Radial’s David Bottrill – Gold Digging and Cherry Picking on his latest project

Canadian three time Grammy award winning producer David Bottrill recently wrapped up work remixing RUSH’s Vapor Trails album. Apropos as keeping up with Bottrill might feel like chasing an airplane’s vapor trail. He spends most of the year on the road.

Known for working across several genres, Bottrill travels to various studios to work with an impressive list of artists including Peter Gabriel, Godsmack, Kid Rock, Mudvayne, Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria and Silverchair. His latest projects have been in support of several Canadian artists including The Post War from Vancouver, Ménage, (a second generation Portuguese band of 3 family members), Broken Sons, and Dreamers. He is particularly enjoying the up and coming bands who seek his talents and mentorship. „I think young bands are now more entrepreneurial. They understand better the state of the industry and what it takes to be successful. They work hard and are much more switched on with regards to social media and building a fanbase.”

Bottrill credits his nine year tenure working in Peter Gabriel’s Real World studio with his ability to work in so many genres and achieve such consistent success. This ability also translates into his comfort settling into studios all over the world and getting to the business of producing. „I have enjoyed recording at both the Warehouse and Armoury in Vancouver, Metalworks, Nobel Street, DNA, Phase One and Revolution in Toronto and of course Real World in the UK. I am just about to spend some time in Sunset Sound Factory. I have not worked there, but friends have and I am looking forward to it.”

Bottrill’s arsenal of gear includes a JD7, JDV, a couple of Tonebone pedals and, most recently, the new Cherry Picker and Gold Digger. His current project is with the American post-hardcore band Chiodos. Working at Applehead and Dreamland studios in Woodstock NY, Bottrill packed along his new Gold Digger (studio mic selector) and Cherry Picker (mic preamp selector), products built to increase efficiency in the studio. Bottrill offered some immediate feedback: „It’s going great! We used both the Cherry Picker and Gold Digger to select mics and preamps. So easy to use! Our choices were the M251, My M7s and a C37A. Preamps were a Neve 33115, API 512 and a Boutique model from Applehead. We went with the C37A into a Neve, but we wanted to keep a few options open and quick switching between 3 different mics, so we left the Gold Digger in line so we could easily and quickly switch between mics for different performances. We even added a 58 for screaming through the Gold Digger and it has sped up our workflow without having to switch inputs and mic pre’s each time we wanted to change performance areas. Today alone, we did two lead vocals through the C37A and chants as well as multiple scream sections through the 58. Great units, and of course sound transparent and clean.”