Behind the Scenes: Kanye’s Engineer Talks “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”

Andrew Dawson, the engineer behind Ye’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” opens up to LA Times Blog and discusses his engineering role Ye’s latest album. Peep a few excerpts:

Describe how you started working with Kanye West. And what do think it’s taken for you to be successful working with him prior to his latest album? When Kanye was halfway through “The College Dropout,” he’d fired about six to eight engineers in about a month because they weren’t up to snuff, and it was eventually my turn to be next on the chopping block. I haven’t been fired since, seven or eight years later.

How did you get involved with the “Fantasy” album, and what were some things you talked with Kanye about in terms of engineering and mixing it? “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” pretty much started New Year’s Eve 2009. He flew everyone out to Hawaii the day before New Year’s Eve … and I remember on New Year’s Eve I was in the studio getting everything ready to go for the next day. And on Jan. 1, we were getting into the recording sessions and worked pretty much 24-7 for six months straight out of Hawaii. I literally would leave to go shower, change clothes and come back to the studio. There weren’t many beach days. But Kanye went through his process and worked on it solid for a good six to seven months.

But as far as engineering, there are certain sounds and certain production aspects that he really likes. If there’s a sound or an idea he wants, he’ll take it to, like, an extreme, to where you start to wonder, “Why is this so far out there?” Then he’ll pull it back to a perfect amount. He’s the master of knowing how to push things almost too far. …  I did some co-production on “Power.” I was the one who found that “21st Century Schizoid Man” sample and chopped it up.

What’s it like seeing some of the projects you’ve done this year — like Kanye’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and Drake’s “Thank Me Later” — do as well as they have been given that you were behind the scenes helping to create them? It’s kind of cool for me to see people get excited about because it’s something I lived every day. So while the process is going on, I can feel the energy of how exciting and interesting it is, but it doesn’t really hit me until the album comes out. While I’m making the album I’m super critical and analytical and when it comes out, I’m like, “Now I can enjoy it” and be a bit detached from it.