Peter Collins
Despite appearing an odd choice to produce a rock album, “pop producer” Peter Collins was very comfortable in that genre. “My background was in the actual British folk revival of the sixties and seventies,” he says. “I was a singer songwriter and that’s where my taste lay.” By the mid-seventies, however, he found he was getting more enjoyment out of bringing the best out of others, than recording for himself.
In 1979 Peter had his first hit as a producer. He worked with a number of artists including Tracey Ullman, Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw, on which he was joined by a very junior apprentice engineer, Dave Meegan. “The main thing I tried to learn from Peter was his interaction with people, and getting the best out of artists, which is 50% of production anyway,” says Dave. “Everybody that worked for him, worked absolutely to the best – artists, tape ops, engineers, everyone.” Neil Peart explained the other fifty percent in an interview. “Peter holds himself aloof from the technique and technology, and rightly considers these things to be the domain of the musicians and the engineer,” explained Neil. “His job is to keep the project moving, and to ensure that craft is not allowed to interfere with art – the song. That’s his secret, if he has one.”
When circumstances dictated he was no longer able to work with his preferred engineer Julian Mendelson, Peter started working with Jimbo Barton. The first collaboration was Gary Moore, following which the pair went to work with – or on – Rush. Peter did more than produce ‘Power Windows’ and ‘Hold Your Fire’ – he restored the band’s faith in their own abilities. He felt unable to work on what became ‘Presto’ – this privilege fell to Rupert Hine. Peter did, however, come back on board for ‘Counterparts’ and ‘Test For Echo’.
In between his first two Rush productions, Peter worked on ‘Enough Is Enough’ with Billy Squier. The project was less than successful – “It went really, really, very badly,” says Peter. “My confidence was really undermined at that point. God bless Rush, they called me back to work on ‘Hold Your Fire’. It was an incredible experience and after making that record I felt back in the game again.”
Today Peter is based in Nashville. Over the years he has worked with Queensrÿche and Alice Cooper, The Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith, Leann Rimes and Elton John. His hobbies include flying model aeroplanes.