After working on Jac Dalton’s album “ICARUS” at ARDENT STUDIOS in Memphis, John Hampton had this to say about Darren Mullan.....

“I've spent 32 years in recording studios, Ardent Studios in Memphis being my favorite --- for the gear and people, as well as the whole Memphis, river, cotton-land, Afro-culture blend, laid back creative vibes. A studio with all that and still operated in an extremely professional manner.

      And I have seen literally hundreds of "wanna-be" engineers and producers come in and hang just long enough to realize they are nowhere near my almost feverish level of dedication that is not only expected but DEMANDED from anyone else who thinks they are going to get involved in music with me.

So 90 out of 100 slink out the back door quietly and usually end up at a demo studio or Best Buy, selling stereos. OR ... burger king.

        When Darren came in, and I set my bar a bit higher than normal, just to see if he was going to back off when he knocked it off.

Well........I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. Seems like the deeper I went, he not only kept up but went even deeper almost every time. If I hadn't needed a bit of cash, I'm sure I would have asked, aloud, "What do you need ME for?"

He had the whole thing rolling like a Formula car once he caught on to the ever evolving methods of my mixing.

I gain nothing by saying that if he lived here, he and I would be side by side on every single record. And they would all be selling like redhots!

John Hampton

More about the Memphis sessions at

www.youtube.com/dmaniphone