I've been doing this biz for so long... more than half of my life-- for real. I started sound engineering when I was 12 doing live sound for my pops. Then i started learning the studio shit.. the real studio shit. it aint the same no more. Back in the early 90s, protools was just a small program and one of the first of its kind. if you wanted to record, you did it on reel to reel. I started on a Mci 24 track 2 inch reel to reel recorder. There was no undo button, you fuck it up and its gone. Consequently, i hated punching people in on their track cause they usually had some retarded ass spot they wanted to punch in at and then they kept fuckin up so i had to do the same punch over and over and over and every once in a while i cut they shit and they had to do it all over again any fucking way. oh well i guess more money for the studio. i was happy when adats came out-- it was much less work on me.
I also had the chance to work for double platinum artist Aaliyah as a sound tech for the tour band rehearsals. I worked for her on and off for two years. My dad was her sound engineer for her tours in 95 thru 99 or so. yeah, she was nice and she really could sing. I was way to shy to talk to her that much. I was really upset when i found out she died in that crash. I know her mom, dad and her brother Rashad. R.I.P. Aaliyah.
At the same time, I also started playing the piano and shortly after the guitar. I started writing instrumentals a couple years later. I produced my first album when I was 16 using an akai mpc 60 and a roland jv-80. Of course, I engineered the album too. My second album came shortly after. Two of my homies ended up getting a financial backer and I ended up getting paid for the whole album up front. After that, I started charging everybody. In the next year and a half I produced three more albums and got paid for them.
I took a break for a couple years (for personal reasons out of my control). I moved about the country doing bullshit and ended up here in Minnesota. I was missing the music, so I stacked my dough and compiled some equipment to start my own recording studio on the east side called phattrax recording studio in 2001 (yeah thats where trax comes from). I produced quite a few people and recorded a bit more people for a couple years. Honestly, I produced more than 100 songs for my clients in that time and of course got paid for most of them.
To be honest, I hate engineering. So I went to work for my pops again in detroit, teaching people how to engineer. I was also hoping to run into some better and bigger client to buy my tracks. you know its never enough gimme som mo. I ran into some of my old homies one of which was from my second album. We made two albums and ran with it as far as we could go... not as far as I hoped. And so here i am back again and stronger than ever. |
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