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Kevin Shirley tweaks sounds at the board in his California studio.

Sitting at one of the consoles in his Caveman Studios in Los Angeles, Kevin Shirley is taking a break from producing Joe Bonamassa's upcoming solo album. "It's fuckin' bad-ass," he says with a laugh. "We try and do a record annually, Joe and I, and every time I'm amazed at his growth. But now it's like he's a whole different animal. He's really evolved in every way possible. So I'm just trying to capture that as quickly and accurately as I can."

Shirley's come a long way from his early days in his native South Africa, and he admits that his first studio gig was far from glamorous. "I wanted to be a producer very badly, so I sat in the lobby of this guy's studio, and I wouldn't leave till he gave me a job. Which he did - he said I could paint the place! But that was my way in. You've got to get in somehow."

Shirley paid his dues, recording jingles and whatever else was booked. "I got fired a bunch of times from the same studio, but I kept coming back," he says. "I learned the ropes. I borrowed studio time, learned how to make records and work with bands. I did what I had to do. After a while, I had a couple of number of records in South Africa and worked with a lot of big artists."

A move to Australia led to Shirley engineering the debut album for the band Baby Animals, but his real big break came from producing Silverchair's Frogstomp in 1995, during the height of grunge and alt-rock. "That was the one that really established me," he says. "They were a homegrown act, and they happened big-time. Frogstomp got my name around like nothing had before."

And now he's sitting atop the rock world, having produced hits for dozens of acts. From Bonamassa to Journey to Iron Maiden to Dream Theater to Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes (he also mixed the Led Zeppelin live package How The West Was Won), and more recently, the upcoming album by the reunited Mr Big - all carry the Kevin Shirley name. Asked to explain how he's become one of music's handful of go-to guys, he puts it simply: "Patience, understanding and a ton of honesty. Special emphasis on honesty."

You and Joe Bonamassa have established quite a successful working relationship over the years. What's been the secret?

"On never being satisfied. We keep the material fresh, and we keep pushing the musical boundaries. At the same time, it's important to realize what Joe is, what he wants to be, what his audience wants, and to make things exciting in that context. Plus, there's been a whole business model we've embraced that has worked out very well, one that's based on touring and keeping him out there. We've worked pretty hard on this whole endeavor. In this environment, you have to have your eyes on so many pieces of the puzzle."

When you say "environment," are you referring to downloading and its effect on the music industry?

"Sure. Downloading has definitely impacted the business, and to be quite honest, I've found many of the attitudes to the matter to be quite banal. I mean, you don't just steal people's work - that's crazy. There's no question that downloading has affected music. And now, the bigger issue has unfortunately become, what is music actually worth? Well, if you're looking at it in an old-school model way, not much. It doesn't work anymore. You can't make a decent record with a good budget and expect to make back your investment from record sales alone - those days are long gone.

"So the big picture, and one of the things that Joe Bonamassa has done, is seeing where all the parts of the business truly fit together. Joe realizes that making a good record is important, and he'll invest in that, but where he truly sees the returns from that is in the live situation.

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