David Pemberton

What did you do before joining dBs?  

I taught at Spirit (SSR) on a variety of modules for the electronic music and the music production courses. I also taught an evening class on an Industry course. I have and remain a freelance sound engineer and producer, I am Grammy-nominated for best dance mix with Groove Armada's Superstylin'. I write and release my own music, too.

‍

Why did you first get into sound engineering?  

I watched a documentary on Brian Eno recording U2. I was in a band at the time and decided production and sound engineering was more suited to my talents.

‍

Any special areas of interest?  

I specialise in mixing, but I love to record live bands in a big studio! I also have a strong interest in Dolby Atmos and immersive audio. I was one of the first 5.1 mixers in London/Europe, mixing Orbital “The Altogether” in stereo and 5.1.; the first 5.1 album to be released.

‍

What do you love most about what you do?

I love working across different genres of music and getting to work with some of the top musicians in the world.

‍

Tell us about your proudest career moment?

Getting a Grammy nomination for mixing Superstylin'. Also getting 100k streams of my own solo album recently, in my mid 50’s!

‍

What do you get up to outside of your role at dBs? 

My whole life is pretty much based around music of some kind - I don't stop working often. When I do, I like to travel and to scuba dive.

Tell us something our students may not know about you?

I recorded the vocals for The Spice Girls' first album.