Barry Sage is a British sound engineer and producer, currently living in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Chile. Sage has worked with a variety of British and Latin American acts, including the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...

and Charly García.

Career

Sage began his career as a tea boy at

Trident Studios Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry. ...

in London, later going on to be a tape operator assisting

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, among others.

Rolling Stones

Initially as the assistant to

Chris Kimsey Christopher Kenneth Kimsey (born 3 December 1951 in Battersea, London, England) is an English record producer, mixer and musician most famous for having co-produced The Rolling Stones' ''Undercover'' and '' Steel Wheels'' albums. He was also an ...

, Sage worked with the

twice, in 1978 (on ''

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...

'') and 1981 (''

Tattoo You ''Tattoo You'' is the 16th British and 18th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 24 August 1981 by Rolling Stones Records. The album is mostly composed of studio outtakes recorded during the 1970s, an ...

''). Particularly given the drug-use scandal hanging over

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

at the time, the period was frenetic. In a 2014 interview, Sage described long days in the studio and a prolific output of 40 tracks and 80 reels. During the production of ''Tattoo You'',

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and Sage were working alone one night when Jagger asked Sage to record himself clapping for a song. That song, "

Start Me Up "Start Me Up" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1981 album ''Tattoo You''. Released as the album's lead single, it reached number one on Australian Kent Music Report, number two in Canada, number two on the ''Bi ...

", would go on to international success, with Sage estimating in a 2017 interview that the lifetime royalties he received for his work on the track totalled some 15 million Chilean pesos (roughly

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

22,000).

Post-Stones and shift to Spanish pop

After the Stones, Sage went on to assist on a considerable number of songs for major musicians, including " Blue Monday" by New Order and the soundtrack for ''

Under the Cherry Moon ''Under the Cherry Moon'' is a 1986 romantic musical comedy-drama film starring Prince and marking his directorial debut. The film also stars former The Time member Jerome Benton, Steven Berkoff, Kristin Scott Thomas (in her feature film debut) ...

'' by Prince, whom Sage described as "very demanding of his musicians". By the late 1980s Sage shifted to Spanish pop amid changes in the British music industry, working with

La Oreja de Van Gogh La Oreja de Van Gogh (; English: "Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh's Ear") is a Spanish Pop music, pop band from San Sebastián, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. The band's lyrics and compositions are written primarily by Xabi San Martín, and addition ...

and

Sergio Dalma Josep Sergi Capdevila Querol (born 28 September 1964), professionally known as Sergio Dalma, is a Spanish singer. He is one of Spain's best-selling recording artists, having topped Spain's official Productores de Música de España national albu ...

, among others. By 2000, he was searching for a house in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Move to Chile

Sage's first involvement with Chilean music came in 1994. He was selected to mix '' Esperando nada'' by

. for BMG. Two years later, he would make his first visit to the country, to record the album ''Play'' for local rock group . His relationship with Solar frontman Alejandro Gómez proved fruitful when Gómez started a new group, , with which Sage also worked. Sage returned to Chile in 2010 for a panel discussion sponsored by the

Duoc UC Duoc UC is an accredited, non-profit private institute of higher education in Chile. It was founded under the umbrella of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in 1968, which provides technical and professional degrees through practical ...

. In 2012, after labour issues arose in Spain, Sage moved to

, and two years later, he bought a plot of land in

Isla Negra Isla Negra is a coastal area in El Quisco commune in central Chile, some 45 km (70 km by road) south of Valparaiso and 96 km (110 km by road) west of Santiago. Pablo Neruda Isla Negra is best known as the residence of Chile ...

to build a recording studio, but sold it in order to resolve financial matters in England. Sage also cited a better work-life balance in Chile as a reason to relocate, as well as that major artists in the UK increasingly make money from their back catalogue and produce few new recordings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sage, Barry Living people English audio engineers Year of birth missing (living people) Audio production engineers Chilean music people Place of birth missing (living people)