Producer has big dreams for Las Vegas

Four a.m. phone calls are never good.

Well, almost never.

Oftentimes, the news is that something bad has happened to a loved one -- either that, or the person on the other end of the line is just really drunk.

But for Vegas-based producer Kevin Churko, a steadily rising name who helmed the last Ozzy Osbourne record, the most recent disc from promising female-fronted rockers In This Moment and who has worked on projects by everyone from Britney Spears to Michael Bolton, an early morning call wound up changing his life.

It was superproducer Mutt Lange who woke Churko up that day.

"It was career changing," says Churko, a thick-bearded, amiable dude, over a burger at an east-side Chili's. "Every album that he makes is not huge because he gets lucky each time. He's passionate about it, and in the end, he figures out how it works. He'll just keep going until it's right."

Lange, who's one of the most successful producers of all time, having overseen such mammoth hits as AC/DC's "Back in Black," Def Leppard's "Hysteria" and Shania Twain's "Come On Over," asked Churko to come over to his studio in Switzerland to work as an engineer/programming and tech guy after having first met Churko when he auditioned to be the drummer in Twain's touring band.

Churko didn't get the gig, returning to his native Canada to focus on a career in production. After later getting his big break with Lange, Churko eventually relocated to Los Angeles -- and then to Vegas a few years back -- where he has earned a reputation for big-sounding, meticulously produced albums.

"I don't look at polished like it's not a good thing," he says. "I would have never been the guy to do (Nirvana's) 'Nevermind,' because I probably would have refined them too much for it to be a success. I'm going to gravitate towards doing a couple more takes, getting a better performance. I like to put time into things."

And he has certainly put a lot of time into developing a career in music. The son of a music teacher, Churko was on the road full time beginning in the ninth grade, when he joined his brothers, sister and dad in the family band Churko!

"We were 'The Partridge Family,' " he chuckles.

Nowadays, Churko is spending Monday through Friday in Los Angeles, producing the next Ozzy album, then returning home to his family on the weekends.

And it's here in Vegas, a city of big ambitions, where Churko has supersized designs of his own.

"I'd rather build a community, build a scene and build a business within the city than just farm it out to L.A. all the time," he says. "This can be a little mini music mecca."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.