A Foot in the Door
I've been recording home demos and, later, records in my homes since I was 17 years old. I've always been a hard-ass about excellence(performance) when recording because in my mind, I was immortalizing the music for someone beyond my death.
My peers, my friends, my bandmates, and my clients have all been frustrated at some time or another with my insistence on perfection, or at least, perfection for the piece.
Most of the musicians I know have a difficult time fitting into the studio setting. It requires craftsmanship. It requires command of your instrument. It requires communication. It requires a touch.
Now at 25, just yesterday, I was called for my first paid session in a world-class recording studio with Larry Gann at Awestruck Studios.
I've been wanting this for years. I've been networking, trying to make the right connections for so long.
When I was 18, I dropped out of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago when I decided I wanted to be a musician. At 19, I quit my job as a manager in retail to work for much less at a music store. At 20, I wrote a few songs and started my own band.
I've been able to meet so many people and, apparently, impress them with what I do that I'm now starting to see my dreams come to fruition.
I'm mostly excited about this because this industry is filled with "strummers and drummers". Everyone you meet will tell you they're "in a band". It's a really competitive atmosphere, yet it's still steered by relationships. I guess what I'm saying is, there are a lot of guys who play that will never do anything and there are musicians.
Now that I can say that I make a living by teaching, performing, recording and engineering, and doing session work I can truly call myself a musician.
Maybe I went a little nerdy when I asked my wife to color copy the check at her work...
My peers, my friends, my bandmates, and my clients have all been frustrated at some time or another with my insistence on perfection, or at least, perfection for the piece.
Most of the musicians I know have a difficult time fitting into the studio setting. It requires craftsmanship. It requires command of your instrument. It requires communication. It requires a touch.
Now at 25, just yesterday, I was called for my first paid session in a world-class recording studio with Larry Gann at Awestruck Studios.
I've been wanting this for years. I've been networking, trying to make the right connections for so long.
When I was 18, I dropped out of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago when I decided I wanted to be a musician. At 19, I quit my job as a manager in retail to work for much less at a music store. At 20, I wrote a few songs and started my own band.
I've been able to meet so many people and, apparently, impress them with what I do that I'm now starting to see my dreams come to fruition.
I'm mostly excited about this because this industry is filled with "strummers and drummers". Everyone you meet will tell you they're "in a band". It's a really competitive atmosphere, yet it's still steered by relationships. I guess what I'm saying is, there are a lot of guys who play that will never do anything and there are musicians.
Now that I can say that I make a living by teaching, performing, recording and engineering, and doing session work I can truly call myself a musician.
Maybe I went a little nerdy when I asked my wife to color copy the check at her work...