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Issue #64 – Student Successes
by L. Swift and Jeff McQ
William Crutchfield, an aspiring EDM producer, was already figuring on moving from his home state of Maryland to Los Angeles to try and break into the music scene. Then he found out about the Recording Connection.
“My mom actually found it online,” says William, “and [she] was like, ‘You should check this out, since you want to do music.'”
The on-the-job training factor particularly appealed to William, who wanted the experience and connections but wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going to school. “I’ve never been a fan of the whole traditional school route,” he says. “I mean, I understand it, but at the same time, I feel like it can be such a waste of time…with Recording Connection, you’re getting mentored in a studio…It’s much more likely you can get a job, since you’re getting actual real skills.”
Meanwhile, as William began making plans, his sister, Catalina Crutchfield, an indie singer-songwriter, began to take notice.
“I was not sure what I was doing with my life and where I wanted to be,” she says. “William found out about the program and was going to do it…So I was like, ‘Hey, I like music, I’m interested in the things you’re doing, like what are you doing exactly?'”
As a result, the Recording Connection picked up not one, but two new apprentices. William and Catalina enrolled together, and both were placed with mentor Doug Boulware at The Abstract Recording Studios, a newer Los Angeles, CA studio with plenty of ground-floor opportunities. Almost immediately upon enrolling, the siblings learned the power of connections in a rather unexpected way. Finding an affordable place in the L.A. area can be a challenge, especially when you’re new—but they were put in touch with yet another apprentice, a Film Connection student, and the three went in together on a place to live!
Since beginning his apprenticeship, William is already amazed at what he’s learned, including un-learning some things he’d been doing on his own working with Logic and Ableton.
“When I was teaching myself how to produce, I didn’t understand that you put a reverb or things like that on an aux track,” he says. “I was thinking I wanted a reverb on the track, so I put one on the track [as an insert]…It just blew my mind that I’ve been doing it wrong the whole time.”
Meanwhile, William is immersing himself in the music of the studio (“It’s really cool seeing how many people are into electronic music and how big it is out here,” he says), and he thrives on the creative vibe of the studio itself.
“It seems like every day I go into the studio, some different song is playing on the speakers that someone was working on,” he says. “The thing that I love about this studio is that it’s very laid back, in a way…it’s very creatively friendly environment. I just love that about it. They are always helpful. Doug said to me once, ‘If you’re here, and you’re not learning, you’re wasting your time. You should be learning when you’re here.’ It’s just a great experience overall.”
Catalina agrees. “Everyone here is really awesome and helpful, and it’s so easy to get along with everyone. It’s a great environment,” she says. “All the questions I have, they’re answered right then and there. It’s a great learning experience, for so many reasons.”
So, with a brother and sister apprenticing at the same studio, is there sibling rivalry? Don’t count on it. “We help each other out,” says William. “[I understand] using a DAW and everything because I started producing myself, whereas she hasn’t. So I can help her with it.”
Likewise, Catalina’s tastes in indie music are expanding her brother’s musical palate, as well. “I think we match pretty well,” she says. “He listens to a lot of house and dubstep type things, and I enjoy that too, but it’s not my go-to…I don’t listen to mainstream music, so it’s kind of out there what I listen to sometimes, and he is just like, ‘Oh, that’s different!’ We just learn from each other.”
In fact, despite their differences in musical tastes, the siblings are finding creative ways to collaborate during their course. “I’m definitely more into the EDM stuff, whereas she is more into indie,” says William. “But there is some middle ground.”
What is the “middle ground?” How about Tropical House? More specifically, a house track with tropical overtones that William and Catalina are collaborating on. “We are working on something right now,” says Catalina. “[William is] gonna essentially make the music part of it, then I’m coming up with the lyrics, so [we have] something going with that.”
Even so, Catalina and William both can definitely see how training on-the-job is preparing them for their respective dreams. For William, who loves being on the ground floor of an emerging recording studio like The Abstract, it’s more on the production side. In fact, this past week William actually took the helm for two recording sessions. “It was an amazing experience,” he says. “Jesse [the head engineer] also let me know that I will be getting more involved with projects they are working on, so I’m super excited about that!”
For Catalina, who views herself more as an indie performer, the studio training is giving her a solid foundation for her future as an artist. “My main goal is to perform and make my own music and really go far with that,” she says. “I think since I am here learning it all and getting to experience it all, I’ll be able to do that better now, and really know what I want and how I can achieve it.”
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