This week I am talking with Emmett O'Reilly, who is an old friend of mine and we've been making music together for years. Emmett is a part of a number of bands, including his own personal project, the Toronto punk band Pkew Pkew Pkew, and Stuck Out Here, as well as Owen Wilson and many more.

Due to the recent pandemic, Emmett has crossed over the other side of music making. With the lack of live shows and performances, he dived headfirst into home recording and growing his skills with production and engineering. This podcast we talk about all things to do with his journey getting started, as well as his take on how this has actually helped him to become a better player, a better band member, and a better musician and songwriter overall. We also talk about how he sees this as a great path forward with his musical career and the big part this plays in the future of the music industry for any musician looking to make any kind of career in the modern music industry.

Pkew Pkew Pkew - https://www.pkewx3.com

The music business is changing, and for studios and freelancers, we need to change with it. The tools we use and approaches to building out businesses needs to grow as well, and today's guest is right on the for-front of that.

Brady Hoggard is the founder of Sonido Software, which is a project management software system built specifically for recording studios (of all sizes) and freelance producers and engineers. It puts all the different tools someone needs to grow their business into one platform that just works together, instead of trying to cobble together a multitude of different softwares to get even the simplest tasks done. Everything from Contact and lead management, project organization, file transfers and mix feedback systems, to finances and todo list tracking.

In today's conversation we talk about not only what Sonido offers, but also how anyone can up their game in todays music industry. At the end of the day, to make a living, we have to treat it like a business, and there are many things we all need to do to succeed in the shifting industry.

Sonido Software - https://www.mysonido.com

It's important too be comfortable in order to create your best. If you're in a studio where you don't want to touch anything, is to fancy, or where you are strapped for time, that is not a good position to be in when it comes to being your most creative self.

In this episode I talk about how make sure your comfortable, but still seek discomfort in other ways to create your best. I also give some examples of some things other artists have done to bring comfort into the studio with them to show you anything is possible!

I'm joined by Malcolm Cottle, an avid home recording hobbiest, who has been developing his skills for many years. He is a drummer who has perfected techniques for recording himself (and his drums) in his home studio, which is nothing fancy but yet he can make it really work.

We dive into how he records himself, how he got the drum sounds for the There's Nothing Holding Me Back cover that we just released, and how we did this project despite being in different countries. He even gives a great starting advice and gear suggestions for people looking at getting into recording drums in their home studios.

TNHMB Full Cover Video - https://youtu.be/5MvOjmQBQIw

Gorillaback Productions - http://www.gorillabackproductions.com/

@cottlemac on Instagram

LINKS - MALCOLM's GEAR

Macbook Pro late 2014 - apple.ca

MICS

Kick: CAD TM211 tom mic inside and KM212 kick mic in port hole

Added to Setup

CAD mic kit: CAD PRO-7 Drum Microphone Kit - https://www.long-mcquade.com/70128/Pro-Audio---Recording/Microphones/CAD/7-Piece-Drum-Microphone-Pack.htm

It's so important to take care of yourself and take time for yourself, outside of work or your creativity. This will drastically help your creativity and avoid you from becoming burnt out.

In today's Podcast I talk about taking time for yourself, and also share my journey through some really hard times for me creatively, and how the new cover song I just released help me get through that.

It’s so important for new (and established) producers and engineers to never get to stuck in their ways. Experimentation is the key to success and continually developing your sound. These days there are 2 different sides of this. A lot of online education about production and mixing is very exact, telling you the steps that you must follow. On the flip side, we have never had more tools at our disposal, no matter what level of production you’re at. 

Step by step is not how it should be done, creativity needs to be fluid and experimentation is so important. 

That’s what I dive into in this weeks episode! A nice little friendly reminder to break the rules in your productions and try random things you don’t think are going to work. Don’t be a preset warrior, make things better!

This week's podcast is inspired by a book I am currently reading called "The Practice - Shipping Creative Work" by Seth Godin. I wanted to explore the thought's I had while reading this and how they directly relate to audio engineering, mixing and music creation.

I break the simple steps down into a formula for creators or those who want to be creators, on how to actually create. So many people call themselves creatives but don't consistently create anything. It's all about the practice, showing up, and there's no place to be making excuses about waiting for the proper "flow state" or "creativity to hit".

An amazing book that I highly recommend checking out as well!

This week's episode I wanted to explore the push and investment in podcasting which both Spotify and Apple Music are doing. The competition that Spotify has started by investing Millions into podcasting is great, but I wanted to explore how this will effect their core music streaming service and it's artists. What is good, what is bad and what do I wish they would do for artists. While I do think that broadening their market and branching out into podcasting is good for them as a business, I am concerned about if they will leave music behind, or if this will create more innovation and investment into music and it's artists as well.

Spotify is a company I enjoy watching grow and develop new things. I don't always agree with them with what they do, however, they are continually innovating in their space.

This episode I'm talking about their new "story" feature, which is currently in a testing period, but I wanted to touch on my thoughts of the good and bad route this feature could take, and where I think they need to go with this idea.