Weezer's producer, Suzy Shinn on her big break with Katy Perry

A trailblazing producer, engineer, songwriter and guitarist, Suzy Shinn has built up an insane discography since assisting on a Katy Perry session, working with the likes of Tom Morello, Weezer and Fall Out Boy. She even finds the time to tour with The Blossom. We talk about how she achieved this multifaceted career, and the big role Waves plugins play in it.

With Shinn on a call to us from Los Angeles, Headliner asks if we’re right to surmise from her discography and general vibe that she grew up as a pop-punk fan, and how crazy it must be to end up working with the likes of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco?

“I love pop punk,” she says. “I grew up listening to the Warped Tour scene at the time — Blink 182 and those kinds of bands. My mum forced me to learn guitar. I didn’t want to at first, but then I fell in love with it. 

Then we got a MacBook, which was our in-house computer in the dining room. It came with GarageBand, and I started recording my own songs and little covers to put on MySpace. I ended up going to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, but I dropped out because I got an internship at a recording studio in L.A., and I've been here ever since.”

From there, Shinn seriously put the work in to climb the ladder of the music production world. She explains how aged just 18, she had tried “all the big fancy studios. But this random home studio in L.A. was the only place that said yes. 

"I was just going to be out here for the summer and then go back to Berklee. But I was too broke, I couldn't afford a plane ticket back! So I spent about a year doing six, seven days a week, up to 20 hours at the studio. And often it was cleaning toilets or getting food.”

Shinn has come a long way since then. And as you can perhaps sadly imagine, she’s had to overcome some sexist moments, for example musicians asking her to get them a coffee or to go and get the lead engineer, when she was the lead engineer. Nonetheless, that big breakthrough moment did come.

“I got the call at 7pm to come in at 8pm,” she says. “Katy Perry wanted to record a song that she was working on. I of course said yes, and the next thing you know Katy was asking if I wanted Taco Bell or if I wanted a Red Bull! She was a dream. Her voice – it's exactly everything you would imagine. An insane voice and talent.”

Scroll through Shinn’s credits, and you’ll see one of her most successful working relationships has been with none other than Weezer — and while it’s been well documented that she’s the 26-year-old who produced their latest album, Van Weezer, she originally became known to the band after working as vocal producer on a song that was the result of a long and passionate fan campaign, a cover of Africa by Toto.

Surely this was the most fun Shinn has ever had in a studio? You only have to watch the music video starring Weird Al Yankovic to get an idea.

“Rivers (Cuomo) and I did all the vocals,” she explains. “We first went in the studio and did Rosanna, the other Toto song! Everyone was like, ‘We want to hear Africa!’ And in true Weezer fashion, they're like, ‘We're gonna record Rosanna and give them almost Africa. 

"But when we did do Africa, we were looking up YouTube videos, learning all the acapellas and hearing all the harmonies. So all the vocals and ad libs are exactly how Toto originally did them. That was a really fun record.”

Knowing Shinn is a big collaborator and user of Waves plugins, we discuss how she uses them. 

“I love Waves,” she confirms. “For all of my vocals, I use the SSL Channel all the time. Oh my god, the H Delay as well! For my go-to Waves plugins, the J37 Tape plugin is certainly one. I really love the CLA 2A because it’s super fast. The OneKnob Phatter and the Pumper are ones I use a lot too. The DeEsser is in my sessions all of the time. The PuigChild is a go-to for sure also.”

In terms of Waves plugins Shinn feels might not be as well known, she mentions Vocal Rider.

“I don't see it being used that much when I go through other people’s sessions. And it's so good! I remember sitting in a session mixing something and hearing Vocal Rider for the first time, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, why does it sound so good?’ It sounds so even the whole time with Vocal Rider doing most of the work — there was barely anything out on the channel. I think that's overlooked.

“I really think the CLA Vocals are overlooked because on first glance, it's one of the plugins that claims it can do everything. When seconds and minutes matter in a vocal session, it's just perfect. I think that OneKnob Pumper is so fast and a little overlooked. I don't see it in that many sessions and I think, ‘Yo, you should use that!’”

Like some of the huge rock bands she has collaborated with, Shinn is bulldozing her way through the music industry with impressive power. Do also check out The Blossom, the band she tours with, and her upcoming projects with even more uber-famous acts such as Tom Morello, The Wombats, and The Drums.