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John Linacre Sayers (27 June 1945 –September 2021) was an Australian audio engineer, record producer, and studio designer. Initially associated with Armstrong's Studios in Melbourne, he was later the owner of John Sayers Productions. He also designed recording studios, both in Australia and abroad.
John Linacre Sayers was born on 27 June 1945 in New Zealand.[1] As a television productions assistant, he arrived in Sydney on 25 May 1966.[1] The "L" was included in his official website name as johnsayers.com was taken, but he did not use that initial for accredited works.[2]
Sayers moved to Australia in 1966, first living in Sydney. After being interviewed in Sydney by Bill Armstrong, he moved to Melbourne in 1968 to work at Armstrong's Studios. He met British-born sound engineer Roger Savage there.[2]
Sayers became one of a number of producer-engineers associated with the Melbourne popular music scene of the 1960s and 1970s and in particular with Armstrong's Studios, where many of the most successful Australian pop/rock recordings of the period were recorded.[2]
Among his many recording credits, he recorded and mixed "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris.[2]
Sayers designed many recording studios, including Enmore Audio in Sydney as well as Music Farm Studio and Mix Artist Studio near Byron Bay in New South Wales.[3]
Other studios in Australia designed by him include the Music School Recording Studio for Australian National University in Canberra; the Beyond 2000 and Charles Sturt University facilities; Apocalypse Audio Post Studio; Hello Testing; Cloud Studios; Flying Fox Studios;[4] Wasteland Studio for Eskimo Joe in Fremantle, WA; Heliport Studios at Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Shockone in Perth; and WEFO Studio in Melbourne.[5]
Overseas, he was responsible for the designs of Bloom Road Recording Studio at Eagle River, Wisconsin, US; Nu Faith Studios in Cape Town, South Africa; Studio al Watan in Dubai; Rose Lane in Carpinteria, California; and ff studio (for classical music) and Heart Music, both in Taiwan;[5] and BlueJay Recording Studios in Mount Dora, Florida.
Sayers created the studio acoustics forum Recording Studio Design.[2]
Sayers was a resident of Bonalbo from 2008. He died on 14 September 2021, aged 76.[4]
Sayers' recording credits as either engineer or producer or both include:[6]