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Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 1957 – 2 August 2017) was an Australian music record producer and sound engineer. He worked with Nick Cave's groups the Birthday Party, and then the Bad Seeds from 1979 to 2001. In mid-1986 he followed Cave to London and then onto Berlin, in January 1987, to continue to work on their material. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994 Cohen won Producer of the Year for The Cruel Sea's second album, The Honeymoon Is Over (May 1993). At the 1995 ceremony he won Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year for the Cruel Sea's Three Legged Dog. Cohen had been a long-term alcohol and drug user, his health deteriorated in the 2010s and he died in 2017 at Dandenong Hospital, aged 60. In November 2017 he was posthumously inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

[edit]

Anthony Lawrence Cohen was born on 4 June 1957 in Melbourne.[1]: 1  His father, Philip Cohen, was an Australian son of Jewish migrants from Manchester, Philip had converted to Roman Catholicism before marrying Margaret, who was an Australian of Irish descent.[1]: 1–2  He grew up in suburban East Ringwood where he attended St Francis de Sales Primary School.[1]: 1  The family moved to Mentone, along with younger brother Martin, where Cohen was enrolled at St Bede's College for his secondary education.[1]: 4  While at Bede's he started taking drugs including marijuana/hash, amytal and LSD, which adversely affected his academic progress.[1]: 3–5  Cohen started to play the drums when the family had moved to the neighbouring suburb of Cheltenham and formed a friendship with fellow aspiring drummer, Chris Thompson.[1]: 7  He later recalled, "Neither of us were very good drummers I might admit but we shared a mutual love of music and playing."[1]: 7 

Career

[edit]

Cohen, aged 15, joined a rock, glam rock band Epitaph on drums for a year.[1]: 9–12  He bought a four-track recorder to tape their work and then recorded other local groups.[1]: 12  During school holidays in mid-1973 he spent two weeks doing work experience at Armstrong Studios. His friend Thompson went along for a day and they decided on a career in the recording studio. After work experience he refused to return to school but continued at the studios, "No one said anything, so I stayed."[1]: 13  For two years he was a "shit-kicker", and started by, "cleaning the toilets and getting the lunches and stuff, and then got promoted to mono dubbing boy."[1]: 15  By 1975 Cohen began working as a sound engineer under the guidance of Roger Savage.[1]: 15  In April of the following year he was working as an assistant record producer, alongside Molly Meldrum, on Perth's glam rock group, Supernaut's lead single, "I Like It Both Ways" (May 1976).[2] Cohen produced the group's associated self-titled album, which appeared in November of that year, and its follow-up single, "Too Hot to Touch" (September).[3]

In July 1976, Cohen and fellow engineer, Ian MacKenzie, met with Meldrum to organise the production of the pop group, the Ferrets' debut album, Dreams of a Love: "It was all a bit of Elton John, a bit of the 'Real Thing', [Meldrum] called us in for a production meeting 9:00 in the morning at his place and he was still in bed [...] and putting the music on [...] very, very loud and then proceeds to shout at you over the top of it, and we were all sitting there sort of terrified thinking, what on earth is he saying?"[4] After a year production was still incomplete so the Ferrets took over, together with Cohen and MacKenzie assisting.[5] It was finalised in August 1977 and released in October with Meldrum credited as Willie Everfinish.[5][6]

In June 1978, Cohen started working with the Boys Next Door (later renamed the Birthday Party), as an engineer at Richmond Recorders on their debut album, Door, Door (1979). He then engineered the Birthday Party's early extended play, Hee Haw (December 1979). Next he was the engineer and producer, on their second album, The Birthday Party (November 1980).[3][7][8] He was the engineer and producer for their third album, Junkyard (May 1982), which was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums at number 17.[9]: 72–3  Cohen told the authors that he was directed, "Forget all the bottom end and the rich, lush sounds. Make it sound like trash."[9]: 72–3  He continued as engineer and/or producer for the group's leader, Nick Cave, in the related group, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. From From Her to Eternity (18 June 1984) to No More Shall We Part (2 April 2001).[3][10] Cohen followed the group to London in mid-1986 and then on to Berlin in January 1987 to continue to work with Cave.[1]: 113, 120 [11] He returned to Melbourne in January 1988 with his drug habit "spiraling out of control."[1]: 137 

Cohen reflected on his early work with Cave, in an interview with Richard Fidler in September 2006, "[it] was all very experimental then, because we were all learning – I fell in love with this new way of recording... because there were no rules. We were looking for sounds that made your fillings drop out rather than pleasant pop tunes, so we got to do crazy things like find concrete stairwells and abuse equipment, so it was all very attractive for me. Some of it didn't work, but as history has shown Nick really honed his craft, he's done some brilliant records... some of the early stuff was a bit rough but it was a learning curve then."[4] Ed Nimmervoll, an Australian music journalist and editor of Rock Australia Magazine, recalled "Nick Cave's Birthday Party were allowed to take up some of the studio time slack. Rather than [go] home, their producer Tony Cohen slept in the air conditioning duct."[12]

A long-term working relationship had also been established with Tex Perkins, starting with the singer's alternative rock group, Beasts of Bourbon's 1984 album, The Axeman's Jazz.[13] Cohen had engineered and produced it during a single eight-hour session at Paradise Studios in Sydney, in October of the previous year, with label boss Roger Grierson as executive producer.[3][13] According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "Legend has it that the session was fuelled by 72 cans of beer and one bottle of Scotch, and that it only ended when the band members began passing out!"[13] He produced their next studio album, The Low Road, (December 1991). In the following year he was their engineer, producer and mixer for a five-track EP, Just Right, which had been recorded live at the Prince of Wales Hotel in May 1991 by Cohen's childhood friend, Chris Thompson.[14]

Cohen's services were used for Perkins' next band the Cruel Sea on their second studio album, This Is Not the Way Home (October 1991). He was nominated at the ARIA Music Awards of 1993 for Producer of the Year for that album and for "Get Thee to a Nunnery", a track on TISM's EP, The Beasts of Suburban (20 July 1992).[15] He worked for an ad hoc country blues trio of Perkins, Don Walker and Charlie Owen, as Tex, Don and Charlie on their debut album, Sad But True (November 1993).[9]: 218–9  While recording that album he was interviewed in the studio by Kerry Negara, the director of SBS-TV's Nomad. At the following year's ARIA Awards ceremony he won Producer of the Year for the Cruel Sea's third album, The Honeymoon Is Over (May 1993).[15][9]: 174–5 

In 1995, he won both Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year.[15] Over the previous 18 months – the eligibility period – Cohen had produced Let Love In (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 18 April 1994),[16] You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel (Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes, June 1994), Parables for Wooden Ears (Powderfinger, 18 July 1994), Livin' Lazy (Maurice Frawley and Working Class Ringos, 1994), Three Legged Dog (the Cruel Sea, April 1995),[17] Kim Salmon and the Surrealists (Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, April 1995) and Mouth to Mouth (the Blackeyed Susans, July 1995).[3][10][18]

In the 2000s, Cohen's name started appearing less regularly on album credits. During 2003, he worked as a remix engineer on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' old master tapes for Stephen Petronio's contemporary dance work, Underland.[19] Cave was unable to provide new tracks for the project due to time conflicts but allowed his material to be used.[19] Cohen had effectively retired in 2004–2005. He emerged in 2017 to produce Augie March's album Bootikins, as he had always wanted to work with the group. He died unexpectedly before the album's sessions concluded, and Augie March leader Glenn Richards stated "It still amazes me that we got a chance to work with the man. The moments are ours and we will cherish them ... He got us feeling like and playing like a real band again after a long interim, and we made some very good music together."[20] In November 2017 Cohen was posthumously inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame.[21] A memoir of his life, Half Deaf, Completely Mad, was published by John Olson in November 2023.[22]

Personal life

[edit]

Tony Cohen had an on-again off-again relationship with Joanne from mid-1981, she had been Chris Thompson's girlfriend when they met. They lived together initially in Elsternwick, then Sydney and back, again.[1]: 59–61, 100  His drug habit now included amphetamine and heroin.[1]: 59–61  By early 1983 Cohen was also dating a different woman, Josephine, whom he married on 28 May 1983, in Melbourne.[1]: 100  According to his brother, "I don't think Tony ever had a distinct line between dumping one girl and getting on with another."[1]: 100  The couple moved to Sydney in late 1983 and then back to Melbourne in July of the following year.[1]: 109  Cohen and Josephine relocated to London in mid-1986 before they separated (and later divorced). He then moved to Berlin in January 1987,[1]: 113–4, 120  and returned to Australian early in the next year.[1]: 137 

Early in 1991, Cohen began a relationship with Astrid Munday, a vocalist for country music groups Killer Sheep and then Desert Boot.[1]: 138, 146  After living together in Sydney they moved in with Cohen's parents at their rural property at Kongwak, Victoria in November 1991.[1]: 147  At different times he attempted to curb his alcohol and drug dependencies.[1]: 149  The couple returned to Melbourne in February 1992.[1]: 151–2  Cohen had earlier been diagnosed with hepatitis C, then pancreatitis (September 1992) and diabetes (October).[1]: 157  At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995 he had a hypoglycaemic event, "just as they announced my name so I was in the suit and everything and sweat was just dripping off me so I had to go and hide up the back and Molly was standing on the seat going 'Where are you? Tony, where are you?' So it wasn't a great memory for me... I couldn't get up on stage and make a speech... you know, my blood sugar had dropped and I was a mess; such a shame."[1]: 167 

In late 2000, Cohen and Munday moved to London, where he worked on No More Shall We Part (April 2001) for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, while Munday worked as a temporary teacher.[1]: 171–2  By that stage Cohen's diabetes was worsening and his studio attendances became erratic. After the recording sessions ended he struggled to get further work in London and so returned to Melbourne.[1]: 171–4  By 2004 or 2005 he was in semi-retirement, "In a bid to rid himself of a renewed taste for drugs and to revive his ailing health."[1]: 178 

His health continued to deteriorate into the 2010s. Tony Cohen died on 2 August 2017 at Dandenong Hospital, aged 60.[18][23] Although no cause of death was reported, his sibling recalled, "Tony lived a hard life with drugs and alcohol playing a big part of his professional career. He did give them up many years ago but always knew that he would eventually pay for his 'sins'."[18][24] Conversely, "we were like chalk and cheese. But, I loved him and fully respect what he achieved in his career. He was technically brilliant, but also a caring, big-hearted man."[18] Upon the inclusion of Cohen's work in the Australian Music Vault, his mother Margaret stated, "it wasn't until his untimely death, that I was made aware of the esteem that he was held in by so many people. I am proud of his contribution to the rock and roll music industry here and all that he achieved through his life."[16] A suitcase of cassette tapes he used as back-ups of recordings was donated to the vault.[16] Munday released an album with material dedicated to her husband, Beauty in the Ordinary, in August 2020.[25]

Technical works

[edit]

List of technical works by Tony Cohen including audio engineer, record producer or mixer.

Year Artist(s) Work Role(s) Ref.
1976 Supernaut Supernaut Engineer, producer [3]
1977 The Ferrets Dreams of a Love Engineer, assistant producer [3]
1978 The Ferrets Fame at any Price Engineer, producer [3]
Various Artists Wildlife (soundtrack) Engineer, producer [3]
1979 The Boys Next Door Door, Door Engineer [10]
The Birthday Party Hee Haw (EP) Engineer [7]
1980 The Birthday Party The Birthday Party Engineer, producer [3][8]
James Freud Breaking Silence Producer [3]
Models Alphabravocharliedeltaechofoxtrotgolf Engineer, producer [26]
1981 The Birthday Party Prayers on Fire Engineer, producer [3][10]
The Zorros "Too Young", "Let Me Love You" (single) Producer [3]
Models Cut Lunch Producer [3]
The Go-Betweens Send Me a Lullaby Engineer, producer [10][27]
Serious Young Insects "Trouble Understanding Words" (single) Producer [3]
1982 Hunters & Collectors World of Stone (EP)
"Hammer the Hammer" (single)		 Engineer, producer [3]
The Birthday Party Junkyard Engineer, producer [9]: 72–3 [28]
Hunters & Collectors Hunters & Collectors Engineer [29]
Tuff Monks "After the Fireworks" (single) Producer [3]
Pel Mel Out of Reason Engineer, producer [30][31]
1983 The Moodists Engine Shudder (EP) Producer [3]
The Birthday Party The Bad Seed (EP) Producer [3]
The Reels Pitt Street Farmers (EP) Producer [3]
Pel Mel Persuasion Producer [3]
The Birthday Party Mutiny! (EP) Producer [3]
1984 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds From Her to Eternity Engineer [10]
Sacred Cowboys Sacred Cowboys (EP) Producer [3]
Pel Mel O.D.R. Producer [3]
The Beasts of Bourbon The Axeman's Jazz Producer [3]
Cold Chisel Twentieth Century Engineer [10]
The Olympic Sideburns "13th Floor" (single) Producer [3]
The Spaniards "God Is a Shield" (single) Producer [3]
1985 Sacred Cowboys We Love You... Of Course We Do Producer [3]
X At Home with You Engineer [32]
1986 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Kicking Against the Pricks Engineer, producer [3][10]
Crime & the City Solution Room of Lights Producer [3]
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Your Funeral... My Trial Engineer, producer [3][10]
1987 Jeremy Gluck I Knew Buffalo Bill Producer [10][33]
Lolitas Series Américaines Engineer, producer [1]: 98 
1988 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Tender Prey Engineer, mixer, producer [3][10]
Sacred Cowboys Trouble from Providence Producer [3]
Crime & the City Solution Shine Producer [3]
Wild Pumpkins at Midnight Wild Pumpkins at Midnight Producer [3]
1989 Phil Shöenfelt Charlotte's Room (EP) Producer [10]
1991 The Beasts of Bourbon The Low Road Producer [3]
The Cruel Sea This Is Not the Way Home Producer, engineer [3][10]
1992 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Henry's Dream Engineer, mixer [10]
Falling Joys Psychohum Producer [3]
TISM "Get Thee to a Nunnery" Producer [15]
Mixed Relations T.I.O.L.I. (EP)
"Take It or Leave It" (single)		 Producer [3]
Straitjacket Fits Done Producer [34]
These Immortal Souls I'm Never Gonna Die Again Producer [10]
1993 Wild Pumpkins at Midnight Sick Producer [3]
Mixed Relations "Love" (single) Producer [3]
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes Night of the Wolverine Producer [3]
Things of Stone and Wood The Yearning Mixing [10]
Kim Salmon and the Surrealists Sin Factory Producer [3]
Tiddas Sing About Life Producer [3]
Tex, Don and Charlie Sad but True Producer [9]: 218–9 
Anita Lane Dirty Pearl Engineer, mixer [10]
1994 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Let Love In Engineer, mixer, producer [10]
Dave Graney 'n' the Coral Snakes You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel Producer [3]
Powderfinger Parables for Wooden Ears Producer [3]
Paul Kelly Wanted Man Engineer [10]
Maurice Frawley and Working Class Ringos Livin' Lazy Producer [3]
1995 The Cruel Sea Three Legged Dog Engineer, producer [3][10]
Kim Salmon and the Surrealists Kim Salmon and the Surrealists Producer [3][10]
The Blackeyed Susans Mouth to Mouth Engineer, mixer, producer [3][10]
Mick Harvey Intoxicated Man Engineer, producer [3][10]
Louis Tillett and Charlie Owen Midnight Rain Producer [35]
Hugo Race & The True Spirit Valley of Light Mixer, producer [3][10]
1996 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Murder Ballads Mixer, producer [3][10]
The Bhagavad Guitars Introversion/Extroversion Engineer, producer [36]
Wild Pumpkins at Midnight Sad Trees Producer [3][10]
Frenzal Rhomb Not So Tough Now Producer [3][10]
Various Artists Scream: Music from the Dimension Motion Picture (soundtrack) Producer [10][37]
Delicatessen Hustle into Bed Producer [38]
1997 Wild Pumpkins at Midnight The Secret of the Sad Tree Producer [3]
Mick Harvey Pink Elephants Engineer, mixer, producer [3][10]
1998 Astrid Munday Astrid Munday Producer [3][10]
Working Class Ringoes Working Class Ringoes Producer [3]
2000 Astrid Munday Apparition Mixer, producer [3][10]
Tex Perkins Dark Horses Producer [3]
2001 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds No More Shall We Part Engineer, mixer, producer [3][10]
2002 The Chucky Monroes Fallen Angel Producer [39]
Rosie Westbrook Wave Producer [3]
2003 Nick Cave Underland Remix engineer [19]
2006 Astrid Munday Sunshine and Promises Mixer, producer [10]
Souls on Board Souls on Board (EP) Mixer, producer [40]
Muzza Monroe and the Lushous Strings In Your Hand Producer
2008 Fur Patrol Local Kid Producer [41]
2018 Augie March Bootikins Producer [20]

Awards and nominations

[edit]

Four albums which Cohen worked on are listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums (2010): the Birthday Party's Junkyard (May 1982) at No. 17,[9]: 72–3  the Cruel Sea's The Honeymoon Is Over (May 1993) at No. 63,[9]: 174–5  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Tender Prey (September 1988) at No. 83,[9]: 216–7  and Tex, Don and Charlie's Sad But True (November 1993) at No. 84.[9]: 218–9 

ARIA Music Awards

[edit]
Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
1993 The Cruel Sea – This Is Not the Way Home
TISM – "Get Thee to a Nunnery		 Producer of the Year Nominated [15]
1994 The Cruel Sea – The Honeymoon Is Over Producer of the Year Won [15][42]
1995 himself, Paul McKercher – The Cruel Sea – Three Legged Dog Engineer of the Year Won [15][43][17]
himself – The Cruel Sea – Three Legged Dog Producer of the Year Won [15][17]

Music Victoria Awards

[edit]

The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2017 Tony Cohen Hall of Fame inducted [44][45]

References

[edit]
[edit]
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Tony Cohen

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Anthony Lawrence Cohen (4 June 1957 – 2 August 2017) was an Australian record producer and sound engineer renowned for his contributions to rock and alternative music, particularly through collaborations with artists like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, and The Go-Betweens.[1][2] Cohen began his career at age 15 as a dubbing boy at Armstrong Studios in Melbourne, quickly advancing to engineering and production roles during the 1970s punk and post-punk scenes.[3][2] He engineered early works such as The Ferrets' Dreams of a Love (1976) and produced Supernaut's self-titled album, establishing his reputation in Melbourne's vibrant music community.[1] Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Cohen became one of Australia's most sought-after producers, working at studios like Richmond Recorders and collaborating on seminal albums including The Birthday Party's Door, Door (1978) and The Birthday Party (1980), as well as eight records with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds starting with From Her to Eternity (1984).[1][2] His discography also features influential projects with The Go-Betweens, Cold Chisel, Paul Kelly, The Cruel Sea, Hunters & Collectors, Models, TISM, Powderfinger, and Kylie Minogue, blending technical precision with an intuitive grasp of artists' visions.[1][2] Cohen's excellence earned him three ARIA Awards, including Producer of the Year in 1994 for The Cruel Sea's The Honeymoon Is Over and again in 1995 alongside Engineer of the Year.[1] In his later years, he co-authored the memoir Half Deaf, Completely Mad with John Olson, published posthumously in 2023, which details his hard-living experiences and enduring impact on Australian music.[3][2] He died in Dandenong, Victoria, at age 60, leaving a legacy as a pivotal figure in shaping some of the nation's finest rock records.[1][2]

Early life

Childhood and family background

Tony Cohen was born at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 4 June 1957, at the Jessie McPherson Community Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, to parents Margaret and Philip Cohen.[4] The family resided initially in the suburb of East Ringwood, where Cohen spent his early childhood in a typical outer-eastern Melbourne environment.[4] In mid-1964, the Cohens relocated to a three-bedroom weatherboard house in the bayside suburb of Mentone with his younger brother Martin (then aged three).[4] This move marked a shift to a quieter, middle-class coastal area, shaping Cohen's formative years amid the suburban tranquility of 1960s Melbourne.[5][4] The Cohen family dynamics reflected a blend of cultural influences, with Cohen raised in the Catholic faith despite his father's Jewish heritage from Manchester migrants; Philip had converted to Catholicism to align with Margaret's staunch Australian-Irish Catholic family background. This religious accommodation highlighted the parents' efforts to maintain family harmony, though tensions arose later during Cohen's teenage years. Martin, as the younger sibling, shared in the family's modest suburban life, with the brothers described by Martin in later years as "chalk and cheese" in personality.[6] The household provided a stable yet conventional setting in Mentone's local scene, where community activities and neighborhood interactions influenced daily life. Cohen's early exposure to music emerged through the vibrant garage band culture of 1960s Melbourne suburbs, where he began playing cover songs with local peers in Mentone.[5] This informal scene fostered his initial fascination with sound and performance, drawing from the era's rock influences amid family outings and school friendships. However, his teenage experimentation with drugs, including marijuana and LSD starting around age 15 in 1973, introduced significant strain on family relations.[5][7] As a self-described "wannabe hippy," Cohen's involvement led to conflicts with his parents and brushes with the law, prompting the family to intervene by helping secure his entry into the music industry as a way to channel his interests productively.[7] This period ultimately transitioned him toward formal education at St Bede’s College in Mentone.[5]

Education and initial musical pursuits

After the move to Mentone, Cohen attended St Patrick's Primary School before enrolling at St Bede's College, a Catholic boys' school in Mentone, Melbourne, for secondary education around 1969–1970.[4] Growing up in the suburban environment of Mentone, he struggled academically due to a growing disinterest in formal education and early experimentation with drugs, including marijuana, which began during his teenage years.[4][5] These challenges culminated in his expulsion at age 15 in 1972 for refusing to participate in a school football game by leaping a fence and running home, marking a significant disruption in his schooling.[8] Amid these academic difficulties, Cohen's interest in music emerged as a primary outlet, beginning with informal drumming in his early teens. Self-taught on the instrument, he started by banging wooden spoons on his mother's chairs before progressing to basic drum kits, describing himself as an "average drummer." He played in local garage bands in Melbourne's suburbs, covering rock songs and experimenting with group performances during the vibrant 1960s and early 1970s local music scene, which was influenced by British Invasion acts like The Beatles and emerging Australian pub rock.[5][9] This period shaped his tastes, drawing him toward the raw energy of Melbourne's underground rock and proto-punk sounds, though he never formally pursued music as a performer.[2] Cohen's initial forays into recording were homemade and rudimentary, using affordable or scavenged equipment like cheap amplifiers and basic tape recorders to capture his drumming and band sessions at home. These experiments reflected the DIY ethos of the era's youth culture in Melbourne, where teenagers improvised to create music amid limited resources. His youthful rebellion, fueled by drug use and clashes with authority, led to further legal issues, including police involvement related to possession, prompting family interventions to redirect his energies. His parents, concerned about his path, supported his pivot toward music-related opportunities to channel his passion constructively.[10][7]

Professional career

Entry into the music industry

Tony Cohen entered the music industry in the mid-1970s through persistence and informal introductions in Melbourne's burgeoning recording scene. At age 15 in 1973, he was introduced to Bill Armstrong, owner of Armstrong Studios—the epicenter of Australian music production at the time—and began as a studio assistant, performing menial tasks such as cleaning toilets and fetching coffees for an initial wage of $17 per week.[5] By 1975, Cohen had transitioned into a sound engineering role at the studio, marking his first professional steps amid the vibrant pub rock and emerging rock movements.[11] Cohen's training was largely on-the-job, honed during off-hours at Armstrong Studios where he experimented with recording equipment and invited amateur bands to practice sessions, building technical proficiency and confidence in a hands-on environment. Influenced by media personality Ian "Molly" Meldrum, who provided early guidance and opportunities, Cohen learned to approach recordings with intensity, treating sessions as high-stakes events rather than routine tasks. This apprenticeship at Melbourne studios like Armstrong and later Richmond Recorders equipped him with the skills to handle complex multitrack recordings in an era when the Australian industry was shifting toward local talent development.[2] His initial engineering credits included work on notable 1970s projects, such as assisting on sessions for international acts like Cat Stevens and local rock outfits including Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs and Lobby Loyde's Coloured Balls, which exposed him to diverse sounds in Melbourne's competitive studio landscape. A breakthrough came in 1976 when he co-produced and engineered Supernaut's self-titled debut album, a glam rock effort by the Perth-based band that peaked at number 13 on the Australian charts and showcased his emerging ability to capture raw energy. These early efforts also involved collaborations with up-and-coming Australian bands in rock genres, including the pop group The Ferrets' 1976 debut Dreams of a Love, helping establish Cohen's reputation for working with fresh talent.[12][13] As a young and unconventional figure in his late teens and early twenties, Cohen faced challenges breaking into the male-dominated, technically rigorous industry, including a steep learning curve with analog equipment and navigating chaotic sessions driven by ambitious artists. His unorthodox style—marked by experimentation and a disregard for conventional studio etiquette—sometimes clashed with established norms, yet it allowed him to forge unique sonic identities for emerging acts in Melbourne's punk and rock scenes. Despite these hurdles, his persistence and innate musical intuition, rooted in teenage drumming pursuits, propelled him from assistant roles to key engineering positions by the late 1970s.[5]

Major collaborations and productions

Tony Cohen's most enduring collaboration was with Nick Cave, beginning in 1979 with the proto-punk band The Boys Next Door (later renamed The Birthday Party) and extending through Cave's tenure with The Bad Seeds until 2001.[1] He produced the Birthday Party's debut album Door, Door in 1979, capturing their raw, chaotic energy in a single day of recording at AAV Studios in Melbourne.[14] This partnership continued with Prayers on Fire (1981) and Junkyard (1982), where Cohen's engineering emphasized distorted guitars and visceral percussion, defining the band's post-punk ferocity during intense, drug-fueled sessions.[15] Transitioning to The Bad Seeds, Cohen co-produced every studio album from From Her to Eternity (1984)—which blended gothic rock with noisy experimentation—to No More Shall We Part (2001), including the introspective piano-driven The Boatman's Call (1997).[16] His approach favored unpolished, atmospheric sounds that amplified Cave's lyrical intensity, as seen in the tortuous recording of "The Mercy Seat" from Tender Prey (1988), where multiple takes captured the song's manic urgency.[17] Cohen's work with The Beasts of Bourbon further showcased his affinity for raw, blues-infused alternative rock in the 1980s and 1990s. He produced their debut The Axeman's Jazz (1984) in an eight-hour session at Paradise Studios, prioritizing live-room energy and minimal overdubs to evoke a gritty, unrefined swamp-rock vibe with Tex Perkins' snarling vocals.[18] This collaboration persisted with The Low Road (1991), where Cohen's production highlighted the band's fusion of punk, blues, and country, often recorded amid chaotic, substance-laden environments that mirrored their hard-living ethos.[19] In the early 1990s, Cohen elevated The Cruel Sea's instrumental surf-rock to critical acclaim through his production of The Honeymoon Is Over (1993), blending reverb-drenched guitars with Perkins' guest vocals for a hazy, road-trip aesthetic that became a cornerstone of Australian alternative music.[20] His hands-on role, including mixing at Atlantis Studios, contributed to the album's organic, low-fi texture, distinguishing it from polished contemporaries.[2] Earlier in his career, Cohen collaborated with new wave acts like Models on Cut Lunch (1981), where he co-produced tracks emphasizing sharp synths and angular rhythms in a compact 10-inch format that captured Melbourne's post-punk scene.[21] Similarly, he engineered and co-produced Hunters & Collectors' self-titled debut (1982), infusing their tribal percussion and brass with a dense, industrial edge that set the tone for their expansive sound.[22] With Jimmy Barnes, Cohen's involvement included partial production on Cold Chisel's Twentieth Century (1984), though health issues stemming from the band's volatile dynamics led to his early departure; his contributions still lent a raw urgency to tracks like "Saturday Night," recorded with street ambiance for authenticity.[2] He also produced key albums for The Go-Betweens, including 16 Lovers Lane (1988), and Paul Kelly's Gossip (1986), as well as Powderfinger's Internationalist (1998), blending technical precision with an intuitive grasp of artists' visions.[1] Across these projects, Cohen's philosophy centered on preserving the unfiltered essence of post-punk and alternative rock, often opting for live takes and minimal intervention to heighten emotional immediacy.[17]

Later career and retirement

Following the release of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' No More Shall We Part in 2001, which Cohen engineered at Abbey Road Studios, his production work became increasingly sporadic in the 2000s, shifting toward collaborations with emerging indie artists.[23] Notable among these were his production of Andrew Keese's album Desire in 2008 and eight tracks for singer-songwriter Leanne Kingwell in 2009 at Sing Sing Studios.[23] He also handled the remastering and release of Lobby Lloyde's archival project Beyond Morgia: The Labyrinths of Klimster in 2007, preserving a piece of Australian rock history.[23] Around 2004–2005, Cohen stepped back from the industry in a period of retirement driven by burnout, marking the end of his more active phase after decades of intensive studio work.[23] This hiatus reflected his evolving role amid broader changes in music production, where he increasingly favored traditional analogue methods over the rising dominance of digital tools, which he viewed as diminishing the warmth and dynamic range of recordings through excessive editing and computer reliance.[23] Cohen made a final return to the studio in 2017, producing Augie March's album Bootikins—a long-desired collaboration—though he died suddenly in August of that year before finishing the last track, which was completed posthumously by band members.[24] Across his career, spanning from the late 1970s to 2017, Cohen contributed to over 200 recordings, with his later efforts underscoring a selective focus on meaningful, lesser-known projects that aligned with his distinctive engineering ethos.[23]

Personal life

Relationships and lifestyle

Cohen maintained a close familial bond with his younger brother Martin, despite their contrasting personalities; Martin described them as "chalk and cheese" while affirming his deep love and respect for Tony.[6] The brothers shared an early childhood marked by play and shared experiences, such as Martin recalling Tony with a Frankenstein toy. Cohen had no known children. He had a significant relationship with Josephine, with whom he lived in Melbourne during attempts to address his substance issues.[23] His personal life centered on tight-knit ties within Melbourne's music community. Cohen's adult lifestyle was defined by impulsivity and peripatetic wanderings, often entangled with the social excesses of partying, drugs, and alcohol among creative peers.[25] He reflected in his memoir on becoming so immersed in substance use during social and creative gatherings that it became an ingrained part of his routine, though he later quit drugs and alcohol years before his death, acknowledging the lasting toll.[5][26] This chaotic existence extended to daily anecdotes of disarray, such as his expulsion from St. Bede’s Catholic school around age 15–16 for hashish possession, an early brush with the rebellious habits that persisted into adulthood.[23][10] Beyond family, Cohen fostered enduring friendships with music scene figures, including a profound, decades-spanning connection with Nick Cave that blended camaraderie and mutual influence outside studio walls.[25] These relationships formed the backbone of his social world, where hard-living nights with peers fueled both inspiration and turmoil, as detailed in his candid memoir recounting a life "consumed with tragedy and chaos."[2]

Health issues and death

In his later years, Tony Cohen was diagnosed with hepatitis C, pancreatitis in September 1992, and diabetes in October 1992, conditions that compounded his physical decline. These diagnoses came after episodes of severe illness, including vomiting blood that led to a three-day hospitalization at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. By the early 1990s, Cohen had begun insulin treatment for diabetes, which worsened over time, requiring multiple hospital visits, such as during recording sessions in London in 1993.[10][23] Long-term substance abuse, including decades of heavy alcohol consumption and drug use such as heroin and amphetamines, significantly exacerbated Cohen's health problems, contributing to his chronic conditions and overall deterioration in the 2010s. His history of addiction, spanning over 20 years by his mid-30s, led to physical manifestations like sores and fatigue, as well as psychological dependence that affected his daily life. Efforts to manage this included methadone treatment and family-supported recovery periods at his parents' farm in Kongwak, Victoria, though relapses persisted.[27][23] Cohen was hospitalized at Dandenong Hospital in Melbourne, where he died peacefully on 2 August 2017 at the age of 60. No official cause of death was specified, but his brother Martin Cohen described it as the result of a "hard-lived life with drugs and alcohol," noting that Tony "always knew that he would not make old bones." In the immediate aftermath, Martin publicly announced the passing via social media and statements to media outlets, highlighting the personal toll of Cohen's lifestyle without detailing medical specifics.[28][29][6]

Technical contributions

Production philosophy and techniques

Tony Cohen's production philosophy centered on capturing the raw, unpolished essence of music, prioritizing chaotic energy over refined perfection to preserve the authenticity of live performances. He believed that over-polished recordings stripped away the vital intensity of a band's sound, instead favoring techniques that embraced disorder as a creative force, often incorporating unconventional elements like drugs and spontaneous experimentation to fuel the process. This approach was deeply influenced by the punk and alternative scenes of the late 1970s and 1980s, where he drew from the rebellious, no-rules ethos that valued abrasive, immediate sounds over commercial gloss, as seen in his admiration for figures like Molly Meldrum's extreme methods.[2][23][5] In practice, Cohen employed minimal overdubs and direct-to-track recording to maintain a live feel, often using unorthodox miking techniques such as placing microphones in unexpected locations—like the back of a room, up in the air, or even on car exhausts—to seize the band's natural dynamics without excessive layering. He rode faders live during mixes to respond intuitively to the performance's flow, criticizing multi-tracked elements like 20-30 guitar layers as creating a mere "blur" that diluted the core energy. This method allowed him to highlight subtle nuances, such as treating a dobro guitar as a "second voice" or using corrugated iron tunnels for abrasive guitar tones, ensuring the final product retained the spontaneous, intense vibe of the session.[23][2] Cohen's collaborative style emphasized artist freedom, acting as a guide who encouraged experimentation while interpreting and elevating the musicians' visions, often saying things like "we might get an interesting sound out of that" to foster inclusive decision-making. He thrived in what he called "genius in chaos," delivering bold, unique results amid messiness—mixing solo for hours while in an altered state or re-recording vocals in one take with a stage mic to capture raw emotion. This philosophy particularly suited artists like Nick Cave, whose dark, intense music benefited from Cohen's ability to amplify chaotic elements, as in the "trashy, nasty-sounding" abrasiveness of Junkyard, where he used PA systems and concrete stairwells to simulate live urgency and heighten the brooding atmosphere.[23][5][2]

Key engineering credits

Tony Cohen's engineering career encompassed over 70 projects, spanning from his early contributions in the mid-1970s to later works in the 2000s.[1] His initial notable engineering credit came in 1976 on Supernaut's self-titled debut album, where he engineered the band's raw pub rock energy at Armstrong Studios, with production involvement alongside Ian "Molly" Meldrum. This marked the beginning of Cohen's reputation for handling high-energy sessions with emerging Australian acts.[13] A significant portion of Cohen's engineering output involved his long-term collaboration with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, spanning from 1984 to 2001 across eight albums.[1] He served as engineer on key releases such as From Her to Eternity (1984), where his work helped define the band's post-punk intensity recorded at various London and Berlin studios, Your Funeral... My Trial (1986, co-engineered with Flood), Kicking Against the Pricks (1986), Tender Prey (1988), Henry's Dream (1992), Let Love In (1994), Murder Ballads (1996, mixing), and No More Shall We Part (2001).[30][6] In these projects, Cohen often blurred lines between engineering and production, but his primary role was engineering the recordings and mixes, as distinct from full production oversight on later Cave works. Cohen also engineered pivotal albums for The Cruel Sea, most prominently The Honeymoon Is Over (1993), where he handled recording and mixing at Atlantis and Metropolis Studios in Melbourne, contributing to the album's swampy, instrumental blues sound that earned critical acclaim. With the Beasts of Bourbon, he engineered multiple releases, including their debut The Axeman's Jazz (1984), completed in a single eight-hour session at Paradise Studios, emphasizing the band's gritty, no-frills garage rock aesthetic.[5] Additional Beasts of Bourbon engineering credits include Sour Mash (1988) and Black Milk (1990), where Cohen's hands-on approach captured live-room energy.[1] Beyond these, Cohen's engineering touched other prominent Australian artists, often in dual producer-engineer capacities but with a focus on technical execution. He mixed one track on Cold Chisel's The Last Wave of Summer (1998), which features Jimmy Barnes on lead vocals, recorded at studios in Sydney including Festival Studios. With Models, he engineered Cut Lunch (1981), aiding the new wave band's polished synth-pop recordings. These credits highlight Cohen's versatility in engineering diverse genres while maintaining a distinct separation from his broader production involvements.[1]

Awards and honors

ARIA Music Awards

Tony Cohen received significant recognition at the ARIA Music Awards, the premier event celebrating excellence in the Australian music industry, for his production and engineering work during the mid-1990s.[31] In 1993, Cohen was nominated for Producer of the Year for his contributions to The Cruel Sea's album Read Above the Noise and the track "Get Thee to a Nunnery" from TISM's EP The Beasts of Suburban.[32] He won Producer of the Year at the 1994 ARIA Music Awards for producing The Cruel Sea's album The Honeymoon Is Over.[33] At the 1995 ceremony, Cohen secured two Artisan Awards: Producer of the Year for The Cruel Sea's Three Legged Dog, and Engineer of the Year, shared with Paul McKercher for the same album.[34] These accolades highlighted Cohen's pivotal role in shaping the sound of influential Australian rock acts, underscoring the ARIA Awards' emphasis on technical craftsmanship in domestic music production.[31]

Other awards and recognitions

In 2017, Tony Cohen was posthumously inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame at The Age Music Victoria Awards, recognizing his profound impact on the Victorian music industry over more than 25 years as a producer and engineer.[35] Several albums on which Cohen served as producer or engineer were featured in the 2010 book 100 Best Australian Albums by John O'Donnell, Craig Mathieson, and Bill Rooney, highlighting his role in shaping landmark recordings: The Birthday Party's Junkyard (ranked No. 17), The Cruel Sea's The Honeymoon Is Over (No. 63).[36][37] In 2019, Cohen was honored with a dedicated exhibit in the Australian Music Vault at Arts Centre Melbourne, alongside figures like Michael Gudinski, celebrating his engineering and production work for Mushroom Records and beyond as a cornerstone of Australian rock and alternative music.[38][39] These accolades, including tributes from peers like Nick Cave—who described Cohen as a "national treasure" following his 2017 death—underscore Cohen's enduring influence in elevating Australian music through innovative sound design and collaborations with iconic artists.[16]

Legacy

Posthumous tributes

Following Tony Cohen's death on 2 August 2017, numerous collaborators and industry figures paid immediate tribute to his distinctive production style and influence on Australian music. Nick Cave, who worked extensively with Cohen on albums by The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, described him as embodying "pure chaos in the studio" yet possessing a genius that made every project "unique and bold and startling," adding that Cohen was "the funniest guy I have ever met."[5] Tex Perkins, frontman of The Beasts of Bourbon and others, called Cohen a "genius" whose relaxed studio presence fostered creativity, allowing bands to thrive in a productive yet unpressured environment.[40] Similarly, Ken Gormley of The Cruel Sea praised Cohen as "so fucking funny and sweet, complex, troubled, super intelligent, irreverent, totally maddening and just brilliant," underscoring his multifaceted personality and technical prowess.[5] Industry acknowledgments in 2017 highlighted Cohen's pivotal role in defining the raw, innovative sound of 1980s and 1990s Australian alternative rock and punk. ABC's Rage program noted that he "defined the sound of dark Australian rock and punk music" through his engineering on seminal records by acts like The Go-Betweens and The Birthday Party.[41] Music journalist Bernard Zuel referred to Cohen's "cracked genius," exemplified in productions like The Birthday Party's She's Hit, which captured the era's chaotic energy and helped shape the alternative scene.[41] Lindsay McDougall of Frenzal Rhomb described him as "the brain, ears and fingers behind some of Australia’s best music," emphasizing his hands-on contributions to the genre's evolution.[41] Ongoing tributes continued into 2018 and beyond, with Cohen's inclusion in the Australian Music Vault at the Arts Centre Melbourne in February 2019 serving as a major posthumous recognition of his legacy. The exhibit, titled "The Wild Ones," featured cassette backups of master recordings Cohen made for artists including Nick Cave and Archie Roach, celebrating his behind-the-scenes impact on Australian rock.[39] His mother, Margaret Cohen, reflected on the honor, stating, "It was obvious to our family from early days that Tony was heading for a career in popular music... I am proud of his contribution to the rock and roll music industry here and all that he achieved through his life."[39] This induction underscored tributes to Cohen's role in elevating 1980s–1990s alternative rock, with curators noting his technical brilliance and ability to amplify the era's underground voices into enduring cultural artifacts.[39]

Memoir and lasting influence

In 2023, the memoir Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia's Most Legendary Producer was published posthumously, co-written by Tony Cohen and John Olson based on Cohen's personal notes compiled in 2012.[25] The book draws from Cohen's extensive journals and recollections, offering an intimate look at his tumultuous personal life marked by substance use, hearing loss, and relentless creativity, while recounting vivid studio anecdotes involving artists such as Nick Cave, Jimmy Barnes, and Tex Perkins.[2] These stories highlight the mayhem of late-night sessions and improvisational recording techniques that defined Cohen's approach, portraying him as a "chaotic genius who lived hard and LOUD."[17] The memoir received positive critical reception for its raw honesty and humor, with reviewers praising its role in humanizing Cohen's legendary status and illuminating the behind-the-scenes dynamics of Australian rock production.[42] Publications like The Saturday Paper noted how it captures the "deeply chaotic" essence of Cohen's world, blending tragedy and triumph to provide fresh insights into his collaborations.[42] The release of the memoir has brought attention to Cohen's personal stories and contributions to Australian music.[2] Cohen's enduring influence is evident in his shaping of Australian indie and rock genres, where his emphasis on raw, unpolished recordings—favoring live energy over perfection—continues to resonate with producers today.[43] Contemporary engineers in Melbourne's music scene often cite his methods as inspirational for capturing authentic grit in performances, perpetuating a legacy of hands-on, intuitive engineering that prioritizes emotional intensity.[5] This impact underscores Cohen's role as a pivotal figure in defining the "sound of Melbourne," influencing generations beyond his active years.

References

  1. Tony Cohen
  2. This man made some of Australia's finest rock records — before he ...
  3. Tony Cohen - Black Inc Books
  4. Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen, John Olson (Ebook)
  5. How a 'pot-smoking, acid-gobbling smart-arse' became the producer ...
  6. Tony Cohen, Australian record producer and ''sound of Melbourne ...
  7. Review: Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen with John Olson
  8. Half Deaf, Completely Mad: The Chaotic Genius of Australia's Most ...
  9. Two Fine Music Biographies - Ian Wilson
  10. Tony Cohen (4 June 1957 – 2 August 2017) - Facebook
  11. Australian producer Tony Cohen dies, aged 60 - The Music Network
  12. Tony Cohen's Contributions To Aus Music Will Resonate Through ...
  13. https://www.discogs.com/release/1434467-Supernaut-Supernaut
  14. https://www.discogs.com/master/38657-The-Boys-Next-Door-Door-Door
  15. https://www.discogs.com/master/20089-The-Birthday-Party-Prayers-On-Fire
  16. Nick Cave Pays Tribute To 'National Treasure' Tony Cohen
  17. Excerpt: Tony Cohen Recalls the 'Chaos' of Recording With Nick Cave
  18. https://www.discogs.com/release/500345-The-Beasts-Of-Bourbon-The-Axemans-Jazz
  19. https://www.discogs.com/release/5368619-Beasts-Of-Bourbon-The-Low-Road
  20. https://www.discogs.com/release/9564225-The-Cruel-Sea-The-Honeymoon-Is-Over
  21. https://www.discogs.com/master/139917-Models-Cut-Lunch
  22. Remembering + Playlist: Tony Cohen - a1000mistakes
  23. None
  24. [PDF] bootikins - Augie March
  25. Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen, John Olson | Black Inc.
  26. Farewell seminal producer Tony Cohen - The I-94 Bar
  27. Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen - Good Reading Magazine
  28. R.I.P. Tony Cohen 1957-2017 - Noise11.com
  29. Legendary Aussie Producer & Sound Engineer Tony Cohen Dies ...
  30. Release “From Her to Eternity” by Nick Cave featuring the Bad Seeds
  31. About the ARIA Awards
  32. 1993 ARIA Awards Winners
  33. 1994 ARIA Awards Winners
  34. ARIA - ARIA would like to send its condolences to the family, friends ...
  35. Hall of Fame - Music Victoria Awards
  36. Full List Of 100 Best Australian Albums - pedestrian.tv
  37. Australia's 100 best albums - The Sydney Morning Herald
  38. [PDF] Tash Sultana, Michael Gudinski and the late great Tony Cohen ...
  39. Tash Sultana, Michael Gudinski & Tony Cohen Receive ... - Oztix
  40. Tributes Flow For Aussie Producer Tony Cohen Who Has Passed ...
  41. Half Deaf, Completely Mad | The Saturday Paper
  42. The 7 most influential Australian music producers of all time
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