The Dreamlanders
If you’ve never stepped inside a recording studio before let me tell you, it’s a special place. There is an energy you can’t quite describe, a silent buzz of mystery and intrigue. A magic dust lingers in the air that makes your senses tingle with excitement. The recording studio is a vibe.
Whenever I walk into the studio every cell in my body comes alive. My heart whispers sweet nothings in my ear that seem to say, this is where you belong. It is the sanctuary for lost souls, a place where weary artists find solace and life spring.
I have not recorded an album in a professional studio like this before. In the past I was either working in a warehouse or in a basement on makeshift setups. I’ve always dreamed what it might be like to record in a professional studio with a team of experts.
On Dreamland, this dream came true.
The Studio
Not far outside the city of Austin lies a charming, magical gem of a retreat known as Orb Recording Studios. It has been our escape these last few years while we have worked diligently on this album. Countless hours have been spent in this temple of sound. Recording, mixing, singing, playing, so much music has been performed and captured within these walls.
The studio is like its own character in a movie. It has a distinct presence. It has a say in the way the record sounds. And this particular studio has a great personality. I’m happy it has been the character that housed the creation of this new album. It’s the place where I allowed myself to start dreaming again, which is one of the main reasons I named this upcoming album Dreamland. This studio has been the place where I fell back in love with making songs. It has been a sanctuary, especially for this lost soul.
Recording With the Pros
Recently someone asked me what I’ve learned the most recording this album. Here it is: outsource everything you’re not good at, and triple down on the stuff you’re great at.
I am a musician and songwriter. Those elements are where my skills lie. I could spend a thousand hours trying to become a great audio engineer, but that isn’t my forte. Rather than do it all myself I’ve learned how powerful it can be when you bring other people into the project.
With that, let me introduce some of the crucial team mates who have helped bring this album to life. Dreamland would not have possible without these dreamlanders.
Choosing a Producer
There’s a certain mystery around producers. Many people are not quite sure what a producer actually does. I’ve often been asked by friends why I need a producer at all if I write all the songs.
The simple way to answer this is: the producer is there to get the best possible album out of the artist. There are many avenues a producer can take to get the best album out of an artist. Some producers are master engineers, some producers are just great musicians. Some producers are neither an engineer, nor a great musician, they just love music and they know how to make artists feel comfortable and confident. The producer I decided to work with on this album is my long time friend, Dvani.
Dvani happens to be all three tied into one. He’s a great engineer, phenomenal musician and also happens to be my best friend. I feel comfortable and confident when he’s in the room helping me record. We’ve played music together since we were in high school. He understands the kind of artist I’m trying to be. He knows how I want the songs to sound.
Dvani is a trained audio engineer from Full Sail University. He then spent a number of years working in New York and engineering for sessions of house names like: DJ Khaled, Kalid, Busta Rhymes and so on. During these years he learned how to work with artists, and honed his craft as a producer.
In addition to being a great engineer and producer, he is also a phenomenal drummer and percussionist. Dvani performed all of the drums for Dreamland. He has made this album into something truly special with his rhythms and beats.
During the countless hours we’ve spent in the studio Dvani has always been there, listening, reflecting, guiding the album in the direction it needs to go. I trust his input more than I trust my own sometimes. He is the reason why Dreamland will have a professional, distinct sound. Without his guidance this album would not have turned out the way it did.
The Engineer
Now we move to another crucial character in the development of an album. The engineer. The engineer is the guy pushing the buttons, turning the knobs, and dialing in the sound the way the producer and the artist want. He’s on the console, the master of the fader. The producer is in command, and the engineer is working the dials.
We’ve had a stellar engineering team work on Dreamland. The engineering talent that has influenced our record is second to none. One of the first engineers that worked on this project was Matt Meli. He’s engineered for many house names, including Justin Bieber. Matt was one of the first engineers to work with us and he immediately affirmed to us that we were working on some great music. That was really cool to hear.
Meli eventuallyh introduced us to Victor Gasper who instantly meshed with Dvani and I. The three of us built up a chemistry and poured ourselves into the creation of the album. Vic loved our sound and he loved the songs. As an artist it makes you feel great when industry professionals tell you that you’re a great songwriter. The album started coming to life when Dvani, Victor and myself met in the studio.
It makes a world of difference when you have the right engineer facilitating the creative process. In the studio, speed is money, literally. An engineer can really slow you down when they don’t know what they’re doing. If it takes forever to make a quick edit you can quickly lose your inspiration. Thankfully, we were blessed with absolute pros.
You have no idea how freeing it is as an artist to reliquesh all the engineering and producing duties to other, more qualified people. On my last album, Bedroom Lullabies, I did everything myself. I recorded the instruments, I mixed it, I produced it, everything. It was rewarding and instructive, but lord was it exhausting. During the creation of Dreamland I was able to sit back and relax for a lot of the heavy lifting. I was simply the artist. It was glorious.
The Photo Man
Something I never thought to do was bring someone into the studio to document the process. Recording has always been something I did privately, away from the prying eyes of social media followers. But, for this album I wanted to bring others into the recording process. We hired our good friend Patrick Kirk to head up the photography and videography of Dreamland.
He would wander around the studio snapping pictures and shooting videos while we were in our element. The result was incredible. They say a picture tells a thousand words and I completely agree. At the end of every session PK would send all the pictures to us and Dvani and I would smile from ear to ear.
All of the pictures in this blog post are from PK. He has a great eye. He captures the energy in the room so well. It has brought so much joy to look back through these pictures and remember the great experiences I had while making this album.
I’ve learned how important it is to document the journey of working on your passions. Years from now we will be able to look back on these pictures and remember how wonderful it was to create this album.
What’s also great is that PK recently embarked on his own journey of being a professional photographer and videographer while we were making this album. It seems fitting that we have all been chasing our dreams during the creation of Dreamland.
PK shot tons of footage of us working the studio which we are currently editing into behind-the-scenes videos. I’ve never taken the time to do anything like this, but as I work on these videos I feel overwhelming excitement. It finally gives me a chance to show you an inside look into what we do inside the studio. Stay tuned for more videos soon!
Social Media
My sister Talia has had a very eventful year. In addition to getting married, having a baby, and moving to a new country she has continued to help me with my social media. She’s taken over my Facebook and Instagram accounts and continues to grow those pages. It has been a huge weight off my shoulders. I’ve been able to focus solely on the creation of new music. I never knew how much of a burden social media was until I gave it to someone more qualified. Talia has been instrumental in allowing me to keep my audience updated while freeing up my time to work on other things.
She will be huge in helping our team with the launch of Dreamland. We are lucky to have her!
It Takes a Team
I have learned so much from making this album. I have learned how much fun it can be to collaborate with talented people on a creative project. I’ve learned how much better an outcome can become when you involve other people, and stop hogging control all for yourself. I’ve learned how to let go of responsibilities and give them to better qualified individuals. I’ve learned how much better an album can be when you bring the right people into the process.
Dreamland is finished and will be released soon. I am eternally grateful to the amazing people who have helped me bring this album to life. This album belongs to them as much as it does to me.