Greg Wells
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greg Wells (born September 21, 1968) is a Canadian musician, record producer and songwriter. He is the first of two sons to Rev. Dr. Bill and Judy Wells. Greg's younger brother Rob Wells is a songwriter and record producer in Toronto.
| Greg Wells | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | September 21, 1968 | |
| Origin | Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Pop, Classical, Jazz, | |
| Occupation(s) | record producer, songwriter, musician, mix engineer | |
| Instrument(s) | piano, drums, guitar, bass, Hammond B3 | |
| Website | GregWells.net | |
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Career Overview
Greg has songs on over 50 million CD sales. Greg has worked with Otep, Rufus Wainwright, Natasha Bedingfield, The Deftones, Cheyenne Kimball, Pussycat Dolls, Team Sleep, k.d. lang, Jewel, Aerosmith, P!nk, Jesse McCartney, Sarah Bettens, and Paris Hilton, through to Carole King, Elton John, and Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun.
Wells' work is highly varied, as heard in Rufus Wainwright's "Across the Universe", Otep's death metal "House of Secrets", Jesse McCartney's #1 pop hit "Beautiful Soul", Team Sleep's haunting "Ever (Foreign Flag)", and guilty pleasure of Paris Hilton's "Screwed".
[edit] Early years
The son of a United Church of Canada minister, Greg hails from Peterborough, Ontario, . A child prodigy on several instruments, he played piano, drums, and guitar in professional concerts and club dates. He attended two years at the Humber College Jazz Studies Program outside of Toronto. In his teens, Greg joined Juno Award winner Kim Mitchell's band and contributed to Mitchell's multi-platinum "Rockland" record.
A grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in 1990 enabled Wells to study in Los Angeles with composer/pianist Claire Fischer, Prince's string arranger and renowned jazz composer. Wells traveled to Los Angeles for studies with Fischer. He was k.d. lang's multi-instrumentalist for 3 years. Early studio work includes Hammond B3 for Elton John on the "Duets" CD, drums on an unreleased record for Ozzy Osbourne, jazz piano for producer/Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, and bass guitar and drums for Jars of Clay on their platinum record "Much Afraid".
[edit] Miles Copeland
Manager Miles Copeland began hiring Wells to produce acts for IRS Records and invited Greg to a songwriting event at Copeland's castle in France. At the castle, Wells wrote with John Parish (PJ Harvey), Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks, Irish singer/songwriter Paul Brady, The Police drummer and Miles' brother Stewart Copeland, and Carole King.
King, Mark Hudson, and Wells penned "The Reason", a song written for Aerosmith, eventually recorded by Celine Dion, and sold 31 million copies. Wells later met and married Carole's daughter Louise Goffin and they have two children. Greg and Louise often collaborate musically, as on Louise's "Sometimes A Circle" CD for Dreamworks and the theme song for the hit TV show The Gilmore Girls.
[edit] Today
Wells is producing and writing for artists such as Natasha Bedingfield, the Pussycat Dolls, and new Universal Music signing Mika. He works out of his private studio Rocket Carousel Studio in Los Angeles, often collaborating with Matt Chamberlain on drums, A-list songwriter Kara DioGuardi, and string arranger Paul Buckmaster.
[edit] Partial Discography
- Life in Cartoon Motion, Mika (upcoming release)
- The Day Has Come, Cheyenne
- Poses, Rufus Wainwright
- Paris, Paris Hilton
- Team Sleep, Team Sleep
- Beautiful Soul, Jesse McCartney
- Take Back The Universe and Give Me Yesterday, Creeper Lagoon
- Sometimes A Circle, Louise Goffin
- Deftones, Deftones
- House of Secrets, Otep
- Anna, Anna Waronker
- Hotel Paper, Michelle Branch
- Scream, Sarah Bettens
- Carnival Love, Amy Correia
