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Arica Rust: In Love with Live Sound Technology

Arica Rust works for Sound on Stage in San Francisco as a staff engineer. Sound on Stage is a sound system rental company based in the San Francisco Bay Area, providing systems for a wide range of events ranging from high-profile corporate entertainment to rock festivals like Outside Lands and Treasure Island Music Festival. Arica has been with SOS for the last six years, which means she wears many hats and works as an engineer for FOH and Monitors, stage patch, and whatever else they might throw at her. Her favorite position is as a FOH systems engineer. She enjoys being on the road and recently completed the North American leg of the Ben Howard Tour as the PA Systems Tech.

Arica has been working in live sound for the last nine years and came to it as many do, with a love of music. Her initial dream was to work in a recording studio. Her journey into live sound started when she went to City College of San Francisco to study studio recording and found herself in the live sound classes as well.

City College of San Francisco offers an excellent audio program, providing several different certificate programs and is headed up by SoundGirl Dana Labrecque. (Dana runs the Bay Area SoundGirls Chapter and is a Co-Director or SoundGirls). After attending the live sound classes and her first internship, that was it; Arica knew live sound was where she wanted to be. When she was a teenager, Arica says, “ I spent all my lunch money buying records and going to concerts with my friends. I originally went to college in upstate New York out of high school to study avant-garde Electronic Music and Creative Writing at Bard College”.

“I want to be able to make people experience music the way that I do with that same feeling where it lights your brain on fire. I figured the best way to shape people’s experience was to be on the technical side of the stage”.

Arica and her friend Tiffani used to throw underground electronic music events in the Bay Area and would use her friends’ rental company Word of Mouth Sound. When she was looking for her first internship while at City College of San Francisco, she contacted them and ended up working behind the scenes at the events she used to attend. She completed her trade certificates in Live Sound and Recording Arts at CCSF before transferring to San Francisco State University.

Realizing that she wanted to work in live sound on the technical side set Arica on her way. She went on to study at San Francisco State University and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcasting and Electronic Media Arts with a focus in Audio Production. Professor John Barsotti taught the audio program in the broadcasting department and introduced Arica to Sound on Stage.

Arica continues to immerse herself in ongoing education and training, receiving certification in Rational Acoustics’ SMAART, L-Acoustics Levels 1 and 2, and attends various AES related conventions and events. “I value the importance of education and feel that no matter how much one thinks they know, there is always something new to discover. I try to learn from a variety of sources whether it is from the war stories of other engineers or diversifying my training from different manufacturers”.

Arica’s long-term goals have changed since she started on her audio path: “It’s funny how your goals change over time as you learn more. I went to school imagining myself mixing albums for bands, but now I am way more interested in the science of sound and designing, deploying, and tuning systems for different clients”. She also loves teaching and getting people excited about science.

What if any obstacles or barriers have you faced?

The biggest obstacles I have had to face have always been the ones I create for myself. I think I will forever be plagued with Imposter Syndrome: the feeling that I am not good enough, smart enough, know enough, etc. to be where I am. No matter how much I try to prove myself there is always that feeling in the back of my head of self-doubt, but then I’ll have those magical moments where the show starts and maybe it’s music I’ve heard before or, even better, a band I’m unfamiliar with that just blows me away, and I feel like I’m right where I need to be doing what I love.

How have you dealt with them?

I just keep telling myself over and over that “I got this” when I start doubting myself. I stay focused on doing the best I possibly can. I try not to let my demons in my head get the best of me and put 110% in everything I do. It’s easy to get jaded, but even if this time you don’t get acknowledgment for your efforts, eventually hard work shows and people respect that. I do things to help me relax and get in a confident headspace. For example, I have a playlist that I sometimes listen to before going into work to get myself ready to go.

The advice you have for women and non-binary people who wish to enter the field?

I wish we lived in a world where people do not change the way they interact with you based on what they perceive to be your gender, but sadly that is not the reality yet. Things are getting better slowly but surely, but my best advice is to have a tough skin and be the bigger person. People should not be allowed to get away with unprofessional behavior, but you have to counter these situations with professionalism. If you work hard and show everyone your value, then it should not matter who you are. I want to be seen for my skills as an engineer not what people perceive to be my gender.

Must have skills?

I joke that this industry is 20% technical knowledge and 80% customer service skills. You can teach anyone how to operate a board, but not everyone can learn the people skills to interact with artists and clients. A good attitude and a willingness to work will get you farther at first than knowing how to mix. Also always be open to exploring new things and learning from others. I am continually learning and re-evaluating my current knowledge because technology is ever changing and I respect the wisdom of people who share their experience with me.

Favorite gear?

My favorite rig is L-Acoustics K2 with KS28 subs, Kara Outfill, and Arc Wide front fill. I don’t think I could leave home without my laptop running SMAART v8 and the modeling software of the manufacturer whose PA I am working with, my ISEMCON EMX-7150 measurement mic, my multimeter, and my disto. I have Roland Octa-capture and Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB interfaces in my A and B rigs as well as a soldering iron to fix problems on the job.

What is your favorite day off activity?

I enjoy spending time and catching up with my friends when I am not working. The industry demands you to sacrifice a lot of your social life, but it is essential to make an effort to keep in touch with your loved ones when you can. Your real friends understand when you are busy because they want to see you doing what you love to do. I also am passionate about my dance practice and reading anything from comic books to technical white papers.

Anything else you would like to leave us with?

I would like to stress the importance of self-care. I think there is a lot of taboo around taking care of your self because everyone works hard and plays hard. I’ve failed, many times, to eat enough, sleep enough, drink enough water while working long hours and paid the consequences on my body and mind sooner or later. It’s important to take time to decompress and reset your brain, even just for a minute that you get to step away. This is a stressful job, but it is also a labor of love. Please feel free to reach out to me! I enjoy geeking out. You can contact Arica at aricarust@gmail.com

Learn more about Arica:

Find More Profiles on The Five Percent:

Profiles of Women in Audio

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

November Feature Profile

Berenice Hardiman FOH Engineer/ Tour Manager

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

The Blogs

When it stops running like clockwork – troubleshooting the basics

SoundGirls News

https://soundgirls.org/event/soundgirls-adamson-2-day-applied-certification/?instance_id=1400

https://soundgirls.org/event/vue-audiotechnik-soundgirls-demo-and-reception-2/?instance_id=1399

https://soundgirls.org/event/alberta-soundgirls-chapter-holiday-social/?instance_id=1407

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-soundgirls-social-2/?instance_id=1393

SoundGirls Launches Initiative for Members Working in Production Sound

GIRLSCHOOL 2019

NAMM Mentoring Session 2019

She Rocks at NAMM Ticket Orders

https://soundgirls.org/event/qsc-soundgirls-tour/?instance_id=1394

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Shadow Beth O’Leary ME Tech on Kylie Minogue

https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-mentoring/

Round Up From the Internet

 

Piper Payne – Mastering Engineer in SOS: The move away from traditional studio production has opened up new opportunities for mastering engineers like Piper Payne — but it’s also brought new challenges.

 

 

Roadie Free Radio Interviews Juno Black an audio and video production engineer currently living in her adopted home of Austin, TX.

 

 

 

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

A More Inclusive Industry

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

November Feature Profile

Berenice Hardiman FOH Engineer/ Tour Manager

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

The Blogs

Mixing with a Toddler

Seven Ways To Make the Most of the Quiet Season

SoundGirls News

https://soundgirls.org/event/pittsburgh-soundgirls-chapter-kickoff-meeting/?instance_id=1397

https://soundgirls.org/event/vue-audiotechnik-soundgirls-demo-and-reception/?instance_id=1398

Workshop in Sound Post-Production

https://soundgirls.org/event/soundgirls-adamson-2-day-applied-certification/?instance_id=1400

https://soundgirls.org/event/vue-audiotechnik-soundgirls-demo-and-reception-2/?instance_id=1399

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-soundgirls-social-2/?instance_id=1393

SoundGirls Launches Initiative for Members Working in Production Sound

GIRLSCHOOL 2019

NAMM Mentoring Session 2019

She Rocks at NAMM Ticket Orders

https://soundgirls.org/event/qsc-soundgirls-tour/?instance_id=1394

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Shadow Beth O’Leary ME Tech on Kylie Minogue

https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-mentoring/

Round Up From the Internet

 

Shure Signal Path Podcast Episode 16 – Sylvia Massy

 

 

 

 

 

From Obsession To Profession: How Omnivore Recordings’ Cheryl Pawelski Keeps Legendary Music Alive

 

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Seven Ways To Make the Most of the Quiet Season

Last year I put together a list of activities to make the most of the end-of-year quiet season. Ten Ways to Make the Most of the Quiet Season

With another one fast approaching, here are a few more suggestions.

Make time for family and friends

Touring schedules and unsociable working hours means that many of us let family commitments and get-togethers with friends slide a bit during the year. Quiet seasons are a great time to reconnect with your nearest and dearest. If it’s cold in your part of the world, wrap up warm and grab an appropriate hot beverage. If it’s warm, enjoy a natter over a few cold ones in the sunshine.

Get healthy Part 1 – revamp your diet

If you’re coming off the back of a hectic year, chances are you’ll be run-down and more susceptible to viruses. Being ill over the holiday season is no fun, so ward off the bugs by increasing your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and staying hydrated.

Get healthy Part 2 – personal system overhaul

Make time to do a full checkup of the kit you carry to every job: your body. You only get one, so it’s worth putting in the time and effort for regular maintenance. Book in with your GP, dentist, optometrist, audiologist, whoever you need to get your system back up and running.

Financial spring-clean

Boring but necessary! Get your accounts in order and your tax return ready. If numbers aren’t your thing, it’s also a great time to look for an accountant.

Get certified

If you’re anything like me, you have a list of new tools that you keep meaning to learn and certifications that you know you need to look into. With so much training and certification programmes available online, as long as you have a decent internet connection, there’s really no excuse not to get stuck in over a quiet period.

Get some rest

Your body needs it! Sleep, switch off, and rejuvenate.

This will be my last blog for Soundgirls for the foreseeable future. Thanks for reading, and I wish you a relaxing holiday break, wherever you are in the world.

SoundGirls note – We will miss Kirsty writing for us and we appreciate all the years and dedication she has dedicated to writing her blog.

When it stops running like clockwork – troubleshooting the basics

Live Digital Audio Part 4

What can you do when it goes wrong? Each live set up will vary, but there are a few fundamentals you can check before having to call tech support.

Snap, crackle, and pop – how to recognise digital issues

What does a sampling or word clock issue even sound like? Unfortunately, they can sound like all sorts of weird noises. As mentioned in previous posts, if your word clock starts to slip out of sync it will just sound a bit off. You may notice the stereo image doesn’t feel as big, or it sounds a little dull, or phasey. More disconcerting problems manifest themselves as strange periodical pops or clicks, or even like someone twanging a rubber band. Think of the 1s and 0s – if the information isn’t transmitted correctly there isn’t any intermediate value, there is no 0.5 in binary. The bit is either there, or it isn’t. Devices then try to read the empty (or partially empty, in the case of slight mistiming) slot and it may result in random noise. If we go back to our video analogy if you’re watching an analogue transmission and the reception goes bad, it will go fuzzy around the edges, but it’ll still be watchable. If a digital transmission does the same, the entire image tends to freeze, become pixelated, or fill with weird patterns and colours.

Don’t overcomplicate it

So what can you do about it? The number one step should be to make sure it is actually a digital issue. Don’t hear hooves and presume zebras. If something is crackling, make sure it isn’t a bad stage cable or piece of backline, etc. If there’s a weird noise, is it over the entire system or is it just on one or two channels? If it isn’t global, it’s more likely to be something like a broken input or analogue transmission line. If it’s over several channels, it could be crosstalk in a multipin cable or something in one area of the room that several mics are picking up.

If you’re certain it’s a sampling or word clock problem, think through the signal path methodically, like you would with any other fault. Make sure everything is still set to the correct sample rate, master clock, and IP address. Check your cables are seated correctly – this is especially important for BNC connectors. Due to the central pin being so small, if they aren’t in the socket completely straight, or are taking a lot of strain, they can lose too much of their connecting surface area and stop passing signal. Optimally (I always try to secure cables in such a way that the weight is taken off the connections for this reason. It also keeps the cable in good condition for longer). Double-check that you haven’t connected cables of differing impedance. Work from one end of the signal path to the other, swapping out cables or bypassing devices one at a time. Take it down to the simplest setup you can, removing things like effects units or even the desk. If your amps have the capability, playing music or pink noise directly into them can take a big chunk of your setup out of the equation. If you are still experiencing problems, check that everything’s firmware is up to date, or at least the same version as other devices of the same type (e.g., all the amps, or desk stage boxes).

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

If this is all in order, it’s time to turn things off and on again! I know it sounds like a cop-out, but power cycling devices (using that term in front of clients makes you sound more professional than saying you’re turning it off and on again) can force them to reset to the right settings, or do their boot-up checklist, where they do a sweep of the network and see other devices that they might have lost contact with for whatever reason. It might not be enough to just switch it off; completely unplugging the device from its power source and leaving it for half a minute can sometimes make it forget any bad information it had stored and start again. Of course, be sure to save anything you need, like your show file, before trying this step!

Make the call

If none of this helps, I’m sorry to say it’s time to call tech support. But here’s the secret to most tech’s tech support: it’s other techs. Nearly everyone in this industry has friends who know more than them about certain topics, which they can phone when they’re stuck.  If nothing else, they might know the solution just because they’ve had the same thing happen to them before. Yet another reason to be (genuinely) nice to everyone; we’re all part of a hive mind of knowledge, and nearly all of us are more than happy to help a colleague out of a bind. On top of this, audio equipment manufacturers are invested in making sure you don’t have bad experiences with their gear, and their support people are often ex-techs themselves, so they will definitely want to sort you out! There’s no shame in tapping into that knowledge if it gets the gig back up and running, and soon enough you’ll be the one who receives the panicked phone call half an hour before doors. Just remember that the more problems you experience, the more you can help others in the future.

Finding the Right Companies to Freelance With

Freelancing is a standard part of our industry and the way many organizations find their labor for various kinds of shows. As freelancers, people often worry about where their paycheck is going to come from; including how they are going to cover things such as insurance, taxes, and the grocery bill. However, there are other aspects to freelancing that need consideration as well. Yes, freelancing is about the paycheck just like most work, but it is also about being your own boss, in which you get to pick and choose who you work for and what you do each day. As you are choosing companies to partner with I think there are a few things that can help quality companies stand out.

As I’ve mentioned in many blogs before communication is essential, make sure you are getting the information you need to do the job and to succeed at the event. You are partnering with the company that has hired you while also representing them onsite. Everyone needs to be on the same page to make sure the entire team succeeds. This means there must be good communication involving all of those contributing to the event.

A freelancer needs to be able to trust the company they are working for. Trusting that the company will follow through on their commitments, provide the tools needed, and pay your invoices within a timely manner. Make sure the company holds their full-time employees accountable. A lack of accountability could result in tough events, missed content, and terrible communication. Also, as a freelancer, the company also needs to trust you. Trust that you know your craft and will remain flexible as the client will change their mind, and to be prepared for what the event needs.

Trust also brings understanding; any company you would be willing to work for must understand that you are a freelance employee. You will be working for other people and taking on different events and projects. Your schedule will be full at times when the company calls; they need to be ok with you saying no, and still be willing to call you next time. You are not obligated to work for the same company all the time, that would be a full-time job, but if the company doesn’t recognize that or gets angry if you’re not available it might not be a good fit.

The overall culture and feel of the company are essential too. We all know the stereotypical angry techie. If the whole company is like that, it might not be a great environment to work in. Look for a positive working group that builds teamwork, communication, and is prepared for their events. The long days can get tough, especially when things don’t go according to plan. Working with a negative crew will only make it worse when you reach hour 16 of that supposed to be 10-hour event. Freelancing is an excellent opportunity to work a variety of events with many different people and partnering with the right companies can make the experience that much better.

Mixing with a Toddler

Being an Audio Parent is a challenge but also incredibly rewarding. Managing pregnancy in the audio industry is a lot about self-care. Managing an infant and working in the audio industry is about mental and physical exhaustion. But then everything starts getting easier, you catch up on sleep, and you start feeling like yourself again. At the same time, this little personality is starting to emerge – they talk, say words, and have lots of preferences (Including music. It’s fascinating what my son likes and doesn’t.)

The biggest challenge we’ve faced with a young toddler (for my husband and me since we both work in audio) is balancing the things we each want to do – especially gigs or projects that involve our free time – with what everyone else wants to do. Who takes priority and when? How do you balance and keep everyone happy?

The hard stuff

Basic life tasks are more complicated. The analogy I use is taking a cat in public. Can you imagine going out to dinner with a loose cat and try not to disrupt anyone else? How about waiting in a long check-out line with a cat? Or being an airplane? It gives a new appreciation for a working parent who can show up on time, do their job without making mistakes, and can stay level-headed and cordial throughout.

Mom’s guilt gets worse. One of the most difficult things a working parent faces is not being there when your child needs you. It’s gut-wrenching when your child doesn’t want you to leave when you’re trying to get out of the house. Missing out (on activities or milestones) is a huge source of mom guilt. While I love seeing videos – like my son bowling for the first time while I’m at work – I’d rather be taking him myself.

Work guilt gets worse. In the past couple of years, I’ve seen some of my friends (without kids) make huge leaps in their careers. I’m genuinely happy for them but it’s also a reminder that my foot isn’t on the gas pedal. It’s a tough place because you’re totally capable of doing the work. It stinks to turn down a gig you want cause you can’t find a babysitter or you can’t be on call 24-7 (which is what is expected on some gigs). I’m constantly evaluating: Is this opportunity good for everyone (family, client, and me) or just for me? Am I going to come out of this gig feeling positive and fulfilled or just wiped out? Before the question was just, “Is this going to help my career or not?”

A toddler becomes your most demanding client. A toddler is a bit like an artistic genius with poor social skills. Every day they say or do something amazing or new but then they have a tantrum or 5 out of nowhere. You can’t use logic with a toddler who’s melting down because they want to wear clothes in the bath. The level of patience it takes on a daily basis can wear you thin some days. It’s affected my choice of work at times (very similar to morning sickness during pregnancy.)

Working nights is getting more complicated. Working swing shift wasn’t that big of a deal with an infant (it worked pretty nicely, actually). It’s harder when toddler activities tend to be in the morning (things like classes, playdates, preschool, etc).

The good stuff

Moms are more productive at work. Studies show women with children are more productive at work than women without children or men (whether they have kids or not!)

Working can be healthy for your kids, too. A Harvard Business School study shows kids who have an employed mom are just as happy as kids with an at-home mom. Daughters who had a working mom tend to do better in their careers, too.

Having a toddler enables you to connect with a wider variety of people at work. Talking about kids is an easy way to relate and to break the ice with some people who are reserved or private otherwise. I’ve gotten some great parenting advice through work, too.

You zero in on what’s important. When you have a lot of interests (or ambitions) and don’t have a lot of free time, it forces you to prioritize what’s most important. You don’t realize how much time you can lose by having too many interests (I think this is common in audio where we want to learn a lot of different skills, software or gear, types of work, etc). It may help you achieve goals faster to put energy into one or two things at a time.

You feel closer to the community, not further away. When you’re spending time at places like parks, play gyms, and playdates, you connect with more people in “normal” jobs than when you’re fully immersed in the audio industry. It’s a reminder we can relate and support each other in a way others can’t. (LA is a quirky outlier, though. Our preschool asked if either parent worked on-set as part of their emergency questions.)

For me, having a toddler has motivated me to start something new: a blog about kids and sound called Sound Is Fun. There’s a lot of interesting research about sound relating to kids that I had never heard before in the audio industry. For example, did you know children under the age of 5 are more at risk of hearing damage than adults? Since their ear canals are shorter, the sound pressure level is actually 10 dB higher. Background noise affects test scores and learning for kids and teens and it affects how toddlers learn language (tip: toddlers need dialog and vocals much clearer than an adult would for intelligibility). There is a lot to be explored in this area and I’m looking forward to learning more about it.

 

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

November Feature Profile

Berenice Hardiman FOH Engineer/ Tour Manager

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

The Blogs

Prepping Your Studio for a Hurricane

Entendiendo los convertidores AD/DA

Understanding AD / DA converters

SoundGirls News

https://soundgirls.org/event/pittsburgh-soundgirls-chapter-kickoff-meeting/?instance_id=1397

https://soundgirls.org/event/vue-audiotechnik-soundgirls-demo-and-reception/?instance_id=1398

Workshop in Sound Post-Production

https://soundgirls.org/event/vue-audiotechnik-soundgirls-demo-and-reception-2/?instance_id=1399

https://soundgirls.org/event/vancouver-soundgirls-social-2/?instance_id=1393

SoundGirls Launches Initiative for Members Working in Production Sound

GIRLSCHOOL 2019

https://soundgirls.org/namm-2019-badges-for-soundgirls-members-2/

NAMM Mentoring Session 2019

She Rocks at NAMM Ticket Orders

https://soundgirls.org/event/qsc-soundgirls-tour/?instance_id=1394

Shadowing/Mentoring/Internship Opportunities

Los Angeles Monthly Shadowing Opportunity

https://soundgirls.org/shadowing-opportunity-brad-madix-and-annette-guilfoyle/

Shadow Beth O’Leary ME Tech on Kylie Minogue

Shadowing Opportunity w/ FOH Engineer Sean “Sully” Sullivan

Shadowing Opportunity w/ ME Aaron Foye

https://soundgirls.org/soundgirls-mentoring/

Round Up From the Internet

Latin Grammy History for the first time  a womann has won the award best producer of the year. Congratulations to Linda Briceño

SoundGirls Resources

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund

Letter for Trades and Manufacturers

Women-Owned Businesses

SoundGirls Scholarships 2021 Now Open

Events

Sexual Harassment

https://soundgirls.org/about-us/soundgirls-chapters/

Jobs and Internships

Women in the Professional Audio

Member Benefits

Spotify and SoundGirls Team Up – EQL Directory

“In order to make change, everyone has to agree there’s a problem to solve in the first case,” says Anna Ingler, co-founder of the Upfront Producer Network, which represents 100-plus female and gender-nonconforming producers in Sweden.

It’s estimated that less than 5 percent of all audio professionals are women. Many people in the music industry are—and have been—working to solve this issue by providing educational, networking, and community resources to increase diversity in these fields. And yet, the excuse still exists: “We want to hire a woman, but we couldn’t find one.”

Introducing the EQL Directory, powered by SoundGirls and made possible by Spotify. The EQL Directory is a global database of professionals that seeks to amplify the careers and achievements of women working behind the scenes in music and audio. Any person around the world can add their name and claim their space. And, any person looking to hire a more inclusive creative team can find professionals in their area.

“[We] face the myth that there are not very many women or non-conforming people working in audio, and because of this people don’t even bother to look. The EQL Directory proves that this is not true,” says Karrie Keyes, co-founder of SoundGirls and Pearl Jam’s long-time sound engineer.

“This is a great tool to create more opportunities for women,” says TRAKGIRL, a successful producer who has worked with everyone from Jhene Aiko to Belly to Omarion. “We have to continue the work and create more inclusion and diversity in male-dominated spaces; we have a lot of work to do, but this is an awesome start.”

The EQL Directory was made possible through a partnership between Spotify and SoundGirls, a nonprofit founded by Karrie Keyes and Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato dedicated to expanding opportunities for girls and women in music.

“SoundGirls already had this global directory of women in audio and production, and we were excited to support their organization and initiative by helping them make it more beautiful, more useful, and more visible within the industry,” says Kerry Steib, Spotify’s Director of Social Impact.

The EQL Directory is one of many initiatives Spotify has developed to support equity in the audio industry. In August, we created three full-time residencies in our Secret Genius and Spotify studios to support hands-on career development for female studio engineers, The Equalizer Project’s success has continued with networking dinners and a recent Producer Camp in Sweden, and The SoundUp Bootcamp, an accelerator program for aspiring podcasters in underserved communities has been launched in the U.S., UK, and Australia.

“The goal is for the EQL Directory to become a go-to resource for audio professionals and to remove the excuse that you couldn’t find a woman for a particular job,” says Steib. “We know that increasing equity for women in these fields is a complex problem to solve. We have to work with great partners across the industry and come together to create solutions.”

To guide our commitment to increasing equity in these fields, Spotify and Secret Genius have assembled a team of some of the most talented and in-demand professionals to create a new EQL Advisory Board. TRAKGIRL, along with Lauren D’elia, Jin Jin, Kesha Lee, and Ali Tamposi will help shape the future of these programs.

The EQL Directory is also made possible through collaborations with organizations who provide resources to women in the field, whether that’s educational programs or networking opportunities. Visitors to the EQL Directory can find resources from initiatives and organizations like the Audio Engineering Society, Beatz By Girlz, female:pressure, Gender Amplified, Girls Make Beats, Instituto Criar, Secret Genius, shesaid.so, SoundGirls in Mexico, The Equalizer Project, The 7% Series, Upfront Producers Network, and the Women’s Audio Mission.

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