Erin Tonkon
Erin Tonkon is an American recording engineer whose work became widely recognised through her involvement with David Bowie’s final studio album, Blackstar (2016).
Working closely with producer Tony Visconti, Tonkon played a crucial role in capturing the album’s intimate performances, raw textures, and experimental jazz-inflected sound.
- Name: Erin Tonkon
- Born: Unknown
- Died: Unknown
- Role: Recording engineer
- Bowie link: Recording engineer on Blackstar (2016)
- Core idea: Capturing intimacy, experimentation, and live interaction
Recording Blackstar
Blackstar was recorded at The Magic Shop in New York and marked a radical departure from conventional rock production. The album brought together Bowie with a group of contemporary jazz musicians, requiring a recording approach that was flexible, responsive, and deeply musical.
Erin Tonkon’s engineering work focused on preserving the immediacy of performance, often recording musicians together to maintain interaction and spontaneity.
Working with Tony Visconti and David Bowie
Under Tony Visconti’s direction, Tonkon became a vital link between Bowie’s artistic vision and the technical reality of the studio. Bowie encouraged openness, curiosity, and experimentation — values that shaped the album’s sound.
Tonkon later described the sessions as intense yet collaborative, with Bowie deeply engaged in the recording process despite his declining health.
Engineering as interpretation
On Blackstar, engineering was not a neutral task. Microphone placement, room sound, and balance were used expressively, helping to shape the album’s sense of fragility, tension, and space.
The close, almost whispered vocal sound on several tracks reflects this approach, placing Bowie’s voice at the centre of an unstable, shifting musical environment.
Blackstar as a final statement
Released just days before Bowie’s death, Blackstar has since been recognised as a deliberate and carefully constructed farewell. The album’s power lies not only in its compositions but in how they were captured.
Erin Tonkon’s contribution ensured that these performances were preserved with honesty and immediacy, allowing listeners to feel both the strength and vulnerability present in Bowie’s final work.
A modern collaborator in Bowie’s universe
Unlike many of Bowie’s long-term collaborators, Tonkon represents a late-career creative connection — part of a younger generation of musicians and engineers Bowie actively sought out.
In Bowie’s extended creative universe, Erin Tonkon stands as a reminder that innovation never stopped, even at the very end.