Jim Abbiss

Who is Jim Abbiss?

Jim Abbiss is a British music producer, best known for his work on records including Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Ladytron's Witching Hour, Sneaker Pimps' debut Becoming X, and both of Adele's albums 19 and 21.

He started his music career playing keyboards with Peterborough band The Pleasure Heads, on Red Rhino Records, before getting his first studio job at Spaceward Studios near Cambridge, in 1986. It was here that he trained under maverick engineer & producer Owen Morris. He moved to become an assistant engineer at Power Plant studios, London in 1988, and witnessed first-hand the acid house movement through countless remix sessions.

He went freelance in 1990, and Steve Hillage became a regular collaborator on remixes & album sessions. He then met producer Nellee Hooper, and worked as his engineer on albums for Björk, Massive Attack, as well as the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack & many more remixes. This association established Abbiss and led to a meeting and future collaborations with James Lavelle & DJ Shadow. More remixing and the critically acclaimed Psyence Fiction album by Unkle led to him being offered more production work. He co-produced the Sneaker Pimps debut, Becoming X, and the debut LP by Mono. At the same time, song-writing with singer Laura Mohapi led to a publishing contract with Chrysalis music, and a short-lived return to the world of the artist with the band Darling.