Brian Warwick Discusses Working with Weird Al Yankovic

Brian Warwick, a LARS Music Production faculty member, engineered “Weird Al” Yankovic’s winning album “Mandatory Fun.” Warwick has been engineering for Weird Al for the past eight years, and has worked on numerous Grammy-nominated albums. This is his first win.

“I knew we had something special when I got a late night call from Al saying I had just engineered the number one album in the country,” said Warwick in reference to Yankovic’s 2014 release “Mandatory Fun” topping the Billboard 200 this past summer. “Personally, I picked up the phone, and thought there must be a serious technical problem with the album!”

“Mandatory Fun” was Yankovic’s first number one album on the Billboard 200 chart after a 30-year career and 14 albums. It was also the first comedy album to hit number one in over 50 years. Yankovic’s Grammy-winning album pokes fun at recordings by other Grammy nominees including Iggy Azalea, Lorde, Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and Imagine Dragons.

“I’m blown away! My very first cassette tape was Weird Al’s “Dare to Be Stupid,” released in 1985, and I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s been an honor to work with one of my music heroes,” says Warwick.

Brian was also a featured extra in Yankovic’s Funny Or Die video, Sports Song. “Weird Al” Yankovic recently launched a “Mandatory Tour” featuring 100 cities worldwide. Tickets can be found at WeirdAl.com/tour. You can read more about Brian’s work with other amazing clientele here.