I produce and mix records, write books and blogs, and create podcasts and online courses. It’s been a good life (a few of them, actually) and I’m thankful for my good fortune, but it always hasn’t been like this. I started just like you probably did, as a working musician.
The Early Days
I started playing in bands when I was 13, and was playing in clubs pretty much non-stop by the time I was 16. Eventually I was asked to play in the best band in the region, the band that I grew up listening to and idolizing (they were together for 10 years before I started with them)
A Rude Awakening
We gigged like crazy for a few years up and down the Eastern seaboard, doing well over 300 gigs a year. Our chops were pretty high from so much stage time, and I though I was a pretty good player as a result. Little did I know.
What was I missing? How could I make myself better? This actually started a lifetime quest to find the answers to music, recording and music business questions that continues to this day. Probably many of the same questions that you’re asking yourself right now.
Along the way I began writing articles for magazines almost. Thanks to that experience I amassed a huge contact list of the top people not only in the audio, music, film and television business, but high-tech and social media too. That list still serves me well today whenever I have a question or need information.
Along the way I was still recording, and was pretty good at it, but I was a mediocre mixer at best. I asked my A-list mixer friends to teach me the techniques they were using, and they were kind enough to share everything they knew. That info became the basis for my first book
