Churning, Burning, Earning
Cay Campos at my studio.
Whew, what a month. It took me longer than usual to write this post. Sometimes my creations take longer than I expect them to. Being a professional creative means that I have to be really responsible with time. So, I plan to have periods where I’m not feeling it. I plan to have days where I feel like I can’t do anything right. Then, when I get to that point, I take it as a sign that the process is working instead of a failure. I take it as a sign to keep going in whatever incremental fashion suits me. It is in those critical moments where lightning strikes.
Earlier this month I ran a couple of really productive studio sessions with an awesome artist- Cay Campos. When I first saw Cay perform at the Hayden Hoodoo Happy Hour Open Mic, I recognized that he had a sound that was unique. Totally reminded me of Eddie Vedder but distinct on its own. He uses a lot of guttural sounds in his voice which I found to be very expressive. Cay’s songs are CATCHY! I was honored when he asked about how I could help him record his material. Have a listen!
By the way, I’ve been running the sound board for the open mic night linked above. It’s a laid back vibe and it’s full of really nice people. Dozen Street on Wednesdays at 5:30.
I’ve been taking Live Sound with Travis Kelley at ACC, and its been hugely helpful with rounding out my knowledge of sound in general. If you’re a sound guy in Austin then you may know Travis from Cheer Up Charlies, Flamingo Cantina, and plenty of other venues around town. We’re basically running drills every class setting up a PA system and sound checking different instruments. It’s Austin so of course we have plenty of musical talent to work with in the class. I’m getting hands-on experience with the Behringer X32 which is very common around town. I’m really looking forward to breaking into Live Sound and facilitating more great-sounding music and shows in Austin!
Still working on my greater vision as well. Producing events. I don’t want to say too much more than that because the magic is still working… meaning that I’ve been busy as hell with moving and life and I still have to do a lot more work on it, HA. I will say this- I know a ton of talent in this town. I know how to work with people. I know how to follow up. I think I can build the right team to make this happen, and I think Austin might be ready for it.
In other news, finally got my hands on the Roland R-07 field recorder and I’ve been experimenting with sampling different sounds around my life. You may have noticed the “Coming Soon” next to sound design on the homepage, that’s because I’ve got sample libraries in the works which I’ll be posting soon. I went to Juegos Rancheros earlier this month to network with indie video game developers about sound. The #1 piece of feedback I got was to get my sounds up for people to listen, so that’s what I’ll do! I think my first library will be cats because you’re welcome.
Does that sound like a lot? Well it feels like a lot! Did I mention I’m moving also? Damn!
The process must be working….