FLOOD (PRODUCER)

'Mark Ellis', better known as 'Flood', is a British post punk/alternative rock record producer whose work often blends synthetic and organic elements.
Some of his most well-known collaborations include Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, U2, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Sound, Erasure, Curve, Nitzer Ebb, The Killers, and PJ Harvey.

Contents

Biography

Pseudonym

Career

References

External links

Biography

Enigmatic yet ubiquitous, Flood was among the most acclaimed British producers of the post-punk era, his extensive output including albums by U2, Depeche Mode, and the Smashing Pumpkins. He was born Mark Ellis, and attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington from 1971-1978. Some people think his music career began playing bass in the mod revival band the Lambrettas but it's not true (not the same Mark Ellis) ; in fact he accepted a job as a runner in a London recording facility, swiftly moving up through the ranks to become the house engineer. From there he went freelance, scoring his first major credit as an assistant engineer on New Order's 1981 debut album, Movement. He reportedly acquired the name Flood due to his efforts to keep everyone in the studio awake by constantly brewing tea.

Pseudonym

Several rumors describe the origin of Ellis' ubiquitous pseudonym, "Flood." Two are worth mentioning:
# It was given to him when he was a studio assistant due to his strategy of keeping studio hands and musicians awake through the "constant brewing" of tea. [1]
# ''Future Music Magazine'' stated in 1994 that it was because he constantly spilled tea in the studio.

Career

Flood's music career began in 1978, when he got a job as a runner at London's Morgan Studios.
In September 1980, he was guitarist for the band ''Seven Hertz'', who recorded, produced and released a cassette album under the title ''Forbidden Frequency''. The album comprised seven original songs and was originally scheduled to also feature a cover version of The Velvet Underground's song "White Light/White Heat", until the song's publishers denied permission.
In 1981, Flood went on to work solo, scoring his first major studio project as an assistant engineer on New Order's debut, ''Movement''. He went on to work alongside Soft Cell, Psychic TV, and Cabaret Voltaire, also engineering Ministry's ''With Sympathy'', before helming his first true production project with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on ''From Her to Eternity'' (1983-1984). This was followed by ''The Firstborn Is Dead'' (1984), ''Kicking Against the Pricks'' (1985-1986), ''Your Funeral... My Trial'' (1986), ''Tender Prey'' (1987-1988) and ''The Good Son'' (1989).
For Erasure, he engineered on ''Wonderland'' (1986) and ''The Circus'' (1987).
1987 saw Flood's first big commercial break when he engineered U2's ''The Joshua Tree'' alongside producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. From there, he worked with The Silencers on ''A Blues for Buddha'', Nine Inch Nails on ''Pretty Hate Machine'', Depeche Mode on ''Violator'', and Pop Will Eat Itself on ''This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is This''. In 1991 he then went on to work again with U2 on ''Achtung Baby'', along with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite.
1992 saw Flood producing the The Charlatans on their second album, ''Between 10th And 11th''. Meeting a lukewarm reception when released, the album is now generally much more appreciated.
In 1993, Flood graduated from engineering U2's albums to producing them, sharing duties with Brian Eno on ''Zooropa''. The same year he also reunited with Depeche Mode for the album ''Songs of Faith and Devotion''.
In 1994, he worked again with Nine Inch Nails, this time on the groundbreaking ''The Downward Spiral''.
In 1995 Flood worked with two very successful bands — The Smashing Pumpkins, with ''Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'', sharing production duties with long time collaborator Alan Moulder, and PJ Harvey, with ''To Bring You My Love'' — albums that were big hits that year. Shortly thereafter, he assisted producer Nellee Hooper on The Sneaker Pimps' ''Becoming X''.
In 1997, Flood teamed up with U2 once again to produce ''Pop''. The next year, he assisted Billy Corgan and Brad Wood on The Smashing Pumpkins's ''Adore'' and co-produced PJ Harvey's album ''Is This Desire?''.
In 2000, he co-produced ''Machina/The Machines of God'', by The Smashing Pumpkins, with Corgan. He also co-produced Erasure's ''Loveboat'' with the members of Erasure.
In 2002 he co-produced ''I To Sky'', by JJ72.
In 2004 he produced London based The Duke Spirit's debut album "Cuts Across The Land", which, due to financial issues, meant it was not released until a year and a label change later. In the same year co-produced U2's 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'.
The Summer of 2005 saw him mixing A-Ha's eighth album, ''Analogue'', which was released in November 2005. Another album he produced in 2005 was ''Any Minute Now'' by Soulwax.
In late 2005 and early 2006, Flood also worked on mixing Placebo's new album, Meds, which was released in March 2006.
In 2006 he co-produced The Killers' new album, ''Sam's Town'' with fellow English producer/engineer Alan Moulder. ''Sam's Town'' was released in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2006 and in North America on October 3, 2006.
In late 2006 Flood remixed the debut single by Dark Room Notes, "Love Like Nicotine", which was released in June 2007.

References

★ Ackney, Jason. ''Flood''. Music.com. 18 June 2004. Accessed 12 April 2005. [2].

★ Beyda, Adam. ''Flood''. Interview with Mark Ellis, excerpted from Music Producers. 2nd Edition. Accessed 12 April 2005. [3]

External links

★ http://www.sibcorp.com/writehitsongs/flood1.html

★ Flood biography on artistdirect.com