Thanks to KFatal at StreetHop who conducted this interview with engineer Dave Aron. I've italicised the parts where he mentions Prince.




First of all thank you for giving me a chance to do this interview, I really appreciate it.
Let's start by talking about how you got into engineering. What was your first major mainstream project you were involved with?

In Memphis after college I was chief engineer at the famous Sun Studio where I had a chance to work with my favorite band at the time, U2, for some songs on their "Rattle and Hum" album. I never received a credit on that album but when I got to LA I was getting assistant engineer credits on a multitude of albums including Tevin Campbell, Monie Love, Young MC, and Carmen Electra, but the first real big-time mix credits I got was for Prince's "My Name is Prince" and "Seven." Prince's work was done at Larrabee Studio in LA in 1992.

What events lead you to be in a position to work for Death Row Records?

I had been pursuing an independent mix career by working with local rap groups and just getting credits on a few major releases like a track on the Poetic Justice soundtrack and Mike Conception's Grand Jury, which was a pretty hard rap scene and a good transition to what was to follow. Then Larrabee Studios started calling me to work with Daz on a consistent basis and we hit it off well. Daz is Snoop's cousin and our relationship led to my working with Snoop. From there I began working with other Death Row artists as well.

Death Row has seemed to have a reputation of violence and gang affiliations outside and in the studio. Were you at all worried prior to working for the label and if so what were your thoughts after the experience?

I think that reputation of violence and gang affiliations worked to my advantage. At that time other engineers were literally too scared to work with the Death Row clients for fear that something might really happen. That's the reason why there was an opening for an engineer to do the work and I needed work of any sort so I thought those other engineers were crazy not to take the job. I was able to clearly see that this was a company with big budgets, working at top-notch studios, making good sounding music, and that this could very well have a future in it. I went to a really hood high school and it seemed like nothing to me to work with these guys. In fact, I got along well with ALL of them.
My thoughts after the experience turned out to be that I was right, the Death Row sound became the future of music. I knew that when kids loved it and parents hated it that gangsta rap was the new rock and roll. When people were telling me "I'm glad that you're working a lot, but I wish you were working on different music" I knew I was in the right spot.

There was alleged physical abuse towards engineers at Death Row from a number of sources, is there any truth to this?

There was a lot of truth to it. Like I said, I got along with everybody and NEVER had a problem with anybody. Of course, as in any gangsta situation you're gonna be tested. But I was used to that and I seemed to always pass. However, I have seen incidences of abuse towards engineers. I saw Tupac slap an engineer for losing a tape. I also saw an engineer run out of the room crying, screaming "Tupac's an asshole" I'm not sure what happened but I took over that session about 20 minutes later. I saw a pit bull lock on to an assistant's leg for ratting him out for pissing on the floor. One time after I had left the session, my assistant was forced to record a vocal at gunpoint! But other than that nothing bad really.

Let's talk about Tupac. Did you hear or listen to any of 2Pac's music prior to the AEOM studio sessions?

Yeah, the stuff I heard on the radio. "Dear Mama" had just won a Grammy, it was a huge hit song. I liked Digital Underground.

What was the vibe in the studio preparing to work with 2Pac bearing in mind he was just released from out of jail?

There was no preparation. I had just finished work on another song for Death Row and the session manager for DR told me Tupac was coming in in about 20 minutes and he asked if I could stay and work with him. I said "of course." I figured this might be a good opportunity and Tupac being with Death Row may somehow turn into something significant. I had two 24-track tapes with Daz's beats on them and I put up the first one and pac came to the studio straight from jail. That was the first time I met Tupac. I saw Suge give him his Death Row chain, walk out and Tupac went immediately into the vocal booth. We recorded "Ambitionz az a ridah" and "I ain't mad at ya" that night. He rapped "ambitionz" as though he had been waiting to spit those verses the whole time he was in jail. It was really exciting to have been a part of the historical session the night he got out of jail and to have helped create two classic songs like those.

2Pac has been known to have an unstoppable work ethic in the studio, can you describe how it was working with 2Pac?

He was very energetic. It was a treat to watch how quickly he could create a verse, for example he would come into the studio having written a hook in the car on the way over. The first thing he would say to me even before 'hi' was 'is the mic up?' I'd always say yes and he would say 'let me drop this hook.' He would drop the hook and come out of the booth and say 'run the beat' I would run the beat from the top of the song and by the end of the song he'd have the first verse written. He would go in the booth and drop the first verse, one take most of the times, a punch now and then. Then he would do his ad-libs, he wouldn't even listen to what he just did, he would just come out and say 'run the beat' again. And again he would finish his second verse by the end of the beat. This was his normal recording process. My favorite part was when he would do his intro and outros to the songs, like the time we recorded "Hit em up" and he really let em have it on the mic. That was the funnest thing to watch, was to see how into it he would get and put his 100% full heart into everything he was saying. Tupac was always a clown and a prankster. He would always have a comedic energy in the room. He would come in hyped and start clowning people in the room especially when he and Johnny J got together they would have mad jokes. I used to love to hear them two clown each other and when Tupac got onto other people he was hilarious.

What are the differences working with Tupac compared to Prince and U2?

Working with Tupac was a lot like working with Prince. They were two artists totally on top of their game and both of them demanded the same level of excellence from the people working with them. If you couldn't perform at the level that either of those artists expected you to not only would you be fired but you would be humiliated also. That was the main similarity between working with Prince and Tupac. And working with Prince totally prepared me for working with Tupac and many of the other artists I worked with because of his expectations. After working with Prince it was pretty much easy working with anybody else.

When I was working with U2, Jimmy Iovine was the producer of that project, before he was working at Interscope. That was a rare experience in itself. With U2 being my favorite group at one time and then actually working with them showed me that I could work with anybody no matter how impossible it may have seemed before. Since U2 and Prince I have worked with other bands that have been my favorites at times.

What is your favorite track from the AEOM sessions & were there any tracks cut from the release, if so do you recall the titles of these and artists involved?

I don’t know of any songs that didn’t make the album. Picking a favorite song is a tough one. I liked “no more pain” just because it was a strange beat and I liked working with Divante Swing. I liked the Bobcat track just because the session was so fun too. But working with Johnny J, we had a real vibe and I liked all his songs so I think that it’s too hard to pick just one.

How involved was Dr Dre with the album & was he supposed to appear on more tracks than the retail release?

No, I think he just did ‘California Love’ and the one with George Clinton on it ‘cant c me’ I’m not really sure about his fallout with Dre but it looked like they were having fun in that “California Love” video. I think the fallout had more to do with Dre’s beef with Suge than it did with him not wanting to work with more Tupac stuff.

Did Suge Knight have any input into the songs 2Pac was recording for this album & what musical role did he seem to play for Death Row?

What Suge said goes. He would allow an artist freedom to do what they did, but Suges ideas would usually materialize if he had one. One moment I remember vividly was when the giant 350 lb Suge Knight grabbed Snoop in one arm and Tupac in the other and crushed their two heads together into one and said “I think you two should do a song together.” It was a great visual and that’s how “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” came to pass.

With Snoop, how is it working with the man?

It couldn’t be better. He’s a great guy to be around, he’s fair to the people around him, there’s always a light carefree atmosphere, lot’s of clownin’ and the only thing that he asks in return is that you do your job well. Snoop took me to Detroit to see our favorite team, the Steelers, win the Super Bowl and meet the team and sit on the 50 yard line. If he never did anything else that would be enough. Through the 14 years I’ve known him we’ve developed a great relationship. I mix Snoops live shows too and to be on the road with someone for over 100 days of the year or be in the studio for 12 hours on end, you really do have to like that person. I couldn’t have been more blessed than to have the opportunity to work with Snoop. To work with TWO iconic figures such as Tupac and Snoop is the real blessing.

Were you involved in the making of Snoops new album?

I’ve been involved in the making of ALL of Snoops albums, including the last one “R&G”, the new Doggpound “Cali Iz Active” and Snoops upcoming “Blue Carpet Treatment.”

Which future projects are you going to be involved in?

If I could tell the future I would. I’m currently working with Jay-Z’s new artist TruLife on his major label debut.


Well Dave I definitely appreciate you giving me a chance to do this interview, you are definitely a legend in the music industry. Thank you so much and I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to do this interview for the fans.

Interesting insight into the work ethic.


I wonder if Prince ever held the micro-phone gun to Tony M.'s head and forced him to record a vocal?

Thanks for the thread!

Thanks -- good read.

Prince is to be respected for his work ethic, but he needs to remember that not everyone's a robot like he is. People are human.

Nice..thanks