Hi friends, I posted a video recently about maintaining and building relationships with Artists, the reaction was fantastic and I received many wonderful emails and comments from you. The number one theme was ‘thanks Warren for the tips on maintaining and building relationships, but how do we create them in the first place?’.
- Build A Resume
We all know that many clients will look at your previous work and use that to determine whether you are a suitable fit for them, so how do you build that resume?
Even though I just had a humble home recording set up of a used ADAT and tiny console I put myself out there regularly by going to shows, talking to bands I liked and offering to record them. If you’re still playing in bands, talk to your band members and see what other projects they might be working on, make yourself available, be humble and be a worker amongst workers!
I found bands to work with at my local dive rehearsal studio, I was open to work, I made myself receptive and accessible. Most of the time I did a song for free to show my skills, occasionally they had a tiny budget! In the process of doing these recordings I got better and better, my client list grew and my resume grew!
Now with the internet playing such a huge role we can work remotely with anyone around the world, sharing files, mixing their songs, mastering them!
Which leads me to:-
2. Build Social Media Presence
Social Media has been the biggest change in my career, even though I’ve worked extremely long hours and built a resume, the ability to be able to connect to people online has been HUGE! We cannot underestimate the importance of getting yourself out there, making yourself available for people to find and connect with.
Make a Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter Account for yourself and home studio, post music you’ve worked on and above all engage people! Find great articles, repost them, start a conversation, be active in the music and recording communities. If you share ideas with others and inspire creativity, you will flourish!
3. Embrace other Producers/Engineers and Mixers
Create friendships, don’t be competitive; there is enough work out there for everyone. Show respect for others who have also worked very hard to grow their business and become successful. We all got into music because we love it and want to be part of something bigger than ourselves! The people that got into it only to make money will fall by the wayside, positive attitudes will always prevail over negative rants telling people that they know best! I’ve been making albums for over 25 years and I am still constantly learning!
Jack Douglas has made some of the greatest albums and he assures me there are no experts and that John Lennon considered himself to be an amateur! For me personally I am acutely aware that I am standing on the shoulders of giants who have come before us, it’s a wonderful way for me to remain humble.
4. Be Easy to Work With
Listen to your clients, respect their vision, understand that they need to be heard and not only will they come back, most importantly, they will recommend you to others! I live in Los Angeles and there so many people here who do what I do, but what keeps me busy are clients who sing my praises, who not only love the finished result but enjoyed the process, the journey in creating the music with me!
Artists come in all shapes and sizes, they may be great singers, songwriters or great musicians, don’t judge them, help them develop! I was speaking to my friend Bob Marlette yesterday about a tutorial we are going to do together with a young band from Ireland, the Matthews, they are only 18-21 years old and he said to me ‘what a wonderful opportunity to help a young band grow’ that is the attitude we always need to bring to our sessions! Humility, encouragement and mutual learning are the hallmarks of a successful session to me!
Thank you all ever so much for your incredible support! The community we have here is incredible, the mutual respect and support we show each other is truly inspiring!
Have a marvelous time recording and mixing!
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