Harry Sutcliffe

Harry Sutcliffe is a British sound engineer, songwriter and musician, probably best known for his sequencing and programming work with numerous electronic British pop-music bands.

Career

Sutcliffe began playing bass guitar and drums for various local bands before gaining a position at a local independent label, Wye Records who had previously been contracted with UB40. After gaining an experience with the A&R side of the business, to which Harry would later return to, he worked as a freelance songwriter composing and arranging background music for television shows and commercials. His work on this front got him noticed and he subsequently gained work as a respected sound engineer in various studios working alongside numerous record producers including Pascal Gabriel, Ricki Wilde, Axel Kröll, Chris Hughes and Mike Edwards. His studio and live work has included working with Deacon Blue, Do, And Why Not,^[1] Eurythmics, Level 42, Aztec Camera, Meja, Janet Jackson, Richard Darbyshire, Ellis, Beggs and Howard,^[2] Mecano, Living Colour, Eros Ramazzotti, EMF, Axel Bauer, Hothouse Flowers, Jamiroquai, Simple Minds and Jesus Jones.

Sutcliffe latterly formed a group called There She Was, engineering as well producing their recorded material.^[3] This group had become known around the UK for their live performances and post-punk sound and often headlined local festivals with other successful bands including Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

Post career

In the late 1990s he moved into the business side of the music industry, initially as an A&R manager for Arista Records working closely with Blondie, Natalie Imbruglia, Kent, Five, Beth Orton, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Brown, Westlife and Death in Vegas. He also returned to the studio to work on producing material for Nan Vernon formerly of The Spiritual Cowboys

References