Hi, it's Lauren Laverne and this is Desert Island Discs Postcards, a selection
of some of our most memorable moments from the thousands of people we've cast away to our imaginary desert island.
Our final postcard this week comes to you from the Grammy Award winning record producer Rick Rubin.
He's responsible for shaping the sound of artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beastie Boys.
But pictures of him hard at work look like someone else's holiday.
He can usually be found reclining barefoot on a sofa with his eyes closed waiting for the magic to occur.
He spoke to me in 2022. I'm not technical in any way, and my job is to listen.
I can listen in the deepest way if I'm relaxed with my eyes closed.
And what are you listening for?
Is it a search or is it just an experience?
It's just an experience.
I'm both listening to what's coming at me and paying attention to what's going on in my body as I listen.
Does something happen that makes me want to lean forward?
Is there something that makes me want to laugh?
Even if it's not funny, is there something that surprises me?
Or makes me want to know more, or bores me, which happens.
And then I would say that's a problem.
If it's boring to me, it'll probably be boring to someone else, or it's likely to be.
Sometimes, though, you don't even work in the studio.
Where else do you like to go with your artists?