IF TV was to stage a contest to find the most important person in music right now, then it might well be called Producer Deathmatch and involve the likes of James Murphy, Mark Ronson and Brian Burton, alias Danger Mouse.
These men do what they want in the studio and wear what they want outside. Respectively, they get away with beards, ludicrously tight trousers and furry costumes because musically their moves are impeccable. But in such a competition they wouldn't get it all their own way. There's a fourth contender and his name is James Ford.
James who? Oh, you definitely know him. The second Arctic Monkeys album – he produced that. And Myths Of The Near Future by the Klaxons. Those were two of 2007's best. The best of 2008 so far is The Age Of The Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets and for the hobby project of chief Monkey Alex Turner and his mate Miles Kane, Ford was once again sat at the controls behind the glass.
"I'm fairly workaholic," says Ford, 30 – then he laughs. That's a bit like saying you're fairly alcoholic, or fairly crucial to the regeneration of dance music. He's that, too. Not the first one, the second. Simian Mobile Disco – that's Ford and Jas Shaw – are generally credited with giving a jaded scene the boot up the backside it badly needed. SMD grew out of the indie band Simian when Ford, who played drums, thought he hated dance music. "My musical journey – you couldn't make it up."
He says that, but looked at another way, the route from disillusioned kid to producer du jour makes perfect sense. Ford grew up in the Peak District, amid a grim musical landscape of pub-rock, "the kind of DJs-in-vans you wouldn't let your daughter near" and his father's prog collection. "Dad loved the 'Canterbury Scene' of Gentle Giant, Kevin Ayres and especially Caravan, so naturally I hated it."
Ford thought no more about Caravan when he caught a train to Manchester Uni, signed up for a biology degree, met Shaw and the rest of what would become Simian, and decided the world was ready for a psychedelic-folk revival. "We missed our time, I think."
He blames management pressure and the lack of a proper kinship between the four members on the eventual split, which actually took the form of a fist-fight in Texas. Ironically, their track 'We Are Your Friends' would later be remixed by Justice into a dance floor anthem.
So when are Caravan coming back into this story? Right now. Twenty years on from his father's failed induction, Ford was meeting the Klaxons for the first time and seriously wondering if the collaboration would succeed.
"Nu-rave had just happened, the band were terribly trendy, images from Nathan Barley were playing in my head and I just wasn't sure," he says.
"But we bonded over Caravan. I thought: 'Well, they can't be horrible scenesters.' They were adventurous in the music they liked and in wanting to make a really futuristic album."
After working on Favourite Worst Nightmare, it was obvious to Ford that Alex Turner wanted to make a really nostalgic album. Scott Walker and Ennio Morricone were the inspiration for the 1960s homage, which emerged from two weeks of "table-tennis, wine, boule, cheese and bloody hard work" in France. The production on The Age Of The Understatement is thrilling but Ford plays down his role. Indeed the album's title could serve as his own calling-card.
He rates Turner highly but says we must wait for history to confirm his true worth. He claims the producer's job has been demystified, with every band these days containing at least one sonic whizz. What is he, a "fifth member" who knows from bitter experience the importance of an atmosphere of trust in the studio? Perhaps. Another crucial rule is: never pre-judge. About Caravan or dance music or anything.
"Weird" is a big word in his vocabulary. Pop can never be "too weird". He'd love to work with a diva like Beyonce or Rihanna and "weird up" their sound. And he thinks the cult of the producer is "definitely weird". Mark Ronson is much better suited to it and Ford is happiest stuck between soundproofed walls – if only he had time to do everything he wanted.
"I'm just back from two weeks in Milan with the Klaxons. As well as their new album, there's the new SMD one. I'm booked up for all of the rest of this year but September is off-limits, which is a bit of a pain – I'm getting married. But at least the wedding band are the Mystery Jets."
• Simian Mobile Disco play Rock Ness, June 8.
