Louis Austin went from a car mechanic to being tape op on classic blues rock seminal tracks like Oh well and Green Manalishi by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac…well this is the kind of thing that happened in the 1960’s and the charismatic Louis took it in his stride, becoming a busy engineer at De Lane Lea: Dean Street, Kingsway and Wembley – All kitted out with the latest cutting edge Sound Techniques ‘A Range’ consoles of the time.
The Part’s You Don’t Hear met Louis in his leafy South-West London suburb as he fondly talked about his early career, firstly under engineer and mentor Martin Birch, to taking over the engineering helm for the likes of Queen, Sweet and a wide variety of rock, pop and soundtrack projects such as The Wicker Man.
Many thanks to Louis for his time and candour. Many thanks also to Marco, one of our regular shooters. If you would like to follow Louis’ music credits, as well as his career in photography and web design in more detail please visit his website.