Flood (producer)

Mark Ellis (born 16 August 1960), known by his professional pseudonym Flood, is a British rock and synthpop record producer and audio engineer. Flood's list of work includes projects with New Order, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Marc and the Mambas, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Sneaker Pimps, King, Ministry, The Charlatans, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Erasure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Foals, a-ha, Orbital, Sigur Rós, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, White Lies, Pop Will Eat Itself, Warpaint, EOB, and Interpol. His co-production collaborations have included projects with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite, and longtime collaborator Alan Moulder, with whom he co-founded the Assault & Battery studio complex. In 2006, his work with U2 led to his sharing of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Mark Ellis was born in London. As a child Ellis attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, England. He began his music career as the vocalist for the band Seven Hertz. In 1978 he began his professional studio career as a runner at Morgan Studios in London and was the tape operator on Rick Wakeman's album 1984. Ellis was also a runner at Battery Studios in London and held apprenticeships at Marcus Studios and Trident Studios. Flood moved up to house engineer before becoming a freelance engineer in 1981, the same year he worked as assistant engineer on New Order's debut album Movement. The following year he engineered Ministry's debut album, With Sympathy. He became associated with Stevo's Some Bizzare Records label, leading to him working with Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, and Marc Almond's side project, Marc and the Mambas among others. Following his work with Some Bizzare Records, Flood began working with Mute Records as one of their preferred producers, heralding his first production project with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on From Her to Eternity (1983–1984) and the follow-up album The Firstborn Is Dead (1984).