Mentor My Mix: Find Your Career in the Music Industry!

Shawn Mercado, aka SHDWS, producer, DJ, engineer, and sound designer. A Bay Area native and Pyramind Alum. Shawn shares his experiences with DJing and promoting for iconic San Francisco clubs like EPR, Ruby Skye, and City Nights. He’s produced music previously as M3RC, and spent years honing his craft and discovering his signature style, leading into rebranding and releasing a polished sound under the SHDWS. He’s released music for Night Bass and Divided Souls, and has collaborated recently with Blossom. Shawn talks about his experience with Wax Motif’s Park ’N Rave Livestream, and what it was like performing for a socially distant audience and tens of thousands of viewers on Insomniac’s Twitch and YouTube streams. And Shawn breaks down his debut release with Divided Souls, Vixen. 

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Excerpts from different episodes of the Mentor My Mix Podcast, hosted by Greg Gordon.

Brought to you by Pyramind, America's premier Music Production School.

http://www.pyramind.com

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Shane Hazleton's seven years of education included his undergraduate degree in Music Interdisciplinary Computing in The Arts at UCSD (where he studied with the likes of Miller S. Puckette, inventor of MAX MSP), and was followed by his MFA at Cal Arts in Experimental Sound Practices and Integrated Media. This led him down a path of visionary development where his idea for creating a matrix-based touch controller for clip launching and integration with Ableton Live brought him to share that vision with multiple developers and was eventually embraced by Akai, and led to the creation of the APC 40. Pre-college he was influenced by the likes of Marilyn Manson and Nirvana and then discovered Raves, Psychedelics, and the intense desire to create electronic music. Inspired by Brian Crabtree at UCSD, inventor of The Box, led to shopping around the idea for a matrix controller. Going to work for Allesis/Newmark/Akai and developing Max patches to test their audio products. Making a video for the APC to "get shows" and having Steffen Gordy (The son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy) from LMFAO reach out to hire him to come to Las Vegas to help develop their live performance with Ableton. Partying with the duo in Vegas but being influenced by his girlfriend to make a bad career decision and the backlash that brought him to the SF Bay Area. Being influenced by the level of consciousness in the SF Bay Area and a noticeable "psychic field" that was creatively stimulating. Working with the "Mind Machine" and Performing in Quad to create a different kind of live performance. Breaking down his track "On Top Of The World" and discussing MAX For Live and custom patch creation.

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From New York bands to the University of Miami and back. Working through the tech boom of the late nineties to support a growing music career. Trying to get signed to the German label Studio K7 producing Trip Hop, Drum & Bass, Jungle and experimental Hip Hop. Getting referred to the sales division of OM records. Building the relationship with OM over a period of a year to getting signed as MING & FS. Being a "student of the game" and going out on "The Deep Concentration" tour with OM. Subsequently getting signed for a three-record deal with OM records all while playing in a rock band and making electronic music under the name Beat Tree. Working full time to fund the music career. Going out every night to make connections and network. Getting signed for the "weird" electronic music but not what MING & FS thought would be a major label deal with Beat Tree. Rewiring & re-eq'ing sound systems to make them sound right when on tour. Music business is 90% failure. Understanding the concept of failing forward and never giving up. Ten year run with Ming & FS, disbanding in 2006. Being in a Nissan commercial creating the music from car sounds to fund the tour. Going on tour while filming the Nissan spot that ran through the Superbowl and joining the screen actors guild. Creating Habitat music production company to create original scores for commercials until the bubble burst in music licensing. Making money from multiple streams and shifting with the times. Learning from the mistake of overselling. The numbers of self pressing and why vinyl is never really coming back. Using any merch that doesn't sell for promo. Throwing huge parties and promoting to the Mavens to create the right word of mouth buzz. Making mix CD's to give away at every show and getting them sponsored by clothing brands to building a significant production business for touring artists. Struggling to get back on tour as a DJ post Ming & FS but building such a strong production business producing that when Covid hit it brought into focus that the work was coming in steadily. Commercial work, scoring and producing keeping all the irons hot. Getting nominated for a Grammy for a remix but not seeing any upside and crickets the next year. The Grammy bump is for major label "1 percenter's". Studio design and working with singers right in the room without headphones. Preparing the room to work with different singers. "I just vomit music at this Point!"

Watch MING breakdown his remake of White Horse: https://youtu.be/f8-CqwFYGsk

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Breaking down the funky Dubstep infused track, Skunked. Evaluating the current trends in modern Dubstep & Riddim. Playing shows in France & Budapest before Covid. Signing with Maximum Boost Agency. Playing the content game and releasing on the "regular". Live streaming shows from the Social Sanctuary in LA. Mentoring with Pyramind. Mixing & Mastering services business and assorted "random audio jobs" and releasing new Antiserum music. Releasing on Subsidia Records with a whole new approach to putting out music. Staying at the forefront of Dubstep with Excision. Putting out lots of huge compilations. Being consistent and working on multiple platforms. Using Twitter to connect with his fans. Producing in the arrange view in Ableton. The nuances and intricacies of sampling. How to use the free app soundflower as a virtual mixer for your computer for inspiration, sampling and accessing lots of content. The pros & cons of self-releasing vs. signing label deals. Producing the ultimate Antiserum album that combines multiple styles into the Antiserum "Sound". What it looks like to have a mentorship session with Antiserum. Learning from failure as much as success. Failure as success training.

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The evolution of The VIBE: Vibrational Individualized Body Enhancement System and using Sound, Light Frequency Vibration for Wellness. Growing up in New Jersey with a father who was a pharmacist and pursuing sports medicine and then studying to become a chiropractor. Drawn to moving West and moving to Denver Colorado to establish a wellness practice. Invited to move to San Diego to help develop a Bioharmonic feedback system. Manufacturing first round of vibrational technology. Going from being a chiropractor to being a technologist. Tuning into being an artist and creative, working with patients and developing a process around using Sound, Light Frequency Vibration for Wellness. Working with inflammation and cellular memory. Researching and developing technology to optimize human potential and clearing neurological imbalances. Being a channel. Being introduced to sound healing and Vibroacoustic sound lounges by Mentor Ed Bender. Creating vibroacoustic music without even realizing it and diving into vibroacoustic research from around the world. Identifying specific frequencies for different physiological effects. No formal training in music production. Non-traditional chiropractic practice as a Kinestisiologist. Early stages using "vibrational signatures" placed into the patient's biofield to check for changes in neurological response affecting change in allergic responses and other wellness problems. This set up a new delivery system. Using music as a delivery system. Using Ableton to develop the music and being inspired to use the clips to recreate his protocols. Creating a biofeedback system and music. Visualizing his future as a sound healing rock star and developing seven albums. Writing a book called Primal Resonance with a focus on Chronic inflammation as an epidemic in America. The connection between chronic inflammation and its connection to the Covid 19 pandemic. Foundational research working with the living connective tissue matrix. "Hydrate, Vibrate & Gyrate". The keys to the universe. Importance of cellular hydration for cellular conductivity. People die of lack of cellular communication that leads to many diseases. Optimizing "cellular communication". Boosting the immune system through yoga, acupuncture, anti-viral plants & herbs, & the VIBE. Vibrational Indivuduaized Body Enhancement System. Controlling anxiety stress & overwhelm. Formulating specialized music to influence your "field". Making harmonically aligned vibrational music that's attuned directly to the connective tissue with specific mathematics of the connective tissue, specific brainwave frequency patterns, sacred geometry, physiological frequencies and I formulate specialized music so we can influence your field. Because If negative stimulus creates negative chemistry if we put positive stimulus into your field it creates positive chemistry it's just really that simple. Creating a music catalog called "Sonic Ceuticals" meaning healing through sound. Assisting & shifting human physiology to optimize human performance and experience. Working with brain wave states using different frequencies to move negative energy. Tuning the nervous system using music to address the deeper aspects of neurological disfunction. The visceral somatic reflex.

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Releasing on Synesthesia Records, Inspired by a love of baroque music and making bangers with harpsichord melodies and the original OG: J.S. Bach. Scoring an original track for the video game, Sunset Overdrive. Working with Reason and loving the interface, the look of the mixer and racks and the block arrangement views with block arrangement view with entire section color coding to create a great arranging tool. Choosing a DAW for the user experience because all the audio engine's sound so good now. Breaking down the production techniques of each of the stems ( Bass, Drum Bus, Melodic Bus, Blur FX, SFX Bus, Vox Bus) from the Social Kid hit track: Epica. Using the Blur FX (sweeps up and down and heavy impacts) to transition between sounds and sections. OTT for multiband upward and downward compression on the blur FX bus to glue the entire track together. Vocal processing techniques using panning and pitch shifting on each track and OTT and EQ (to cut out the low end) and delay & reverb on the group to create an "Epic" otherworldly sound. The concept and history of K Theory. Meeting Dylan at Pyramind. Partnerships and collaborations. Falling in love with Dubstep early on. Looking for accessible exposure by bringing Dubstep to a "new level" by electrifying it and modernizing it in 2010. Pivoting to a lower tempo experiment with Glitch hop and mid tempo in 2011. Releasing tracks on Simplify, Mal Label and getting great exposure in the underground dance scene. Experimenting with 808's and Trap with vocalist Malcolm Anthony. Cutting edge EDM with Rap vocals and Trap production launching K Theory to a whole new level. Playing lots of festivals like Red Rocks to Coachella, Electric Forest, Lightning In A Bottle, Snow Globe and Lovelution. Producing remixes for lots of artists posted on Trap Nation. Getting nominated for a Grammy for the GDFR remix. Having a great dynamic in the K Theory partnership with dual productivity. Dylan networking & doing shows while Dusting stayed back to produce tracks. Creative differences and getting disillusioned making very poppy music. Wanting to make heavy dance music. Getting kicked out of K Theory despite producing all the music. Experimenting by slowing down progressive house to mid tempo creating the Social Kid sound. Rez blowing up on the Deadmouse label creating a conduit for Mid Tempo and making Transmissions to be released. Releasing Chrystal Satellite on the Blood Moon EP and blowing up Social Kid. Breaking down Transmissions. Taking all the Pyramind classes twice and bringing 20 years of production chops after graduating from Pyramind in 2007 and becoming a mentor on the Pyramind Network!

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From Live sound and national touring to theater sound to assisting and running sessions in LA recording studios to the scoring stage at Universal Studios. Getting lucky with a gig in Editorial, laying in backgrounds and sound effects for TV shows and movies. Developing custom sound design for the Weird Science TV series. Getting exposed to working in Dolby Surround and using that experience to transition to the SF Bay Area Film and Post world. Being warned how that was going to be very hard in the Bay Area. Seeking council from engineers working at The Saul Zaentz Film center. Getting introduced to Murray Allen, a Chicago Ad legend, president of AES and founder of The Recording Academy (The Grammys). Finding common ground with Murray that led to contract work with EA working on Wing Commander 3 and mixing on ADAT. Eventually being hired on the team with Don Veca, Rob Hubbard and other Game Audio industry legends. Going on to work on many sports titles. Figuring out the concepts of granular sound design for interactive sound. Meeting the memory challenges of early gaming consoles. Grinding 12 hour days, 80 hour weeks and building long lasting relationships. Going from twelve years at EA to Sony in 2006 to work on the Socom franchise on the PS2 console and becoming Audio Director for The Godfather Project. Building a twelve man audio team for an open world game. The importance of engineering support in the audio design process. Porting to the second generation XBox 360 with expanded memory and using the additional RAM to up-sample the effects for higher audio quality causing the game mix to sound off requiring each sound design event to be re-mixed. A deeper dive in mixing a game title. The many challenges of working on a "launch title". The need to be agile , working with multiple departments and meeting multiple deadlines and challenges. Supporting outside developers as a service team. Working on Sly Cooper with Greg Debearde and "becoming the audio team". Working on Uncharted and The Last of Us by supporting "The Santa Monica Team". Working with Dolby Pro Logic & Pro Logic 2 with EA sports out of Canada and then on the SSX Snow Boarding titles encoding four channel DTS for live, real time Quad mixing. Moving to a nice to have feature to a must have that enhances the experience and sales of the games. Detailed description of creating an immersive audio demo to compare three tools for immersive audio mixing: Dolby Atmos, FB 360 and Dear VR. Using the Dolby Atmos render to create a realtime Binaural mix. Differences in HRTF and headphones affecting the results of a mix. Check out the blog for more detailed info and all three Binaural mixes side by side: https://pyramind.com/mixing-a-track-on-dolby-atmos-facebook-360-and-dear-vr-comparison/

Opening Music Credit: LGTBLTS by Dylan Seligman from his soon to be released Game Music EP, Acronym.

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Remixing for political action with Dubfire and The Bishopgame, The Sound Of Change, The Four Track Remix EP, the universal human condition, loneliness, the impact of Covid-19 and the current election cycle, the Affordable Care Act. An homage to nineties melodic rock meets contemporary electronic production. Production techniques creating variations and twists in the remix but honoring the original intention. Creating controllers that influence the music being made designed to give more expressive live performance that balance technology and live real time performance expression. The evolution of The Mojo, The Robocaster, and The MC1. Embracing musical influences from "the younger self". East Coast transplant to the SF Bay. Studying Jazz, orchestration & Theory at Berklee College of Music. Moving to New York to be part of the scene. Coming to The SF Bay Area for a different quality of life and a different creative aesthetic and its legendary art scene. Going to Burning Man and finding a new radically inclusive approach to art. The changing face of San Francisco. Inspiring others to express their own creativity through interactive and innovative packaging like custom circuit boards for album artwork. Achieving "blow up successes" with indie releases. Performing with Ableton but not having the laptop visible on stage. Time management to stay focused. Meditation, Vipassana ten day silent meditation retreats. Daily meditation & yoga practice. Spirit Rock & Dharma talks. Turning off distractions and building a barrier around yourself with no email, phone or messaging in order to create. "Nobody's perfect", being kind to yourself, self care. Taking a giant mushroom to Las Vegas and working with Meow Wolf. A level of unprecedented interactive art. The Octo Masher and Jamboxes. The "Guitar Wing" and working with Livid Instruments and thebishopgame. Planning to start a consultancy firm. Working with Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead. Finding joy in teaching and mentoring and helping people enable their own creativity. Teaching and mentoring for Pyramind. Continuity through community. Covid-19 creating Big changes in the Bay and the transforming landscape.

Music Credits: Four Track Remixed

Intro Edit : Alone (Dubvirus Remix) & Shut Me Down (Aquiline Scope Remix)

Track One: Alone (Dubvirus Remix)

Track two and closing track: ust Like You (thebishopgame Remix)

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In this episode Greg and DJ Celeste discuss the transition of the current live music industry from venues and festivals to online live-streaming, Twitch and VR parties, including the use of Tiltbrush and Blender as a stage building tool for visual artist in collaboration with musicians and venues in the online space. 

Collaborating with cello Joe in Oakland. Filming a music video pre-covid. The amount of musicians and producers in our orbit. Producing and releasing music during quarantine. Making vibrant music with Ableton for ecstatic dance parties. The Boutique Electronique label in Germany. Producing Hip-hop. Livestreams with costumes. The financial impact of Covid-19 on the artist community. Learning to adapt to the new normal. Social media marketing. Wanting to believe in the arts and the good of people. The cutting edge of music technology and its effect on the perspective of art imitating life and life imitating art. Making VR art with Tiltbrush for events in Second Life. Using Blender with help from a Pixar animator. The struggle of using Mac vs Windows when developing in VR. Learning how to use Unity. Learning new platforms like Roblox, while mitigating the concern of too much screen time. Missing Burning Man, adapting to the “Virtual Burn”. Love of Anime, love of Unicorns. Using Tribe XR as a VR platform to educate new and upcoming DJs, especially during quarantine. Different VR creative and performance platforms like Wave and AltSpace, different platforms integration with Rekordbox. Purchasing an Oculust Quest, and performing in VR at the Great Northern SF Nightclub. Live VR performance DJ set.

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