Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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Interview with Erin Frisby of This Could Go Boom!

The members of OSYX and the team behind This Could Go Boom!, from left, Robzie Trulove, Maya Renfro, Erin Frisby, Ara Casey, and Selena Benally.

 

I recently spoke with Erin Frisby, one of the founders of Washington, DC-based grassroots non-profit This Could Go Boom! (TCGB!). Erin is a Soundgirls member, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and member of DC-area bands The OSYX and FuzzQueen. TCGB! was founded a little over a year ago as a far-reaching community resource with a focus on helping women, non-binary, and femme artists, engineers, students, and music professionals find their voice. TCGB! Provides several resources that strengthen the DC music community and provide a framework for artists to gather and connect. Since its inception, the group has been busy curating improv jams and workshops, presenting monthly showcases, and has released and promoted the first full-length album on their roster.

This Could Go Boom! has garnered a strong following in the DC area, due in part to their commitment to staying flexible and adapt their goals and plans as the group grows. I was excited to catch up with Erin and hear about their mission moving forward and recap on their year. Her band, The OSYX, left for a tour on October 30. If they’re heading to your city, be sure to catch them.

What was the process of formulating the idea for This Could Go Boom? How did you turn that idea into an organization?

The idea for This Could Go Boom! happened organically. The band, The OSYX, was meeting regularly to write music and rehearse. Being a band made up of women, we were soon commiserating about discrimination, assault, and harassment that we had experienced individually in the course of collaborating with other musicians, booking shows, learning in music, and in venues. We also talked about the harder to pin down barriers that come from traditional socialization and deeply embedded systematic discrimination in all walks of life. We were also always marveling over the incredible talent in our region, the outstanding women and nonbinary people whose shows we attended, who we played with. We started to draw connections between the statistics on women in the music industry and the personal experiences of our bandmates and our community members. We were also reveling in the growing support for our musical project and began to consider a crowdfunder to put out a record. The more we talked, the more we realized that we weren’t going to feel fulfilled by just releasing one project and calling it a day. We decided to leverage our momentum to create something that would be bigger than our one band, something that would be community-driven would belong to everyone and would have a lasting impact. We arrived at the idea of a mission-driven record label that could work to redefine the industry from the inside.

You all recently changed your mission statement. In what ways does your new statement reflect your goals in the upcoming year?

Originally we conceptualized a record label that would provide resources for women and nonbinary songwriters, musicians, and recording engineers. Over our first year of existence, we expanded to include performance and networking opportunities, conversations, workshops, and community outreach experiences like our Safer Scenes workshop for venues. It became clear that the label was one branch of a more significant effort that was always going to be responding to community need in all areas of the music landscape from performance to leadership, music journalism, sound arts, and music consumption. We also wanted to be clear that we weren’t looking to represent one genre or limiting our reach to music that specifically addresses social issues. The name This Could Go Boom! came from an episode of Handmaid’s Tale, where several letters outlining the lived experience of imprisoned women become the catalyst for change. We realized that our strength was the ability to provide space, access, and opportunities for women and nonbinary musicians to spark change in their own ways and through their own stories.

What roles in your community do you think are lacking that you hope to fill? 

Representation is lacking in all aspects of the music industry for women and nonbinary people. A report from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows that in 2017 82.7% of artists were men, of 2,767 songwriters credited, 87.7% were men, out of 899 people nominated for Grammys 90.7% were men, and only 2% of recording engineers are women. When intersectional identities are considered, representation becomes an even greater issue, with trans women, nonbinary people, Women of Colour, Indigenous women, queer women, women not fitting a narrow vision of beauty, older women and disabled women having the least access to opportunities in music. The danger of this is that only specific stories are being told and those stories become our ‘normal,’ they continue to carry forward as defining aspects of our culture. Consider how we use music to connect spiritually and socially, to define memories, to celebrate, to mourn, to accompany and influence film and consumerism. Music is far-reaching, and who gets to determine how we do those things and define those things is important. Representation for women and nonbinary people in the musical landscape can and does often take the form of tokenism, flat stereotypical representation that leaves many feeling othered and nonnormal. This is cultural isolation. Our hope is to listen to our community to develop networks, programs, and opportunities that directly challenge these numbers.

What have been some of the most rewarding aspects of starting TCGB? Most challenging?

Seeing and hearing how our efforts have inspired individuals is the most rewarding aspect of what we’re doing. Every time a youth lets us know that they feel inspired and empowered to make music, every time someone tells us that they feel inspired to pursue music that they may have put off before, every time we see connections being made between artists and community members and music fans all of the fatigue from endless volunteer hours falls away.

Like many grassroots charities, one of the challenges we face is learning as we go. We rely on our community members to let us know when we’re missing the mark and when we’re potentially causing harm. Like all other nonprofits, funding is a crucial issue. We’re currently totally community funded, and we rely on donations, no matter how big or small, to continue to offer programming.

In the process of working with people in your community, what have you found to be one of the most pressing needs to be met?

There is a great need for legitimate pathways to success in music for women and nonbinary folks. We’ve heard over and over again that recording engineers, in particular, are looking for mentorship. The ability to tap into revenue streams like fair performance compensation, festival representation, licensing and sync opportunities, and time to practice and play are things we hear about from our community a lot. Some members of our community are primary caregivers or single parents, many work day jobs, or have student debt, or are living paycheck to paycheck. Many experience mental illness or other health concerns. The luxury of making music can feel out of reach when people are faced with obstacles like these. Traditional routes for music education, touring and unpaid internships can be prohibitive. We’re exploring solutions like avenues into licensing and sync, childcare during rehearsal time, and alternative learning opportunities.

How have you all been received in your community? What kind of spaces (if any) are there for marginalized folks to gather and create?

Washington D.C., where we’re based, has the benefit of a diverse community and a long history of DIY music. All Ages spaces are very important to our work as are accessible spaces. Like many cities, we’re experiencing the major effects of gentrification. There isn’t a ton of affordable rehearsal space in our area, and we’ve witnessed venue discrimination against Black made music in particular. We’re working hard to unite scenes here and leverage resources for all genres of music.

Are there any satellite recording studios or other community resources/spaces that you all rely on?

We’re really fortunate to have partnerships with a ton of local businesses that have stepped forward. 7DrumCity, a local music school, venue, and rehearsal facility, stepped forward to support very early on. There’s also RockinRepair, Gold Pants Rental, local photographers and promoters like Roxplosion and Good Foot Media, recording studios such as Machine Room Studios and Ivakota. We’ve also enjoyed a lot of support from the Smithsonian this year during their Year of Music. We’ve participated in the Smithsonian Folkways Festival and gave a presentation at the Hirshhorn Museum. Local labels like Dischord and Verses have been wholly supportive with friendly advice, and 202Creates at The Mayor’s Office has also been a great supporter.

What workshops do you have coming up?

We’re relaunching our intro to improv music workshop at 7DrumCity at their monthly Potluck Jam on December 1st. This workshop is for people of all skill and experience levels including absolute beginners to come together to practice listening and contributing to music-making in a group. We’re also working on developing a recording engineering program comprised of sequential workshops, hands on experience, and mentorship for those interested in entering the profession. Our Safer Scenes workshop for venues facilitated by Shawna Potter from War On Women and hosted by Dangerously Delicious Pies DC was very successful and we hope to make that an annual occurrence.  Some other workshops that have been requested include pedalboard 101, vocal master classes, touring and booking, and DIY merch creation.

Your first album release happened this month! (Read a review here). Can you talk about what went into that on your end and what you learned in the process?

We learned so much! This is great because our idea was to experiment on our own band, The OSYX first. We self-produced our recording with Chris Stelloh engineering the record pro bono at our band house and a friend’s historical house nearby. Our greatest takeaway was the amount of time it takes to bring an album to fruition. The hours of planning, writing, recording, manufacturing, artwork, and merchandising, and promoting took up a good part of a year.

How do you plan to expand in the next year? Is there anything that you’re particularly excited about that you can talk about?

We’re really excited about expanding our board. From our inception, it’s been our goal to have a board that reflects our community, and we’re about to launch a campaign to accomplish that. At the moment the core of the board is the band, The OSYX. We’ve always considered the organization to belong to the community though and we’re looking forward to bringing more voices into our decision-making. We also launched a junior board/street team called The Boom Team that promoted and produced All Ages shows this summer. We’re looking forward to expanding that effort. We’ll also be announcing our next release soon, which is very exciting.

Get in touch with Erin and follow along with what This Could Go Boom has going on:

Everyone is encouraged to follow us at thiscouldgoboom.org @thiscouldgoboom

Facebook group This Could Go Boom! Listening Room.

We rely on community input and individual donations. We welcome comments and suggestions and personal stories, we have a form online for those interested in participating in a performance or putting music out on the label on our website, and we’re always happy to accept donations. We’re currently hoping for someone to step forward with an $80 a month recurring donation that will allow us to join a membership organization for independent labels that will help us to source opportunities for our community.

 

The Importance of Saying No

A few months ago, I wrote a blog about The Importance of Saying Yes while building a career in audio – something I am still continually practicing.  While writing that blog, I realized I wanted to include a follow-up about the importance of saying no. Practicing this discernment is almost more important than saying yes, however, can be much more difficult!

I often find myself wanting to say yes to every opportunity that comes my way. It’s easy for me to do; I’ve grown accustomed to a full schedule of projects to balance, and I tend to be energized by my work. I’ve been in a building stage of my career for long enough to know that saying yes to one thing often leads to another opportunity. Sometimes it’s frightening to say no and feel like I’m missing out on something. The downside of this, however, is that during the times I get increasingly overwhelmed with my schedule, I’m unable to take necessary breaks for myself, which is ultimately bad for both my clients and myself.

When I think about my ideal career it’s full of flexibility and also full of projects that I’m really passionate about – I want to work on a number of records every year, yet still have enough time to play drums in projects, go on the road, and experiment with making new things with new people. To make all these things happen, I have learned to be more and more selective with my time.

To be more selective, I have to be comfortable with drawing a line and saying no. This doesn’t necessarily mean just saying no to new projects, it means saying no to additional edits past the agreed limit, an extra few takes during tracking or additional unpaid time. It comes down to drawing boundaries and standing up for yourself and your work. Admittedly, I sometimes find it hard to do this in an environment that is so much about curating an atmosphere of support and trust, but it’s ultimately a disservice to everyone involved if I am making decisions from an “I can do everything” mindset. It’s important to set limits, and it’s important for artists to work within those chosen parameters. Saying no doesn’t mean that I don’t want to or can’t do something; it means that I know what’s best for me.

The tipping point comes when work is coming at a healthy pace (a result of saying yes), and I start to realize what I might not want to work on, or what might not be best for my time. This can be tricky to decide, as the answer isn’t always immediately clear. I often change my rates to meet my clients’ needs, and while I think most freelancers do this to some extent, after some time if you aren’t clear and firm about your rate, you may be undervaluing yourself. This is a concrete way to help establish what is and is not worth your time. This may come at a metaphorical price – you say yes to fewer projects, but the flipside is your work is more valued and more structured. I believe developing this skill is a key component to growing in a freelance career.

Saying no can be a scary thing – it can feel like a missed opportunity, but ultimately, learning how to say no respectfully but firmly is crucial when valuing yourself, your time, and the growth of your career. As individuals who work for ourselves, it’s our job to set limits and guidelines!

 

Interview with Veronica Simonetti

Veronica Simonetti is the Lead Studio Engineer at Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) in San Francisco, California, where she has lived and worked for the past 4 years. Veronica has worked with a wide variety artists including Meklit Hadero, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Jessie Farrell, Lia Rose, Mariachi Femenil Orgullo Mexicano, Sonita Alizadeh, and FR333. She also has worked on a number of audiobooks, podcasts, and voiceovers for clients including Hachette Book Group, Simon and Schuster, National Geographic, Remembering Camp Trans, Reasonable Doubt, Webby Awards Podcast, and Pitch Makeover.

How long have you worked for Women’s Audio Mission? Can you talk about your career trajectory and your experience as someone starting as an intern to now being an integral part of the organization? How did that happen for you?

I’ve worked at WAM for four years. I interned there the summer of 2014 and started working there in the summer of 2015. I became an intern at WAM during the summer after my junior year in college and then went back to Indiana to finish school and graduate. After I graduated, I moved to SF and have been here ever since!

I started as a part-time employee and eventually became a full time employee. I have had many different responsibilities at WAM throughout my four years at the organization. I used to manage the interns, and teach some Girls on the Mic classes, in addition to many other responsibilities, but I have since moved on to focus solely on engineering, facilities management, and teaching a couple of adult classes a year.

What is your current title, and what are your main objectives at your job?

My title is Lead Studio Engineer, Facilities Manager, and Instructor. I am the head engineer at WAM’s recording studio and I also book the studio. I manage all of WAM’s facilities including our classroom space in Oakland. This entails keeping up with our gear and project managing facilities maintenance. I also teach our Intro to Pro Tools class as well as the Level 2 series of classes on multitrack recording, mic placement, and mixing.

I know you’ve worked directly with a lot of interns; can you describe what makes a “good” intern? Any traits that immediately stand out as good or bad?

I think a good intern is someone who is always thinking a step ahead. Someone who is always doing something to help out with whatever situation they’re in. For myself, as an intern, I was prepared to do the amount of work of someone who is working full time. I was always asking for additional projects to work on. I also said yes to every opportunity that came my way. Whether that was doing live sound or shadowing a recording session or touring a studio, I tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible, so then when the situation came for me to choose what I wanted to do, I was able to make an informed decision based on my experiences.

I think that even though I was an intern only a few years ago, times are different today. I know that people entering the workplace today are entering at a very competitive time with a load of debt on their shoulders, but I think it is important to remember to work hard towards what you want. If you know that you want to be in the audio industry, it is possible for you to break into it. It might just take a bit more work and a little more time than other industries.

I also think that finding mentors in your industry is super important. Finding people who you admire and learning how they navigated their career is a great way to think about your own and try to shape your path.

I remember when you first moved out to the Bay Area, you were working a few jobs to make ends meet until you were able to get a full-time position at WAM. Are you still picking up gigs or are you mostly settled at WAM? Can you talk about that balance and how you made it work?

The only side gig that I really do anymore is live sound for a rock camp for kids called Rock Band Land. The guys that run the camp are really great, and it’s an easy gig that occurs a few times a year. My schedule gets pretty full with sessions and events for WAM so it is hard to schedule many side gigs outside of WAM.

When I first started at WAM, I was hired part-time. I also got hired part-time as an audio preservationist at Bay Area Video Coalition. In addition to those two jobs, I picked up as many live sound gigs as I could. The first two years of my time in SF I was basically freelance. I liked being able to do something different every day and work in different places all over the city, but it was stressful to look at my schedule and see that my calendar was blank in two weeks. I had to learn that just because it’s blank now, doesn’t mean it won’t fill up in a week. Work was usually steady enough for me to get by, but there is something nice about the stability of a full-time job.

I think that there are great reasons to be freelance and great reasons to have a full-time job. I think finding what works for you is the most important and creating the balance that you find you need.

Where are your favorite spots to work in the Bay Area and why?

I enjoyed working at SOMArts. It’s this vast event space as well as an art gallery in the city. They have some of the best events I’ve ever worked in the city.

Also, the Verdi Club. They are a small events space in the Mission that is sort of a hidden gem. It’s been around for decades and the people working there are some of the nicest I’ve met in SF. I’ve been fortunate to work for almost solely nonprofits in SF. WAM, BAVC, and SOMArts are all nonprofits. It wasn’t on purpose, but I’m glad that it worked out that way. I feel like the people who work at nonprofits are there for the passion they have for the issue they are working towards, rather than having the main concern be making money. Money is definitely great, but I prefer to have passion for driving myself and the people around me.

What are your favorite parts about the work you do?

I love that I get to do something different every day. I love that WAM has given me so many opportunities to meet so many amazing people in the audio industry and has allowed me to see how many different paths a career can go.

In regards to engineering at WAM, I love that I have worked on such a huge spectrum of sessions in the studio. I have worked on such a wide range of projects from classical to rap to punk to audiobooks, voiceovers, and different types of podcasts. Some of the bigger sessions I’ve been lucky to lead were recording Neko Case and Jamila Woods interviews for Song Exploder, Kronos Quartet, projects with National Geographic, the Ethio-Jazz artist, Meklit, emerging R&B artist, Ruby Mountain, indie rocker Thao Nguyen, the Unladylike podcast, and Webby Awards podcast.

I love working with different clients every day. The engineering work I’ve been able to do at WAM is something I am so grateful to have been such a massive part of my career.

What are your goals for the next few years within WAM and in your engineering career?

It’s hard for me to think years ahead in the future. I’m more the type to go with the flow rather than plan ahead. I have discovered a love for podcasts that I didn’t realize I had before becoming an engineer. I would love to work in a way that is more focused on podcasts, but honestly, I’m pretty grateful for the place I’m at with my job at WAM right now.

Can you talk about what WAMCon is and its goals? What is the process of organizing that event like on your end?

WAMCon is an interactive recording conference for women and gender non-conforming individuals that WAM holds in various cities around the US. We have had sold-out conferences in Boston, LA, NY and Nashville with over 500 attendees total. We bring together some of the biggest music producers and engineers in the audio industry to deliver world-class workshops and panels on subjects like songwriting, mixing, vocal production, DSP processing, mic placement, music business, mastering, and more. WAMCon panelists have included big name producers and engineers like Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer, Emily Lazar; legendary music producer/songwriter, Linda Perry, who has worked with artists like Dolly Parton and P!nk; engineer Marcella “Ms. Lago” Araica, who has worked with Madonna and Missy Elliott, and Gena Johnson who worked with both Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves.

It is a great way for WAM to connect with our membership that is spread all over the country and world. WAMCon also provides powerful networking opportunities, helping our members make connections with studios, companies and engineers and producers who are working in the cities they live in. Every city that we go to, we are welcomed with open arms and so many people telling us how important and necessary WAM’s work and presence is there. It is great to see engineers who are just getting started to make connections with each other and work together to break into the industry.

To organize the WAMCon conferences, we spend months before the event planning and coordinating. We are a nonprofit, so part of the planning process includes raising money, finding sponsors, and writing grants to support the conference. We have to find locations to host conferences, as well as find local engineers who would like to teach a workshop and secure top presenters for each conference.

What is the music scene and music community like in San Francisco?  How has WAM’s presence contributed to that? What excites you about living there?

WAM has a huge presence in the music community in San Francisco. It is so common for me to be attending a show at a local venue, and to see a WAM member or former WAM intern running live sound. We pretty much have placed a woman engineer in every venue in San Francisco. There are also a lot of members and former interns who are working at various places in the Bay including Pixar, Skywalker Sound, Google, Facebook, Dolby Laboratories, Pandora, among others. WAM has contributed to the music community in the Bay by training and placing women in such a wide range of positions. There is a very strong culture in the Bay of passing your job onto another WAM member to help pass along the position to all of the many qualified women who are already working in the industry but may not have had a chance for their big break yet. WAM creates a community for networking and support through our membership and through our six-month internship program.

WAM also provides low-cost recording services for independent artists in the Bay Area and performance opportunities through our quarterly Local Sirens: Women in Performance Concert Series held at Rickshaw Stop. Our world-class studio has hosted multiple projects from Kronos Quartet, Angélique Kidjo (2014 GRAMMY), tUnE-yArDs, Clarence Jones (MLK’s speechwriter), Toro Y Moi, Oscar-nominated soundtrack “Dirty Wars,” Salman Rushdie/NPR, National Geographic, ESPN, Disney, and more.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced while working at WAM?

Honestly, the biggest challenge I’ve faced is when people undermine my knowledge in the studio. Some have assumed that I am a student or intern when I am in fact the one engineering their session. I think part of that has been from my confidence in the studio, which has definitely grown more in the past few years. Also, I think that most people are not used to seeing a woman as an engineer and of authority. It might be misogyny that’s buried deep down inside, but it’s still there. I have learned to overcome this challenge by knowing that I am qualified to be in the position I’m in and to show the person why that is so. The rest, I just let roll off my back.

Also, I am continually learning new subjects and techniques in the audio industry. I think that is a super important part of growing as an engineer and keeping up with the fast-changing technology.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges women working in audio face? What are things we can all do to make things better for everyone in this realm?

One of the biggest challenges that women face in the industry, I think, is finding opportunities. It can be tough to get your first break and start working in the industry. It takes a lot of perseverance, time, and self-confidence that can be very hard for women to find.

I think that it would be helpful for people in the industry to be open to giving all people the same, equal chance. It would be great if women didn’t feel the need to prove themselves more and show their knowledge of the subject to prove that they are equal to their peers. I know that the industry is a lot better than 20, even ten years ago, but I know that we all still have a long way to go.

Also, it’s important not to let things happen that you are not comfortable with. If you feel like you are not being treated the way you would like to be, you are most likely correct, and you deserve to either talk to the person or company who is mistreating you or extract yourself from the situation.

Do you have any advice for young women starting a career in audio?

My advice is to be confident, but also be open to learning. I believe that audio is universal, but each studio and facility works a little differently from each other. It’s really good to have a basis of knowledge of audio before entering an internship or your first job, but it’s super important to remember that you are always going to be learning new things. I am continually learning new things about audio to this day, and I hope I always do.

Also, if you can’t find the right opportunity for yourself, it is always an option to start your own thing! You might find that that is the only way to do what you want to do.

What are your favorite/desert island pieces of gear you’ve used?

I love using the Avedis MA-5 and Great River mic pres in WAM’s studio. Those are my go-to’s for any sort of vocal session, whether it’s singing, rapping, or podcasts. I also love all of the Universal Audio and Eventide plugins that WAM has at the studio. There is such a large selection of them, they are made so well, and give you such a wide range of elements to manipulate.

What are you working on that you’re excited about?

I am currently producing a podcast with a couple of friends. It’s about our dating experiences in the Bay. It’s been really fun to be a part of a project from the start and to have a creative say in the content. We are still in the process of recording and editing, but I’m sure I’ll post about it on my Instagram when it gets released! I would like to keep producing as many podcasts as I can possibly fit into my schedule!

Also, I’m looking forward to WAMCon in Los Angeles on August 16 and 17th! We’ll be at Disney and Youtube, and I can’t wait to see their spaces and meet our WAM members in LA!

Anything else to add? How can we connect with you?

You can find me on Instagram @ron_ronette, or on the web at veronicasimonetti.com. Feel free to DM me there or send me an email at vsimonetti@womensaudiomission.org.

You are always welcome to email WAM at info@womensaudiomission.org with any questions about how to get more involved, our internship program, recording in our studio, and anything else you may have questions about!

 

 

Interview with Electronic Music Collective Hyasynth House

Hyasynth House is a Nashville-based electronic music collective for female, trans and non-binary creatives founded in 2018 by Jess Chambers and Eve Maret. The pair have been incredibly productive since the group’s inception, having hosted a wide variety of events like electronic music meet-ups, live shows, and even a live score accompaniment to classic silent films at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. Most of all, the group works hard to foster a community where female, trans, and non-binary artists have a readily accessible platform to express their talents as well as meet and learn from one another.

What inspired you both to start Hyasynth House?

Jess: I was playing shows around Nashville and found myself to be almost always the only female on the bill. The live electronic music scene at that time was mostly made up of cis-men. I was curious to see if I could help change this by reaching out to femme, non-binary and trans electronic artists and helping them get a functioning live setup so we could play shows together! I got excited about the idea of having regular meet-ups to discuss gear and creative process.

Eve: Like Jess, I too longed for a sense of community here in Nashville. Before Hyasynth House, I had considered moving away because I didn’t feel like I was connecting to many people creatively. I’ve always needed to be stimulated and inspired, to make meaningful connections to other artists, and to promote positive change through creative expression. With Hyasynth House, I envisioned a music scene that was more inclusive and diverse; one that centered around the notion of providing a platform for female, non-binary, and trans artists to freely express themselves and learn from each other. At its conception, Hyasynth House represented a microcosm of a healthy society.

Are there other collectives or groups out there that you’ve modeled Hyasynth House from or take examples from?

Jess:  I’m very inspired by Discwoman. They’re a New York-based collective, booking agency, and event platform. They started as three friends putting on a 2-day festival featuring all their female friends who DJ and the response was so positive that they continued as an agency. They have used their success as a platform to be vocal about gender and racial discrimination issues within the electronic music industry.

Can you talk about your experience in the music community in Nashville and how Hyasynth House plays a role within it?

Jess: Our experience has generally been very positive. There is something special about femme, non-binary and trans artists hanging out and making things happen for ourselves. It feels powerful and beautiful, and it’s so much fun!

Hyasynth House works to bring together and uplift female, non-binary and trans creatives. We’ve held meet-ups where artists demonstrate their live setups and teamed up with local techno label Tram Planet to run a DJ workshop. We gathered artists to perform at high-profile events such as the Big Ears Festival 12 Hour drone and Science on Screen at The Belcourt Theatre. We’ve hosted shows for local and touring artists. We’ve been proactive in having conversations with local promoters about how we can collectively deal with harassers and curate safer and more diverse live shows across the entire underground/D.I.Y. scene.

What impact do you hope to have on the electronic community in Nashville and beyond?

Eve: We hope to see more gender and racial diversity in the music industry. I feel really grateful for the people I’ve met through Hyasynth House who have touched my life in a really beautiful way, and for the opportunity to bring people together and uplift one another. This ripple effect has the power to make a difference!

What work do you think in this realm is most important?

Eve: Having an all cis-male lineup at a show is not acceptable. Female, non-binary, and trans artists need to be given a platform to be creative. Giving marginalized people a safe space to be vulnerable and share their art is an absolute necessity, both for our individual healing and the healing of the community at large.

How are you tackling these issues?

Jess: Our meet-ups and workshops are exclusively for femme, non-binary and trans people at this time. We believe this is an ideal environment for our collective learning. That said, we are not policing anyone’s gender, and we won’t turn anyone away. We also prioritize calling in talent that is female, non-binary and trans when we have events, so we are directly giving opportunities to the marginalized groups we are focused on.

What challenges has Hyasynth House faced since founding? What kind of regional and local reactions have you received?

Eve: What’s challenged us most has been coping with the behavior of those who don’t understand our vision. Intentionally creating space for female, non-binary and trans artists in our community has sometimes touched a nerve, and certain people have had intensely negative reactions to what we do. It’s hard for them to accept that there’s no “one, right way” to building a diverse music scene. How we’ve chosen to navigate this work is our choice, and we’ve seen a lot of positive changes (individually and collectively) take place as a result. We’ve been offered a great deal of help, and people share their opinions freely with us. We strive to remain open and adaptable while standing by our values. Ultimately, we make decisions based off of what we believe is in the best interest of the people we advocate for. We’ve received a great deal of positive support both locally and across the nation in the form of articles, awards, and the blossoming of mutually beneficial creative relationships.

Can you talk about the artists you have worked with so far with Hyasynth House?

Eve: We’ve been really lucky to showcase the work of amazing artists from Nashville and across the country. Linda Heck, Amaryah Shaye, Erika Glück, Annalyse Clark, Belly Full Of Stars, Adrienne Franke, are a few local artists who’ve been involved in our workshops and shows. Tessa♡ (Cassie Lopez and Edie Babs), Pearl Crush, and Precious Child are non-local artists we’ve had perform at our events.

Favorite piece of gear in your arsenal?

Jess: Roland SE-02 synthesizer

Eve: Ableton Push 2

Best piece of advice you’ve received for your music career?

Eve: Once, at work, a customer came in with a shirt that said, “Quit work. Play music.”

Jess:  This from Discwoman Co-Founder Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson… (not directly to me, but really valuable advice) ”Don’t compete. Try and focus on yourself. People are always going to look like they’re doing cooler shit than you. It’s really just a big distraction and I see that a lot. I know we all experience jealousy and these kinds of feelings….don’t compare yourself to other people.”

Advice you have for other artists?

Eve: Follow your heart! You can do anything you can imagine, just stay true to yourself.

Jess: Aim to touch people’s hearts. Making music isn’t about being clever; it’s about sharing something real. If someone feels it first rather than deconstructs it intellectually, then you’ve tapped into the power of music and art.

What do you have coming up that you’re excited about?

Eve: I’m moving to California in August, and Jess and I are exploring what form Hyasynth House will take once I’m out West. We will continue to expand, connect people and ideas, and host events. I’m most excited about inviting more people to have a hand in coordinating events. We want those who are touched by Hyasynth House to feel welcome to use it as a resource to manifest their creative visions. Reach out to us!

www.instagram.com/hyasynth_house

www.facebook.com/hyasynthhousetn

Jess Chambers aka Dream Chambers

www.instagram.com/dreamchambers

www.facebook.com/dreamchambers

Eve Maret

www.instagram.com/evemaret

www.facebook.com/evemaretmusic

 

 

The Importance of Saying Yes

It is so important to stay open to new opportunities while building a career in audio. Saying yes will often lead to one of two realizations: this opportunity is right for me; I want to continue to do more of this work! Or, this is wrong for me; I now know what to avoid. Both are valuable lessons for shaping an ideal career. Working in music is a lifelong journey – undoubtedly it will be full of unexpected and unpredictable twists and turns, so finding joy in both outcomes has to become an important practice.

Landing a dream job does not happen overnight, and if it did, my guess is that it probably would not be that rewarding. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received after I graduated college was that during your early career it is often more important to learn about what you do not want to be doing rather than worrying about doing precisely what you want. As someone who recently transitioned into full-time freelance, I am always trying to strike a balance between doing what I am passionate and excited about, and doing what makes practical sense, which sometimes means taking on gigs that are less than ideal.

I have accepted a lot of gigs that have turned out to be not quite right for me. It can be an unfortunate part of the process of figuring things out but is also highly valuable. I can say with certainty that the reason I am now doing what I am doing is due to a series of saying yes to opportunities that have come my way. This has allowed me to narrow my scope and better understand the type of work I do not want to do, behaviors I will not accept, and how to be most efficient when dealing with new clients and projects.

Occasionally I will get asked to help out running FOH on a show or festival around town, and even though live sound is not a career path I want to explore, I always say yes. It would be really easy to peg myself as only a studio engineer and say no, but something positive always comes out of it. For one, I get to listen to music and likely see some friends. It is also a really easy and genuine way to meet people and talk about what I enjoy doing in the audio realm. From picking up a few gigs like this around town, I have been able to join bands and start recording projects, just because I was present and doing my job.

When I worked at Welcome to 1979 all of the opportunities that arose for me came from me being open to new challenges and saying yes to things. When I was hired as an intern, I was asked to work in the office part-time, which was not something I was interested in pursuing long-term. I was clear that I wanted to be an engineer, but I said yes because I wanted to learn something new, diversify my skill set, and become a valuable member of the team. Later on, I became an assistant, and after about a year of doing that I was asked to learn how to do vinyl mastering, and then, be the studio manager. I said yes to every opportunity because I was trusting in the process of figuring out my path. I was also trusting in the fact that my bosses probably saw something in me that I did not see in myself at the time. Through this process, I grew tremendously as an individual, gained critical technical skills, and walked away with a better understanding of what I wanted to pursue.

I would love to get to the point where I can be extremely selective about which gigs to take on and only work with my favorite artists. I hope I am on my way to that point, but I think it’s a long process of saying yes and staying open to opportunities, even ones I don’t feel ready for. My imposter syndrome can be extreme, but I have found that trusting in the timing of life helps me value myself and understand my worth. Either way, I know I will learn something in the process regardless of the outcome. The fun part is not knowing where one “yes” might lead!

 

Interview with Engineer & Producer Missy Thangs

Missy Thangs is an engineer, producer, songwriter, and keyboardist based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thangs is currently a house engineer and producer at The Fidelitorium, an amazing and unique studio (complete with guest house!) located in Kernersville, NC, about 90 miles west of Raleigh. Throughout her career, Missy has had the opportunity to work with bands like The Avett Brothers, Ex Hex, Ian McLagan (Small Faces), The Tills, Las Rosas, and Skemäta. Thangs has been a prominent member of the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill (aka The Triangle) music community since the early 2000s, having performed with The Love Language, Toddlers, No One Mind, and Birds of Avalon. Missy has helped shape the sound coming out of the region not only through her songwriting and musicianship abilities but also from the sound she has crafted in production roles.

What first opened you up to the idea of becoming a recording engineer?

I grew up around pop music; my dad is a pop music freak. He had thousands of CDs and records and was way into MTV when it first came out. There was always music on, and my dad’s happiness was sort of funneled through music, so it was such a part of growing up. He was my informer. He was playing everything from Weird Al Yankovic, to DEVO, to Bowie, to Melissa Etheridge — non-discriminating. If it was a good song, had a good melody, and sounded good, he was all about it, and I think I got a lot of that from him.

I think on a real deep psychological level I’m trying to recreate that feeling. Hearing and making sounds that are exciting and make you feel really good. Often those sounds are big and colorful or raw; those are the things that stand out in my memory. So, it wasn’t listening to music from the perspective of how it was recorded; it was more the way music made me feel that got me into the recording aspect of it.

I hadn’t considered recording as a career until I was in college. I was studying meteorology and French at UNC Asheville and looking for something more. I came across the Recording Arts Program, and I remember looking at the course catalog and feeling like it resonated with me. I was like, “What have I been doing?” I want to be in music, and I want to record music, and so I just jumped into that program.

What was your program like at school at that time? Were you learning ProTools at all?

The program was really small; I was the only woman in my graduating class of 25. We started out on an old Tascam 24-track tape machine and an ADAT machine; then we got the first ProTools in maybe 2000 or 2001, which was the start of working on DAWs for me. As soon as we got ProTools, I was like, “Great!” I didn’t use tape or ADAT at all after that. I instantly felt familiar with and comfortable on the computer.

At that point, had you recorded at all as a musician in the studio, or did you just dive in once you started school?

No, it wasn’t until after I was in the program that I started meeting a lot of other musicians. I started playing in a band called Piedmont Charisma, and that was when I had my first recording experience as a musician. We recorded at a super small space in downtown Asheville. It wasn’t around for very much longer after we recorded there. This was before Echo Mountain was in town and there wasn’t much in terms of recording studios. In school we went to a CD processing plant, we got to visit Bob Moog before he passed away, and we went to a voice-over recording studio, but I hadn’t seen a real sexy recording environment ever, and I was like, “What am I going to do?”

It makes sense that you decided to pursue music for a while if you didn’t quite have the resources to jump into something immediately.

That’s right. I was self-taught in recording up until college, and I didn’t have a really strong relationship with any of my professors, so I was kind of on my own, trying to figure out how to get good sounds and how to run a session. I had some friends and colleagues I had made along the way to bounce ideas off of, but I wish I had sought a mentor or someone to talk to. The idea never really crossed my mind.

You moved to the Triangle after school and gradually started playing in more and more bands, and as your career took off, you had the opportunity to record in bigger studios. Was there anything that you took away from your time as a musician in the studio at that time that you think about now when you’re engineering?

Definitely. My abilities to empathize with how the musicians feel and how to anticipate their needs are tuned in, and I think that is everything. For example, I can understand the feeling of having a bad headphone mix, an inner-band conflict, or not being able to get the right take. My past experiences inform the way I handle all those things.

I think it’s so important to be a recording engineer and also be on the other side of the glass. Sometimes you forget what it’s like to get that nervous feeling while in the band; everyone’s staring at you from the other room, waiting for you to get the right take. It’s a good reminder of how to be while you’re leading a session and how to treat the people you’re working with.

Making a record with people is such a vulnerable experience. It’s so essential for the vibe to be dialed in and everyone to be as close to the same page as possible.

Yeah, everything about this job is about people and vibe. When you are working with a group of people or one artist you are constantly picking up cues on their mood and working with that information and trying to get the best out of them. That’s so much of our job! From bringing people a cup of tea or telling everybody to take a break. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but the musicians don’t need to know that; it’s not what they’re there for.

You work with a lot of bands at the Fidelitorium doing live-tracking sessions, do you think this is due to your experience of the music you listened to growing up or the bands you’ve played in, is it the nature of the studio, or a combination?

The community that I live in and play in is so intermingled. Everyone is in everyone else’s bands and supports each other, and a lot of people in this community are just here playing music because it’s our lives and it’s what we want to do. My network has sort of facilitated my sound in a way. A lot of people that I’m working with I know personally, and we’ve only got three days, and it’s a five-piece band, and they have a small budget, so we have to make it work. What’s happened as a result of it is that I’ve sort of cultivated this sound for fast-moving sessions. It’s like; you’ve got to track live because we don’t have time to do it any other way!

Then again, the studio does play into that because The Fidelitorium has a large, wonderful sounding room and you can get easily full band in there. There are also a ton of opportunities for isolation so you can get everybody in the space comfortably. It allows me to work quickly when I need to.

What’s happening to me is that my friends, or friends of friends, are hearing a record I did and are reaching out and saying, “Hey I like what you did with this band, we want that sound.” And the way I got that sound was with a quick turnaround live-tracking session. I’ve dabbled in lots of different genres and recording styles, but that’s sort of what I’m doing right now.

It seems like work has been consistently finding you then, which is a positive thing! Do you ever find yourself having to look for work or grow your network in that way? What is that process like for you?

I’m pretty shy; it’s really a lot of word of mouth. There have been one or two bands that I’ve gone up to and been like, “I want to record your band!” But, word of mouth is really everything. A lot of my clients come to me because they’ve heard really great things about other friends’ experiences, and their friends come to me and take a chance with me. It’s really humbling, and a lot of times I can’t believe it. I’ve been really lucky so far, at some point I think I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone and figure out how to reach new people!

You are now a house engineer at the Fidelitorium, owned by musician and engineer Mitch Easter (REM, Game Theory, Let’s Active). Are you alone a lot in the studio or do you have opportunities where you’re learning directly from Mitch?     

Mitch has been my one true mentor. He took me in when I was really down on the industry and taught me what he knows and let me go. I go to him often with questions, and he usually Mr. Miyagi’s me, but every once in a while he offers me some direct advice. I want him to tell me all his deepest mixing secrets, but he’s like, “Who cares? Do your thing!”

I like that idea a lot. I read another article with you where you mention something along the lines of, “the bolder the color, the bolder stroke, the better… there’s no rule in the book.” Can you talk about how this philosophy informs your approach in the studio?

I’m always game for chance or making decisions based on how I feel, versus what’s technically correct. I try not to overthink things, and I’m not afraid to mess up. I think that’s the foundation of where I sit. Being fearless. I want to turn a head. I want people to hear the music from these bands I’m working with and be like “WHAT is that?!” And I think part of that is making bold sounds and being dangerous. It’s not always easy to do, but that’s what I’m striving for.

What should we be paying attention to that you’ve just finished working on? What are your goals for the year?

Well, my main goal for this year is to get back into the studio after having a baby!

A pretty big deal, haha.

I’ve got a lot of cool projects on the horizon! There’s a really talented woman named Reese McHenry I’ve been working with; her record will be out in April. I’ve also been working with this band called Pie Face Girls for a few years that are getting ready to return to the studio to finish a record. And another band I’m going to be recording in May. I’m really excited about – just stay tuned for that, haha.

I’ve worked with many groups with all guys over the years, and I’m finally working with more and more women, and I love it; it’s a nice change of pace. I love everybody I’ve worked with, and I try not to think about it either way, but I have noticed this year that I’m working with more women in the studio and it’s been a really good corner to turn!

What advice do you have for any new or up-and-coming engineers?

Get out there, play in bands, go to shows, and immerse yourself in your musical community! Collect as much gear as you can. Get inside of getting sounds, being experimental, and not being afraid to mess up. Hit up your friends and start asking to record people. I feel like that’s basic knowledge, but it’s an important reminder!

Connect with Missy:

 

The Importance of Critical Listening as an Audio Engineer

For my first blog post, I wanted to talk about a fairly obvious but incredibly important topic the skill and practice of critical listening.

When much of our time and energy as audio engineers is spent zoomed in on developing sounds, it can be tiring to come home and want to really listen to music again. Sometimes I find myself wanting to sort of shut off to the experience; to put music on as background noise when I’m at home cooking, lounging, or even on my drive to or from work. It’s always good to have a balance, but I find when I can take time to listen to music mindfully, it provides an endless source of inspiration and helps me remember why I wanted to be an engineer in the first place!

Critical listening was one of the first ideas taught during my Recording Arts degree program at Indiana University, and I’m thankful my educators had the thoughtfulness to include this in our education. Going into the recording program at IU I was an avid music fan, musician, and music consumer, but I hadn’t quite grasped or even understood the value of critical listening practices until those first lessons. I remember searching for songs purely based on their sonic qualities – drum sounds, vocal reverbs, use of stereo field, dynamics, etc. We would be tasked with finding examples and then presenting them to the class to discuss our observations. It started to open my world in a way that made the idea of becoming an audio engineer much more tangible. It also helped me appreciate music in a different way, and, at the same time, develop a language to talk with others about what I was hearing.

As audio engineers, it is often our job to chase a sound. One of the first things that drew me to the field of was the idea that it could be a path of lifelong learning. Sometimes I’ll hear a guitar tone, a drum sound, the balance of vocals against a band in a mix, and it really captures me in a way that makes me want to learn how to recreate it. It’s a different kind of sonic earworm, one that brings me to a curious headspace saying to myself, “how did they do that?” I think this is extremely fun.

I try to ask every artist I work with about what they are listening to at the time we begin a project; what inspired them while they were writing, what reference albums they may have of sounds they’re seeking, and what they grew up listening to. It’s so helpful to have these as learning tools and reference points for my work throughout the process of making a record. I can research and go into a project feeling like I have a better grasp of what sounds we’re trying to make while in the studio. It’s also helpful at an interpersonal level – the more I can relate to and understand where the musician is coming from, the more confident I can be in making decisions, suggesting ideas, and building common ground with them. Creating music is such a vulnerable and personal experience.

There’s a certain language people use when discussing music that’s relatively consistent across the board, and it translates to practical applications. For instance, when someone tells me, “I want my kick to sound boxy,” or “I want my acoustic guitar to be less tinny” – although it sounds rather generic, those are particular and helpful requests.  When a musician knows what they want, it becomes my job to find and capture the ideal sound in their head.

Think about your favorite songs, how would you sonically describe the guitars, bass, or the drums? Maybe you use words like “deep” or “round” or “smooth.” Maybe even “glossy” or “warm” or “rich.” The more you listen critically, the easier those words will come to you, and the easier it becomes to interpret and act on those requests.

I started a project last year where I collected a monthly playlist of songs to share publicly on Spotify. The platform is not perfect, but I enjoy the social aspect of sharing music with friends. I was a big mix-tape maker back in the day. My friends and I swapped CDs regularly and it was a big part of my musical discovery, Spotify is a little bit like that for me as an adult.

My playlist-making experiment started out as a way to collect and track some personal data on how my musical tastes were changing. I wanted to be able to highlight artists and songs I was listening to (or re-listening to), as markers on my musical timeline – some data to look back on in a few years. It became an exercise I really started to love doing, and it gave me an excuse to work on my critical listening skills. Each song selected is purposeful, the sequence of the songs is purposeful, and all the songs have a unique and special memory attached to them. By sheer accident, I created a soundtrack for my year, and a whole catalogue of songs I knew really, really well.

Critical listening skills are so invaluable to all audio professionals. Feel free to follow along to my monthly playlist or start your own, whatever works for you! Remember the importance of mindful listening, and why we’re engineers in the first place: to make great music people can connect with!

 

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