Interview with Producer & Musician George Shilling
We recently had the pleasure of hanging out with producer and musician George Shilling, whose credits include David Knopfler, Dirty Slippers, Stephen Wicks, Tony Iommi and many more.
Thanks so much for spending time with us today, George. Can you tell our readers a little bit more about you and your work?
I started playing the cello at the age of 7, growing up in a very musical household. Both of my parents were opera singers, which was always a bit embarrassing when I had friends over, especially since my dad would often be practicing his singing in the front room. He was a principal baritone at the English National Opera at the London Coliseum, and I was frequently dragged along to their performances.
I decided to attend the Royal College of Music, where my father had also studied, taught, and performed. I had to go in five days a week, which felt a bit old-fashioned, especially since I was far more interested in rock and roll!
Tell us more about your work on AirGigs.
A lot of my work is remote these days and I love AirGigs because it brings projects to me that I wouldn’t otherwise trip over. It’s nice that people can browse the website, and they might go ‘oh he’s worked with Steve Winwood! I love Steve Winwood!‘ and then that gives me that little bit of credibility. When a project comes through, I want to give the artist what they’re requesting and its fun trying to sus out what’s going to work and what will achieve what they’re hoping for with my cello parts.
That’s awesome! Can you share with us a bit more about your process?
When I first work with an artist, I typically ask if they have a specific part in mind. Sometimes they’ll send me a recording of themselves singing their ideas, other times they provide a PDF score or a MIDI version. In some cases, I’ll ask if they’d like me to create something I believe would suit the track. The most important thing is to make sure I clearly understand what we’re aiming to achieve.
When writing cello parts, I prefer the old-school method of drafting my ideas on manuscript paper. One of my most frequent collaborators is David Knopfler, a former member of Dire Straits and a neighbor of mine. I helped him mix an album 24 years ago, and in the past five years, we’ve reconnected, with me creating numerous cello parts for his music. He sends me the track, and I sit down, hum along to it in my head, and jot down my ideas, working bar by bar until I find something that fits. The cello is in a similar range to my voice, so I can sing along with the track, adjusting until I find a part that complements the vocals without clashing, but still adds something interesting. It’s all about finding that balance—ensuring the cello fills the gaps without overshadowing the bass line or anything else. Once I’ve stitched the best bits together, I send it off to David. Despite being neighbors, we hardly see each other; everything is done online, just like how you work through platforms like AirGigs. Nine times out of ten, he’s happy with whatever I send him—it’s the beauty of modern technology!
Contact George about your next project.