Nick Launay was among the most successful producers of the post-punk era, helming records for many of the biggest international stars to emerge from Australia. He began his career during the early '80s with a series of releases from pivotal acts including Gang of Four (the To Hell with Poverty EP), Killing Joke (the Follow the Leaders single), Public Image Limited (The Flowers of Romance). and the Birthday Party (Junkyard and its follow-up EP, Release the Bats). By 1983, with the success of the Church's Seance and Midnight Oil's 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Launay was among the most highly regarded producers on the Aussie rock scene; the year following, he also helmed INXS' The Swing. However, after 1985 -- a year in which he produced Tim Finn's Big Canoe, the Armoury Show's Waiting for the Floods, and the Models' Out of Mind Out of Sight -- Launay began working far more sparingly than at the outset of his career, sometimes with months or even years separating projects. Quiet throughout much of the late '80s, in 1992 he resurfaced in the Talking Heads' camp, producing three new tracks for the group's Sand in the Vaseline retrospective before working with frontman David Byrne on his solo Uh-Oh album that same year. After reuniting with Midnight Oil on their 1993 effort Earth and Sun and Moon, Launay again took a hiatus before agreeing to helm records for American alternative acts like For Squirrels (1995's Example) and the Posies (1996's Amazing Disgrace). Also in 1996, he teamed with Midnight Oil guitarist Jim Moginie in a duo called Fuzz Face, issuing a self-titled EP; Silverchair's Freak Show followed a year later, and in 1998 Launay resurfaced with Girls Against Boys' Freak*on*ica. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi