Grammy Awards for Surrey Graduates
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Music producer Jim Abbiss who worked on Adele’s smash hit album 21 is one of two Surrey graduates who have won prestigious Grammy awards.
The other award went to Sam Okell who scooped his second Grammy in two years at the Los Angeles-based ceremony.
Jim, aged 45, who graduated from the world-famous Tonmeister undergraduate course at the University of Surrey in 1988, shared the award for Adele’s album with several other music producers in his category Album of the Year and he also worked on Adele’s previous album 19.
The album 21 has achieved global success and is the biggest-selling album of the 21st century in the UK. He has had a very successful career including his work on records including Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
Sam, 32, who graduated in 2001, won his Grammy for the Best Historical Album category for his role in mastering the deluxe edition of Paul McCartney & Wings’ Band on The Run album.
Judges placed Sam and colleague Steve Rooke ahead of four other projects, including a remastered Elvis Presley album.
Sam’s success comes hot on the heels of his Beatles-inspired victory in the same category in last year’s 53rd Grammy Awards, when he was rewarded for his work in remastering the entire back catalogue of the Liverpudlian band.
Since graduating, Sam has built an impressive career at London’s world-famous Abbey Road Studios – the same location where he spent his placement year during his studies at Surrey.
He said: “My placement year was invaluable in me getting a job at the end of my studies. It gave me a professional understanding to go alongside the academic side and that is probably what made my CV stand out from the hundreds that arrived on the manager’s desk.”
On top of many other projects, the music maestro has contributed to a TV show about life at the studios and worked on the score for the last Harry Potter film.
Dr Russell Mason, a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Sound Recording at the University of Surrey, said: "We are delighted to hear of the success of Sam and Jim in the recent Grammys, adding to the long list of awards won by Tonmeister graduates in music, film and television."
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