Ottawa sound engineer 'completely honoured' by Grammy nomination
Phil Shaw Bova's 1st nomination is for his work on the latest Bahamas album
When Phil Shaw Bova dropped his kids off at school Friday morning, it was the start of just another hectic weekday.
By morning's end, however, he'd become a Grammy-nominated sound engineer.
The recording the 39-year-old's been nominated for is Earthtones by Canadian singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, better known as Bahamas.
CBC Radio's All In A Day a spoke to Bova to discuss the nomination, his work, and how he got here. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You've worked on several award-winning records, but this is the first time you've been named in a nomination. How does that feel?
I feel like I kind of work in the wings. I'm totally behind the scenes. Files are sent to me, and I don't often meet the client or the artist or the producer. There's a conversation we'll have about the project over the phone or over email and that's pretty much it.
It's very humbling and I'm completely honoured to be recognized. And I've worked on projects where the artists have won Junos before, and that's a huge honour, even though it's not me who's being nominated.
I've never been nominated for an award of any type in my life so I've never had my sights on the Grammys, ever.
Your father is Phillip Victor Bova, a longtime engineer and producer in Ottawa. He must have been really influential in your career path.
I really don't know any other way of life. I grew up in a studio, is really what it comes down to. I feel like I really didn't have a choice. I was just a fly on the wall for all sorts of sessions growing up, so you just learn — I would say learning by osmosis. It was never something that was formally taught. It was just something that was absorbed.
You're a mastering engineer. What exactly does that mean?
I get asked this all the time, even from people who are coming to me to have them master their records. It's like a trusted outsider's perspective. That's one way to look at it.
I try not to reinvent the wheel or put a huge stamp on things. I try to bring the most to what's already there. In basic terms, it's like going up to your treble control or your bass control on your stereo. And let's say one song is too boomy — you might just turn it down a little bit.
So mastering is taking all of those different songs, mixed at different times, making them all fit tonally into a cohesive-sounding record. That's what I do every day.
How long does it take to master a record?
It's usually a day-and-a-half to three days, all told, on a project.
Now, some projects will come in and you just know that they're going to be successful. That was the case with Earthtones, because I've worked on all [of Bahamas's] records. So I know to always expect greatness. Those guys make absolutely stellar records.
But this one, it's like, from the moment I hit play ... I knew right away, in my opinion, it was the best record he had done to date. It just floored me completely.
What is it about Bahamas' voice and music that sets him apart?
It's honesty. There are no gimmicks or trickery. Those are just good songs. He's an excellent songwriter. He's a great performer. He wears his heart on his sleeve with his delivery. And that comes across, and people connect to it.