Andrew Dawson (born March 12, 1980) is an American

music 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 ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

mixer Mixer may refer to: Electronics * DJ mixer, a type of audio mixing console used by disc jockeys * Electronic mixer, electrical circuit for adding signal voltages * Frequency mixer, electrical circuit that creates new frequencies from two signals ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Dawson is a three-time Grammy award winner and six-time Grammy nominee, having won for his work as engineer and mixer on Kanye West's '' Late Registration'' (2005), ''

Graduation Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...

'' (2007), and '' My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' (2010) - each winning the Best Rap Album category. Dawson is also credited with additional production on '' My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy''. Although Dawson made his initial breakthrough with hip hop artists including

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, Jay-Z,

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

, Tyler The Creator, and P.O.S, Dawson has also moved on to produce and work on records for pop, indie and rock bands including fun.,

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

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 ...

Sleigh Bells Sleigh Bells may refer to: * Sleigh bells, a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. * Sleigh Bells (band) Sleigh Bells is an American musical duo based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2008 and ...

, Baskery and Night Terrors of 1927.

Life and career

Personal life

Dawson began playing piano at the age of 5, studying jazz and classical piano at a private music conservatory until the age of 16. During the last few years of high school, Dawson interned at a Minneapolis recording studio and during the summers did live sound mixing for outdoor concerts.An Interview with Grammy Award–Winning Mixer/Engineer/Producer Andrew Dawson
Dawson then attended Berklee College of Music in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, where he majored in Music Production & Engineering. While living in the Boston area Dawson worked at

Lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...

- a company famous for manufacturing digital reverb units including the 480L.Andrew Dawson: Interview
/ref> In 2001 Dawson moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked as an assistant then later became a staff engineer at Sony Music Studios. Dawson prefers to work on projects that have meaning, due to his passion for music, and work with artists who are equally as passionate about their records. Dawson currently works and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Work with Kanye West

In 2003, midway through the recording and producer sessions for

's ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received p ...

'', Dawson was called to try for the position of Kanye West's engineer. The rap artist and producer

had gone through a string of seven engineers, all of whom were fired.Producer's Corner: Andrew Dawson
/ref> Dawson was able to impress the rap star and maintained his position. Since then Dawson has worked as

's primary audio and mixing engineer. In a period spanning almost 9 years, Dawson has been directly involved in all five

studio album releases, totaling in sales of over 11 million records and four #1 US albums.Peak chart positions for albums in the United States: * and

SoundEQ Studios

Dawson currently has his own studio, SoundEQ Studios in Hollywood. The majority of fun.'s chart topping album '' Some Nights'', including #1 single "

We Are Young "We Are Young" is a song recorded by American band Fun, featuring American singer Janelle Monáe. It is the third track on the group's second studio album, '' Some Nights'' (2012). The song was released on September 20, 2011 as the lead sing ...

" was recorded at SoundEQ Studios.Interview: Andrew Dawson
/ref> Dawson has hosted co-writing sessions with artists and writers including Andy Grammer, Hudson Taylor, Baby E, Zack Waters,

K.Flay Kristine Meredith Flaherty (born June 30, 1985), better known as K.Flay, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and rapper. Her debut album '' Life as a Dog'' was released in 2014, peaking on ''Billboard''s Heatseekers Albums chart at No. ...

Michelle Branch Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums: ''The Spirit Room'' and ''Hotel Paper.'' She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Coll ...

, Kimbra, and Jimmy Harry.

Discography

* Indicates Grammy win.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Andrew 1980 births Living people Record producers from Minnesota American audio engineers Place of birth missing (living people) Berklee College of Music alumni Musicians from Minneapolis Businesspeople from Minneapolis Hopkins High School alumni