Barry Sage is a British sound engineer and producer, currently living inSantiago, Chile. Sage has worked with a variety of British and Latin American acts, including theRolling Stones,Boy George,Pet Shop Boys,Nicole andCharly García.
Sage began his career as a tea boy atTrident Studios in London, later going on to be a tape operator assistingElton John andQueen, among others.[1]
Initially as the assistant toChris Kimsey,[1] Sage worked with theRolling Stones twice, in 1978 (onSome Girls) and 1981 (Tattoo You). Particularly given the drug-use scandal hanging overKeith Richards at the time, the period was frenetic. In a 2014 interview, Sage described long days in the studio and a prolific output of 40 tracks and 80 reels.[2]
During the production ofTattoo You,Mick Jagger and Sage were working alone one night when Jagger asked Sage to record himself clapping for a song. That song, "Start Me Up", would go on to international success, with Sage estimating in a 2017 interview that the lifetime royalties he received for his work on the track totalled some 15 millionChilean pesos (roughlyUS$22,000).[3]
After the Stones, Sage went on to assist on a considerable number of songs for major musicians, including "Blue Monday" byNew Order and the soundtrack forUnder the Cherry Moon by Prince, whom Sage described as "very demanding of his musicians".[3] By the late 1980s Sage shifted to Spanish pop amid changes in the British music industry, working withLa Oreja de Van Gogh andSergio Dalma, among others.[1] By 2000, he was searching for a house inGranada.[4]
Sage's first involvement with Chilean music came in 1994. He was selected to mixEsperando nada byNicole.[1] for BMG. Two years later, he would make his first visit to the country, to record the albumPlay for local rock groupSolar [es]. His relationship with Solar frontman Alejandro Gómez proved fruitful when Gómez started a new group,Alamedas [es], with which Sage also worked.[5] Sage returned to Chile in 2010 for a panel discussion sponsored by theDuoc UC.[3]
In 2012, after labour issues arose in Spain, Sage moved toSantiago. Two years later, he bought a plot of land inIsla Negra to build a recording studio;[6] however, he sold the studio in order to resolve financial matters in England.[3] Sage also cited a better work-life balance in Chile as a reason to relocate, as well as that major artists in the UK increasingly make money from their back catalogue and produce few new recordings.[3]
