Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England) is an English

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms of electronic dance music and popular music outside of the genre. He has worked extensively with a variety of reggae artists as well as the musicians

Keith LeBlanc Keith LeBlanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead. His record " No Sell Out" was one of the first sample-based releases. The song was a success, charting at No. 60 on the UK Singles ...

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang ...

and

Skip McDonald Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949) Allmusic biography/ref> is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe. Career Early career Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who ...

. Sherwood has remixed tracks by

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

, Depeche Mode,

The Woodentops The Woodentops are a British rock band that enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s. History The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial lineup of Rolo McGinty (vocals, guitar, formerly of the Wild Swans a ...

, Primal Scream,

Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorp ...

, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy. In his role as a record producer he has worked with a variety of

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s; however, his best-known label is

On-U Sound Records On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Cha ...

which he founded in 1979. Sherwood has been a member of the band

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, in ...

. He considers himself

tone deaf Amusia is a musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch but also encompasses musical memory and recognition. Two main classifications of amusia exist: acquired amusia, which occurs as a result of brain damage, and c ...

, and focuses on making sounds and noises rather than melody.

Career

Sherwood was co-founder of Carib Gems and

Pressure Sounds Pressure Sounds is a British DIY record label, specializing in releasing reggae music. Run by Pete Holdsworth, it is one of the most enduring reggae labels in the UK, specializing in reissuing obsolete tunes. It was originally a subsidiary o ...

, and founder of Hitrun Records as well as Green Tea Records and Soundboy Records. He is also the fourth member of

industrial hip-hop Industrial hip hop is a fusion genre of industrial music and Hip hop music, hip hop. History 1980s The origins of industrial hip hop are in the work of Mark Stewart (English musician), Mark Stewart, Bill Laswell, and Adrian Sherwood. In 1985, f ...

outfit

, credited as "mixologist". During the early 1980s he brought together many

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n artists under the collective name of

Singers and Players Singers & Players were a reggae collective made up of vocalists and musicians associated with Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound Records. They recorded five albums between 1981 and 1988. Including artists such as Bim Sherman, Prince Far I and Mikey D ...

, including

Prince Far I Prince Far I (23 March 1945 – 15 September 1983) was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer, and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics about ...

Mikey Dread Michael George Campbell (4 June 1954 – 15 March 2008), better known as Mikey Dread, was a Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster. He was one of the most influential performers and innovators in reggae music. Biography Born in Port Anton ...

Bim Sherman , children = Chantelle Vincent, Rasiah Vincent Jarret Lloyd Vincent (12 February 1950 – 17 November 2000), better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman (others include Jarrett Tomlinson, Jarrett Vincent, Lloyd Vincent, J. L. ...

and many others; this helped promote the individual artists at the same time as promoting the On-U Sound Records label. He also worked with

Suns of Arqa Suns of Arqa are a world music collective founded in 1979 by Michael Wadada. Since the group's formation, over 200 people from around the world have played and recorded with them, and in many cases these were like-minded musicians Wadada met ...

on many of their early records. In 1982, Adrian produced an EP Hot Sagas with a version of Love for Sale sang by

Anne Pigalle Anne Pigalle is a French singer and multimedia artist (writer, musician, art performer, poet, photographer and painter). Biography Early career Pigalle grew up in Montmartre, Paris. As a teenager, she played guitar in an all-female band, hangi ...

, released on Illuminated Records. Together with Style Scott he formed the band

Dub Syndicate Dub Syndicate is a dub band, formed by Adrian Sherwood, which became a showcase for Adrian Sherwood's collaboration with Lincoln "Style" Scott, former drummer with the Roots Radics, Suns of Arqa and Creation Rebel. Dub Syndicate initially ...

, which went on eventually to produce over a dozen albums. In 1986, he began working with Jamaican dub producer and singer

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

. They produced the album ''Time Boom X De Devil Dead''. He made contributions to the

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

genre in his remix of

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh ( custom-made instruments; p ...

's song "Yü Gung" on the album ''

Halber Mensch ''Halber Mensch'' (or '' Mensch''; English: ''Half Person'') is the third studio album by German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten, released on 2 September 1985 by Some Bizzare Records in the U.K. and by What's So Funny About GmbH in Ger ...

'', as well as his production work with

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

, Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire,

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

Terminal Power Company Terminal Power Company was a British alternative music band. History Formed in 1989 in Birmingham, England, by Paul Aspel and John Roome, designed specifically to be a "cyberpunk band", the band cited many diverse visual influences on their m ...

and Nine Inch Nails. Sherwood has also delved into the blues, producing

Little Axe Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949)Allmusic biography/ref> is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe. Career Early career Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who ...

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

release ''Champagne & Grits'' in 2006. In 2003, Sherwood supported Blur at Wolverhampton Civic Hall. The same year, Sherwood released his first album as a solo artist, ''

Never Trust a Hippy ''Never Trust a Hippy'' is an EP by the American punk rock band NOFX, released March 14, 2006 through Fat Wreck Chords. Released a month in advance of the band's tenth studio album, '' Wolves in Wolves' Clothing'', the EP includes two tracks fr ...

'', which featured collaborations with various artists such as

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separ ...

, Steven "Lenky" Marsden, Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie and Jazzwad. In 2006 he released his second album ''Becoming a Cliché'', again with numerous artists such as Perry, the late Bim Sherman, Dennis Bovell, Little Roy,

LSK LSK (born Leigh Stephen Kenny, 26 July 1971 in Kent, England) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer based in Leeds, who uses a mix of reggae, punk rock and hip hop. He originated the style that has been compared to the Streets, w ...

, Samia Farah, Raiz and Mark Stewart. A limited edition, 2-disc version was released simultaneously with the second disc titled ''Dub Cliché''. On beginning a solo career, Sherwood stated: "I wanted to do some of my own writing and make something that was challenging for me... As a producer, it's my job to satisfy the artist foremost. I wanted to make something that was a little more aggressive and modern. I wanted to paint a picture that was contemporary, one that specifically showed where my brain was at. I've got to the point in my life where it's time for me to call all of the shots." He produced the original score for the 2006 independent film ''

Johnny Was ''Johnny Was'' is an Irish/English gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond, written by Brendan Foley, and made in 2005 by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film. It was released in the UK in 2006 by Sony Pictures and in t ...

'', starring

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

and

Samantha Mumba Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba (born 18 January 1983) is an Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, fashion model and TV presenter. In 2000, at the age of 17, she shot to fame with the release of her debut single " Gotta Tell You", which ...

. Since 2015, Sherwood has been recording with Bristol dubstep artist Pinch; they have released two albums under the moniker "Sherwood and Pinch". On 21 September 2022, American rock band

Spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily f ...

announced ''

Lucifer on the Moon ''Lucifer on the Moon'' is a dub remix album of songs from ''Lucifer on the Sofa'', the tenth studio album by American indie rock band Spoon. It is a track-by-track reworking, with all remixes by British dub producer Adrian Sherwood. It was annou ...

'', a track-by-track dub reworking of ''

Lucifer on the Sofa ''Lucifer on the Sofa'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Spoon, released on February 11, 2022, through Matador Records. Spoon began work on the album in late 2018 after the conclusion of their tour supporting ''Hot Thoughts'' (2017 ...

'', with all remixes by Adrian Sherwood. The album was released on November 4, 2022.

References

External links

Official Adrian Sherwood websiteMundoVibe.com interview with Adrian SherwoodOfficial On-U Sound WebsiteAdrian Sherwood RBMA lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwood, Adrian 1958 births Living people English record producers Real World Records artists Musicians from London British reggae musicians Dub musicians On-U Sound Records artists Tackhead members Fats Comet members