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Chris Tsangarides

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Chris Tsangarides
Birth nameChristopher Andrew Tsangarides
Born(1956-08-17)17 August 1956
Died6 January 2018(2018-01-06)(aged 61)
GenresHard rock,heavy metal,alternative rock,pop
Occupation(s)Record producer, sound engineer, company owner, musician, songwriter
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1975–2018
LabelsDark Lord Records

Christopher Andrew Tsangarides(17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018)[1]was a Britishrecord producer,sound engineer,and mixer ofGreek Cypriotorigin.[2]He was best known for his work with manyheavy metalartists, includingGary Moore,Thin Lizzy,Judas Priest,Helloween,Anvil,Angra,Anthem,Yngwie Malmsteen,andTygers of Pan Tang.

Tsangarides worked with many pop and alternative artists as well, includingDepeche Mode,UK Decay,Tom Jones,Concrete Blonde,andThe Tragically Hip.

Career

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Chris Tsangarides learned to play piano as a child and studied trumpet at theRoyal Academy of Music,[3]before studying economics at college.[4]He started his career in the music business in 1974, as an apprentice atMorgan Studiosin London, one of the major independent recording studios in the UK at the time.[4][5]Initially, he worked there as a tape operator and his first job as sound engineer was onJudas Priest's second albumSad Wings of Destinyin 1976.[4][5][6]He engineered the British hit single "Naughty Naughty Naughty" in 1977, a pop song byJoy Sarney,whose success gave him much more work as engineer at the studio.[4]In that period he engineered and mixed albums ofnew waveacts, such asJapan'sObscure Alternatives(1978),[6]andjazz fusionreleases ofColosseum IIandBrand X.[4]Tsangarides befriended Colosseum II guitaristGary Moore,who asked him to produce his solo albumBack on the Streets(1978), which was Tsangarides's first job as producer.[4]The song "Parisienne Walkways",sung on the album by Thin Lizzy'sPhil Lynott,was a hit in the UK.[7]Tsangarides continued working with Moore on live albums and producedBack to the Bluesin 2001.[4][8]

When Morgan Studios 3 and 4 were acquired byZomba Managementin 1980 and rechristenedBattery Studios,[9]Tsangarides was hired by the new owners as part of a team of "in-house producers" which includedRobert John "Mutt" Lange,Martin Birch,Tony Plattand Nigel Green.[6]

During the 1980s and up to the 1990s, Tsangarides became notable on thehard rockandheavy metalscene for the quality of his job and for having produced signature albums, such asAnvil'sMetal on Metalin 1982,[3][10]Thin Lizzy's acclaimed final studio releaseThunder and Lightningin 1983[3][11]and theGrammy nominatedPainkillerby Judas Priest in 1990.[3][8][12]He worked in those years withBlack Sabbath,[8]Ozzy Osbourne,Helloween,[8]Y&T,Tygers of Pan Tang,Anthem,Sinner,King Diamond,Ian Gillan,and produced alsoBruce Dickinson's first solo albumTattooed Millionaire(1990).[5][10]

Beside his work with metal bands, Tsangarides recorded songs for artists of other musical genres,[5]like singer/songwriterJoan Armatrading,pop starTom Jones,goth rockersthe Lords of the New Church,Killing Jokeand keyboardistJan Hammer.In 1987, he remixed the song "Never Let Me Down Again"bynew wavebandDepeche Modefor release as a single.[10]

The 1990s saw Tsangarides still at work with metal bands likeExodus,Overkill,Judas Priest again with the albumPainkiller,Japanese bandLoudnessand guitar virtuosoYngwie Malmsteen,[10]but he also produced for Britishgothic rockactthe Sisters of Mercyand thealternative rockgroupsthe Tragically HipandConcrete Blonde.[5][8]For the latter band, he also produced and engineered the hit single "Joey"in 1990.[13]In 1999, Tsangarides collaborated as a performer and songwriter withShin Hae-chulin the techno/metal act Monocrom. They made one album and did an arena tour in Shin's native Korea.[4]

At the beginning of the 2000s, Tsangarides had his own music company called Rainmaker Music, which included a recording studio with the same name in South London.[4]He later opened another studio called The Dump in Kenley, Surrey, which operated until January 2006.[14]Among others,New Model Army,Leanne Harte,Winters BaneandGlyderrecorded there.[14]

In 2006, Tsangarides opened a new recording facility, Ecology Room Studios in Kent, England, where he went on producing new and established acts on lower budgets than in corporate studios.[6]The Strawbs,Mountain,Steeleye Span,the Quireboys,Biomechanical,Spit Like This,Savage Messiahand many other bands recorded at his new facility. LunarMile, whose members include Toni-Marie Iommi (daughter of Black Sabbath'sTony Iommi) and Alex Hill (son of Judas Priest'sIan Hill), recorded there in June 2007.[15]

Tsangarides is featured inSacha Gervasi's documentary filmAnvil! The Story of Anvil,released in 2009, while at work on the albumThis Is Thirteen,which Anvil recorded at Ecology Room Studios.[6]

Between 2010 and 2013, Tsangarides collaborated with theBand Completeteam at SAE Athens. Tsangarides acted as the recording-sessions mentor, supervisor, recording engineer, and producer. Band Complete engaged students in several areas of creative media production/publishing and the professional life of a music band. Overall, Tsangarides mentored three intakes and engineered/produced EPs for Puta Volcano, Stonebringer, and Skinny Whales.

In February 2012, Tsangarides announced details of a new record label Dark Lord Records formed with the Strawbs frontmanDave Cousins.[16]The first release on the new label wasNormalityville Horrorby Spit Like This on 21 May.[16]

Tsangarides occasionally played guitar and performed live with the metal bandExmore / More 2012.[10]

He died ofpneumoniaandheart failureon 6 January 2018, aged 61.[17]

Technical accomplishments

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Tsangarides is known for a guitar recording technique called "the vortex", which he first used when recording the guitar ofJohn Goodsallfor the Brand X albumMoroccan Rollin 1977.[4]He later refined the technique, which gives to the recordings a random panning effect similar to a reverb, but obtained through a particular placement of microphones.[6][10]

Bands worked with

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Source:[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Legendary Rock Producer CHRIS TSANGARIDES Dead At 61".Blabbermouth.net.7 January 2018.Retrieved24 January2018.
  2. ^"Chris Tsangarides Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of Making Records".Metalshockfinland.com.11 February 2015.Retrieved17 August2020.
  3. ^abcd"Interviews: Chris Tsangarides".Rockpages.gr.Archived fromthe originalon 21 December 2014.Retrieved1 February2015.
  4. ^abcdefghij"Heavy Rain".Sound on Sound.July 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 21 December 2014.Retrieved21 January2015.
  5. ^abcdeKurutz, Steve."Chris Tsangarides biography".AllMusic.All Media Network.Retrieved1 February2015.
  6. ^abcdefSaxon, Jonathan (March 2009)."Ecology Now!"(PDF).Tape Op(70): 30–36. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 February 2015.Retrieved25 January2015.
  7. ^"Search for Parisienne Walkaways".Official Charts Company.Retrieved27 January2015.
  8. ^abcdeKrannila, Ville; Asell, Jari; Tattari, Kimmo (August 2009)."Chris Tsangarides".K. K. Downing Steel Mill. Archived fromthe originalon 29 November 2014.Retrieved3 February2015.
  9. ^Harris, Tony (2011)."Morgan Studios".Philsbook.com. Archived fromthe originalon 1 June 2013.Retrieved19 June2013.
  10. ^abcdefMatera, Joe (20 July 2011)."Chris Tsangarides: 'I Love Crazy Ideas That Sometimes Work'".Ultimate Guitar Archive.Archived fromthe originalon 3 February 2015.Retrieved2 February2015.
  11. ^Popoff, Martin(1 November 2005).The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties.Burlington, Ontario,Canada:Collector's Guide Publishing.ISBN978-1-894959-31-5.
  12. ^"33rd Grammy Awards - 1991".Rock on the Net.com.Retrieved3 February2015.
  13. ^"Bloodletting Billboard Singles".AllMusic.Rovi Corporation.Retrieved27 January2015.
  14. ^ab"Chris Tsangarides record producer video interview".Record Production.com.Retrieved1 February2015.
  15. ^"Tony Iommi's Daughter's Band Lunarmile 'On A Break'".Blabbermouth.net.8 April 2008.Retrieved3 February2015.
  16. ^ab"Spit Like This Signs with Dark Lord Records".Blabbermouth.net.2 March 2012.Retrieved1 February2015.
  17. ^"Chris Tsangarides, Famed Metal Producer, Dies".Ultimate Classic Rock.7 January 2018.Retrieved24 January2018.
  18. ^"Chris Tsangarides credits".AllMusic.All Media Network.Retrieved1 February2015.
  19. ^"Ocean of the Brave | Band Complete".14 May 2014.
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