Nigel Godrich

 ( 1971 Births ) 

Godrich produced several albums by Travis, including their commercial breakthrough, The Man Who (1999), and its followup, The Invisible Band (2001). According to the Travis songwriter, Fran Healy, Godrich was frustrated after the gruelling sessions for Radiohead's albums Kid A and Amnesiac, and so "took it out on us because he couldn't take it out on Radiohead". The mood settled after an argument. Healy felt it was good for Godrich to work with "melodic" bands such as Travis as well as more experimental acts such as Radiohead. Godrich co-produced the Travis albums The Boy With No Name (2007) with Mike Hedges.

Godrich produced Pavement's final album, Terror Twilight (1999), with Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood contributing harmonica on two tracks. Godrich, a fan of the band, hoped to help them find a bigger audience with a less "sloppy" record. Songwriter Stephen Malkmus later described the album as "overproduced" and described conflicts with Godrich. In response, Godrich tweeted: "I literally slept on a friend's floor in NYC to be able to make that album." In 2020, Godrich said that he loved the album and had enjoyed making it.

In 2001, Godrich U2's "Walk On" for its single release, and mixed and contributed production to Air's albums Talkie Walkie (2004) and Pocket Symphony (2007). In 2002, Godrich was hired to produce the second album by the The Strokes, Room on Fire (2003). He was fired when their work, according to the band, proved "soulless". Godrich said of the failed collaboration: "The problem there was that me and singer are just too similar, we're both control freaks. He wanted to do it his way, I wanted to do it my way, and obviously that's the point of me being there. And I'm saying 'Well, why am I here if you're not prepared to try and do it the way I want to do it?' We got on great, it was just one of those laughable things where it just doesn't work. I wanted them to change, and they didn't."

Godrich produced the 20th-anniversary version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", released in December 2004, which featured artists including Paul McCartney, Yorke and Greenwood. Godrich said in 2009: "I'm glad I did it – it raised quite a bit of money. It came on when I was sitting in a lobby somewhere once, and it took me a while to recognise it. It sounded good though, better than I remembered." McCartney hired Godrich to produce his album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005) after he was recommended by the The Beatles producer, George Martin. Godrich fired McCartney's touring band and demanded that he abandon songs Godrich found clichéd, over-sentimental, or subpar. The album was nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and Godrich was nominated for Producer of the Year.

In 2010, Godrich and Beck composed the score for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Godrich's first film work. In October 2012, Godrich, along with Joey Waronker and singer Laura Bettinson, released an album as Ultraísta. In 2015, he produced the live album , and made a cameo as a Stormtrooper in . He mixed the Red Hot Chili Peppers' eleventh studio album, The Getaway (2016). Godrich produced the fifth solo album by Roger Waters, Is This the Life We Really Want?, released in June 2017. Godrich, a fan of Waters' work with Pink Floyd, was critical of Waters' previous solo work and felt his role as producer was to "encourage him, to push him a little bit". During the COVID-19 pandemic, Godrich worked with the Arcade Fire in isolation in El Paso, Texas, producing their album We (2022).

Godrich conceived From the Basement as a means of authentically documenting music being made. Drawing further inspiration from British television music series The Old Grey Whistle Test, Godrich came upon the idea of a television programme. Despite early reports, From the Basement did not initially appear on British television, because of not taking on corporate sponsors.

When the pilot was in production, From the Basement was to be an online programme only. However, this was not feasible as it did not generate enough money to produce the episodes to the quality level desired. Instead, the producers went to international TV networks to receive money up front to produce the series. The series did eventually air on television; the first UK broadcast was on Sky Arts on 1 December 2007, featuring four songs performed by Thom Yorke on 8 December 2007. The United States premiere was on Rave HD on 22 February 2008, followed by a run on Independent Film Channel, as part of the network's "Automat" block of television programmes in the autumn of 2008. On 3 November 2008, the series was released on DVD. A new series of From the Basement began on YouTube in May 2022, featuring acts including Idles, Warpaint and Caribou band.