Ducking & Diving: A Life In The Music Business by Louis Austin

Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing producer Louis Austin (https://sosm.ag/LouisAustin). We explored his career in the music industry, which began with a job at De Lane Lea studios in London — back then the tape op/tea boy route to engineering success was still the way things were done, and Louis soon found himself working with big household names. He had so many great stories to tell that we really didn’t have space to include them all, and so we suggested that he write a book. He’s now done exactly that!

Called Ducking & Diving: A Life in the Music Business, this candid and often humorous autobiography charts the arc of Louis’ career, and there are many wonderful anecdotes dropped in along the way. It’s available in paperback and hardback versions, and is packed with lots of photos, engaging stories and genuinely interesting insights.

Louis cut his teeth on sessions with Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, before working on early demos for Queen, and on high‑profile albums from artistes of many different styles, ranging from Chas & Dave to Sweet, Deep Purple, Ian Gillan and many more, not to mention cult film The Wicker Man. I get the impression that Louis was happiest working with rock bands. He describes his career as “navigating the high‑stakes chaos of recording” when working with legendary bands, and he worked on a number of gold albums.

Louis offers a rare insight into the long hours, high‑pressure environment of the studio in those days.

The job wasn’t all glamour though, and Louis offers a rare insight into the long hours, high‑pressure environment of the studio in those days. He describes it as survival without a map, where resilience is just as important as technical ability. There are some wonderful tales of working in Canada and Ibiza, as well as in a number of UK studios and live recording venues that included Clearwell Castle in the Forest of Dean. He also worked in Montreux recording Nazareth with Roger Glover producing, and at the legendary Startling studios — he even got to work with Ringo Starr. The book, which runs to 179 pages, includes tales of police, handcuffs, shotguns, noise problems and being held at Canadian immigration!

The book is richly illustrated.

The book also goes into life beyond the studio. He’s something of a car obsessive, and the last section of the book is devoted to the cars that he’s owned throughout his career, starting with a rusty old Ford Anglia he bought in 1967. When he left the recording world, Louis helped handle distribution for a number of well‑known brands as well as helping then‑newcomers SPL, whose first product was the Vitalizer. But not before having to make ends meet by painting and decorating, and driving mini cabs. Then Louis hit on the idea of Home Service, a business designed to help home studio owners make the right gear choices and get it set up properly.

Louis’ design for a mobile recording truck in 1974.

Several adventures later, Louis moved into PR helped by his wife, a journalist who taught him to write concise and appealing copy. During that time Louis worked with a number of big‑name companies including Genelec and Quested. Louis tells me that he keeps intending to retire, but he’s recently been successful in festival photography and website design... so there’s no sign of pipe and slippers yet! This book is an easy, entertaining read, and a great insight into studio work ‘back in the day’.