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For six and a half years, the Grammy-winning-out producer Andrew Watt spoke to Ozzy Osbourne every day-and the day before the metal legend’s death, it was no different. “Everything was normal,” says Watt, “and the next day the news was just a huge shock.” Watt was close to Ozzy in the course of work on his last two albums – “Ordinary Man” (2020) and “Patient Number 9” (2022) – and he attributes to the singer that he has opened his way for work with the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga and many others. Looks in deep grief Watt in our current interview back to his friendship with Osbourne.
“Heavy Metal summer camp”
You played at the back to the starting concert. How was that experience?
The concert was incredible, and at that moment it almost feels like a dream sequence. The whole month of his life feels like a dream. I had worked on a project in London and then went to the concert and coming to Birmingham was great. And then there was this big photo shoot, everyone was there.
It was such an incredible thing because [Gitarrist] Jake E. Lee was there, who hadn’t seen Ozzy for 30 years. And all these people were there, from all phases of his life. Bands he loved. Musicians he loved. Ross Halfin made this great photo shoot, and Ozzy told him all the time that he should piss off – and Halfin said Ozzy back.
It was just a great, funny thing. It is best to describe as a heavy metal summer camp. And then we were all together every day, and I could be with Sharon and Jack and Kelly and everyone … I remember eating with Sharon Curry in the evening before the big show because you eat that in Birmingham. And we took one to the hotel for Ozzy. I sat with him for a long time and talked. We had a few hours in his room, the evening before the show. [Pause.] It’s hard to talk about it.
It has to feel like you have lost a family member.
Yes, exactly. He saw me in a way I didn’t see myself, and when she talked to someone who loved him or was lucky enough to be loved by him, that’s a constant. He could see her – in her good, in her bad – and just as you were. He was like a witcher in it. He often knew things before they passed and just had an incredible sense.
“He made sense to me”
When we made all these albums together, he recovered from this accident [ein Sturz zu Hause]that he had had. And it was the first time that I made music and understood that music is something bigger than just doing songs. She made sense to him when he was not doing well, she let him feel great and laugh and sing and sing and dance and heal. These two albums were incredible, and for me they are the reason why I’m talking to them here today.
Because it has changed all of her career.
Yes, everything has changed. He saw me as a serious album producer. Until then, I hadn’t really made complete albums. I had done one or two in which I was involved, but not to this extent. And he saw in me that I could. It was a dream that had become true. He gave me confidence and taught me so much – how to mix rock music and pull through to the end. He really believed in me. He let me play guitar on his albums, and that’s just incredible. We were very important for each other, both as collaborators and as friends. And damn, man, more than anything I miss the laugh. He was the funniest person ever.
“It’s the bass”
What did he teach you specifically about mixing?
You have to understand: This man made “paranoid” when he was 21 years old. So he had a 55-year-old career in which everything was great, at the highest level. And he is one of the smartest people I have ever met – a historian, a genius, a literal genius. His persona was just one person. In reality, it was incredibly brilliant, incredibly sharp. His ears were reactive. You could think he didn’t listen to, but he heard every detail. There were moments when we were in the studio, heard something and simply drew. And I thought: “Oh, he doesn’t listen.” And then came a sentence from him that cut so deeply – in a positive way.
He always said to me: “Listen to Led Zeppelin and tell me what the loudest element is.” And I, confident, said: “It’s the drums. John Bonham.” He said, “No, not the drums. It’s bass.”
I also said it was the drums.
He showed me that bass is the most important thing in a rock song. You have to make sure that the bass is there, pumps, cuts in and gives this feeling of rhythm because it forms the bridge between drums and guitars. He makes the song difficult. The guitars can only pierce if they are mixed properly. It is difficult to really let the bass come through and still form the foundation. But he was extremely bass-focused when mixing, always careful that the bass gets through. And if you listen to the plates we made – there is a lot of bass. “Under the Graveyard” has so much depth, listen to it. He was involved in every detail of each individual mixdown. It was so important to him.
Is there unpublished music from your time together? Is there still something in the archive?
[Pause.] I can’t talk about that!