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Issue #106

Weekly Newsletter

by L. Swift and Jeff McQ

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Student Successes

When Jimi and Brian get you learning on the job, even if you have no prior experience, you’ll find yourself learning quickly and opening yourself up to new possibilities! Read below about a novice student who enrolled in the Recording Connection to expand her musical chops, and in the process discovered a fresh passion for working behind the board!

STUDENT SUCCESSES

  

Recording Connection student Esther Friesen expands her engineering skills in West Texas

 
Esther Friesen

Esther Friesen

How does a small-town West Texas girl with no prior studio experience go from playing guitar in church to tracking sessions in a pro-level recording studio? For Recording Connection student Esther Friesen, it was an easier process than she could have imagined.   “I was looking for a place to expand my music,” Esther tells us, “so I went online…I came across your school and I got interested in it, and set me up with an interview right away.”   The apprenticeship interview was with Recording Connection mentor Anthony Nieto at MudRock Studio in Midland, TX. “I had actually never done anything in the studio before,” says Esther. “That was actually the first time I’d ever been inside a real studio.”   Anthony wasn’t put off by Esther’s lack of experience and helped put her at ease right away. “We met at the studio, and he give me the tour of the place,” she says. “We had about a two-hour interview, and he really explained in-depth what I was getting into.”   The one-on-one learning approach proved to be just what Esther needed to become comfortable in the studio setting. “Anthony took a lot of time to explain a lot of the stuff to me,” she says. “I could go to the studio and have my questions ready to where Anthony could just…sit down with me, and he would just answer the questions that I had…I’m more of a visual learner, and so I do better one-on-one than I would in campus-style.”   Esther says she also learned a lot about the studio etiquette side of things by watching Anthony work. “Being able to see him work with the artists, he really taught me a lot about artist relations, and I really enjoyed learning all that stuff, watching him work like that.”  
Mentor Anthony Nieto, Esther, country music singer Caleb Young, and record label owner Austin Grigry

Mentor Anthony Nieto, Esther, country music singer Caleb Young, and record label owner Austin Grigry

Before long, under Anthony’s watchful eye, Esther found herself assisting on recording sessions regularly, and she also found a new sense of passion working in the studio. “When we have sessions at the studio, Anthony lets me run Pro Tools, and he’ll run the board,” she says. “I really fell in love with audio engineering, like actually recording the audio. I really enjoy that now.”   As Esther finishes up her apprenticeship, she plans to continue working in the studio and honing her engineering skills, and thanks to the rapport she’s built with her mentor, she has the opportunity to do just that. “Anthony told me I could keep coming back,” she says, “so I’m doing that once a week now.”   For others who might consider apprenticing with the Recording Connection, Esther’s advice is pretty straightforward: “Go for it,” she says. “It’s a great program for the price…we learn a lot of stuff for it during these six months.”   
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Mentor News

MENTOR NEWS

  

RRFC INTERVIEW: Recording Connection mentor Thom Flowers is all about the music

  A long-time music industry veteran, Recording Connection mentor Thom Flowers cut his teeth on the West Coast rock and punk scenes, eventually landing in Santa Barbara, where he worked with bands like Sugarcult, Mad Caddies and The Ataris (for whom he engineered their gold record So Long, Astoria). Today, Thom has his hand in a lot of pots in Santa Barbara, whether it’s writing and composing for film and TV, recording bands in his studio, or playing and touring as a guitarist. His musical outlook on engineering makes him a great fit for creative musicians looking to expand their technical chops.   In a recent interview with RRFC, Thom gave us a glimpse into what makes him tick as an artist, from his history in the Santa Barbara scene to his feelings about keeping things “all about the music.” As always, there are some key nuggets of wisdom for our students as well!  
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Thom Flowers

Thom Flowers

RRFC: What initially got you into engineering?   Thom Flowers: I started off as a guitar player, played in lots of bands and got a 4-track to record demos on, and just fell in love with that part of the process. Eventually, after recording demos in different studios, I felt I could do better, so opened my own studio and did that for a while, and then ended up working out of a studio here in Santa Barbara called Orange Whip with a friend of mine, Angus Cooke, and did a lot of work there for about 10 years all through the 90s. A lot of bands came out of that studio…The Ataris, Lagwagon, Sugarcult, Mad Caddies, too many to name, really.   RRFC: When you’re working with a band like The Ataris, how was the process of recording them different from, say, when they were on Kung Fu to when they moved to Columbia and had a bigger budget?   Thom: Well they took a lot more time. On tight budgets it’s all about getting in and getting out as quickly as possible. With a budget, you have the leisure of taking your time and not rushing things and if you feel something is not quite there you can keep pushing for what it is that you have as a vision. Whereas the tight budget, you have a band, they sound like X and you try to capture that sound, you’re creative and coming up with new parts and make sure the songs are tight and all of that, but you’re working really quickly.   RRFC: What other kinds of businesses and clients do you work with there in Santa Barbara?   Thom: I do a lot of songwriting for film and television, just kind of on my own and with co-writers. I do mixing for a handful of producers in various places in the country and occasionally I’ll produce a record here and there which sometimes I do out of my studio or partly out my studio.   RRFC: You said you are writing a lot for television. Are there any projects you’re allowed to name that you’re working on?   Thom: I had a song in a Budweiser campaign, lots of stuff on MTV shows, the list goes on. Also some major network shows.     RRFC: So at what point did Recording Connection come into your daily routine in your studio, and what made you want to teach and pass along this knowledge?   Thom: Well, a friend of mine actually recommended me…I knew somebody there, and [they] recommended me; I didn’t know anything about it. But it’s something that is getting lost today with recording studios…  
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