shipley worked with Sony artist Nikki Hall and MCA Nashville artist Alecia Elliot. ~ Ed Hogan, Rovi