Chris Allison

Christopher John Allison (born 1961) is a British record producer and founder head of Sonic360 Records.

Influenced by a range of musical styles encompassing rock, jazz, hip-hop, electronic, world and Latin. In his career spanning 1984 to the present, Allison has worked mainly as a record producer and label owner.

He is also well known amongst fans of the band Shack for having the only copy of their album Waterpistol following a studio fire, allowing it to be released.

History Allison got his first production break in 1987 producing The Wedding Present’s "My Favourite Dress" single. This became an indie hit with John Peel championing and giving it a No. 6 entry in his 1987 Festive Fifty. Of the same year he produced the Wedding Present's debut album George Best which racked up a further four song entries in the Festive 50. and the album Bizarro itself reaching #22 in the UK album charts. Things did not go too well, as Allison recalls: "Mick could never finish anything. I've never worked with anyone like him, but he's a songwriting genius and one of the most gifted artists I've ever worked with." Q Magazine included it in the Greatest Album Stories Ever (April 2012). 1998 saw Allison producing the album ‘Slain by Urusei Yatsura’ by Glaswegian band Urusei Yatsura with song 'Hello Tiger' reaching #40 in the UK Singles Chart.

The Beta Band came to Allison's attention in 1998, thanks to Parlophone A&R Miles Leonard. Leonard was a Shack ‘Waterpistol’ fan. He asked Allison to produce the ‘Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos’ and ‘The Patty Patty Sound’ EP's, that were later included in their entirety on The Three E.P.'s UK album chart position #35 and this led to production work on the album ‘The Beta Band’ UK album chart position #18.

‘Don’t Panic’, ‘See You Soon’ and ‘High Speed’ were featured on ‘The Blue Room (EP)' and ‘High Speed’ also featured on the Grammy award-winning album ‘Parachutes’ with the album reaching #1 on the UK Album Charts. Allison's version of ‘Don’t Panic’ is a more atmospheric version than the one that appears on the album Parachutes. In December 1999 looking for a new challenge Allison took off to Monterrey Mexico to produce the ‘Juan Manuel’ album for Latin America superstars ‘Plastilina Mosh’ signed to EMI Mexico. On his travels he discovered early Sonic360 signing and Mexican electro/funk/Latin artist Kinky, whose eponymous album was also produced by Allison.

Sonic360

Selected discography P=Produced / E=Engineered / M=Mixed / R=Recorded Acida – La Vida Real (album, Sonic360) Kinky – Atlas (album, Sonic360) – Exec. Producer (Grammy® Nominated) Kinky – Kinky (album, Sonic360) – P/M (Grammy® Nominated) Coldplay – The Blue Room (EP, Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E Coldplay – "High Speed" from Parachutes (Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E (Grammy® Awarded Album) Coldplay – Acoustic CD (EP, Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E Plastilina Mosh – Juan Manuel (album, EMI Music Mexico/Astralwerks) – P/M/E The Beta Band – The Beta Band (album, Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E The Beta Band – The 3 EP's (album, Capitol/EMI) - P/M/E The Beta Band – Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos (EP, Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E The Beta Band – The Patty Patty Sound (EP, Capitol/EMI) – P/M/E Dot Allison – "Message Personnel" from Afterglow (Heavenly) – P/M/E Paul K – Wilderness of Mirrors (album, Alias (U.S.)) – P/M Urusei Yatsura – Slain by Urusei Yatsura (album, Che/Coalition) – P/M/E Urusei Yatsura – Hello Tiger (EP, Che/Coalition) – P/M/E Urusei Yatsura – Slain by Elf (EP, Che/Coalition) – P/M/E The Chainsaw Kittens – Angel on the Range (album, Mammoth) – P/M Ned's Atomic Dustbin – "Scrawl" (Sony Music) – P/M Ned's Atomic Dustbin – "Prostrate" (Sony Music) – P/M Shack – Waterpistol (album, Ghetto/Marina) – P/M The Real People – "Believer" (Sony Music) – P/M The Real People – "Dream On" (Sony Music) – P/M The Real People – "What You Want" (Sony Music) – P/M The Milltown Brothers – "Which Way Should I Jump" (Big Round Recs.) – P/M Pale Saints – Half Life (EP, 4AD) – P/M Eat – Mr & Mrs Smack (EP, Fiction) – P/M The Flatmates – Shimmer (EP, Subway Records) – P/M The Wedding Present – Bizzaro (album, BMG/RCA) – P/M The Wedding Present – Kennedy (EP, BMG/RCA) – P/M The Wedding Present – George Best (album, Red Rhino) – P/M The Wedding Present – My Favourite Dress (EP, Red Rhino) – P/M