It’s the bushy grey beard that makes it hard to put an age on Ethan Johns. Or rather, it’s the fact that a symbol of wisdom earned from decades of experience, hugs a face that looks like it never left its thirties.

Appropriately, while much of the conversation we throw at the MPG’s 2012 Producer Of The Year is met with middle-distance stares contemplating a long career, the awe and enthusiasm that Johns shows for artists he has worked with ...