Jam is a studio owner, tracking and mixing engineer and music producer in Durham NC. She opened Denk Studios in 2019 to create an inclusive space for all musicians regardless of race, gender, gender...
Jam is a studio owner, tracking and mixing engineer and music producer in Durham NC. She opened Denk Studios in 2019 to create an inclusive space for all musicians regardless of race, gender, gender identity, age and sexual orientation. Jam has a passion for music and strives to be a driving force for creating change in the music industry
"I am working on two exciting albums currently for artists angelfuni and the blue horse project." - Jam, around the time this episode was recorded, via squadcast.fm, on April 8, 2021.
Jam and Tangela start talking about moving, stuff, filling space, and Jam's studio space in Durham, North Carolina. The studio is a former, concrete garage. It was built out on budget, with found and used materials. The vocal booth is pink with Christmas lights!
Did Taylor Swift's Folklore really deserve an award? Also, these award shows and their transparency ... or lack thereof. Is Billy Eilish truly DIY/indy? Is the time of the major labels almost up?
Artists sometimes spend more money than they need to, and end up behind, not owning their career. On the other hand, they could save the money, work with independent studios and engineers who can do a good job doing the things the artist doesn't want to do themselves (like mixing). Also there are lots of cool, cheap, sometimes free ways to learn audio work: ProduceLikeaPro.com, OmniSoundProject.com, etc. You definitely don't have to go to Full Sail and blow that kind of cash. But hands-on, mentorship learning is the best. "Invest in a human!" But don't go into debt guys. And get listening buddies to trade critiques with!
Jam was accepted into Berkeley College of Music back in 2001, right after high school. She didn't do it because of the financial question. After seeing a promotional video from them about their drummers, she's glad she developed her own sound.
Jam later went to school for marketing. But let's do more of an intro now, lol. Or not. Jam and Tangela run in similar circles on the interwebz. Between Cinnamon's Music Executive podcast (http://www.cinnamondenise.com/podcast), Omni, and SoundGirls.org, they've both been aware of each other for a while.
Being an extrovert pre-'Rona with introvert home life. Tangela shares some of her experience with COVID. Jam shares her experience with H1N1 during the swine flu outbreaks.
Returning to Jam's story about pursuing marketing. She was a hotel manager for 10 years, and a high-end grocery store manager for 6 years. While in hotels she decided to go to school to learn something different. The new qualification precipitated a shift over to management in grocery stores. Tangela learns that up north there's a grocer's union. Jam got laid off in October 2020 and has shifted to full-time studio work as a result.
Tangela muses a bit about the mindset of "do I need college for that?" whenever considering a career change. Jam shares the customer service perspective she learned from being in hotels, and how that's benefited her work as an audio engineer. They riff on customer service for a bit. Tangela reminds the audience that there's a balance to be found between giving good customer service and standing up for yourself to not be a doormat.
Tangela is a giant fan of the Six Figure Home Studio podcast (https://www.thesixfigurehomestudio.com/podcast/) and its hosts Brian Hood and Chris Graham. Jam is using Brian's new website builder EasyFunnels.io ; Tangela enjoy's Brian's Filepass app as well.
Tangela talks about podcast formats, length, audience experience. Jam enjoys this podcast and breaks up the episode to fit her day.
Jam has a Facebook group and between it and her studio she's very interested in supporting women and the queer community, while keeping them separate, because frankly their issues are different.
Jam grew up Southern Baptist, and faced a fair amount of adversity with coming out. Her mom did come to her wedding tho! How to have disagreements and listen compassionately and have better relationships for it. It's hard to be understanding and it's hard to be understood. But that's the challenge, that's part of being human.
"How do you go about informing yourself about the landscape of audio?"
Tangela and Jam talk about womens' voices, microphones and social commentary on womens' voices.
"Phoenix AZ is the butthole of America" - Jam Phelps
Jam's advice for musicians: Don't use hi-hat sounds or electronic blips for snare downbeats. Use a real snare! Also, don't expect a bunch of gear to make you better - only practice can do that.
https://www.instagram.com/denk\_studios/
https://www.facebook.com/Denkstudios
Reminder: LTA has a Discord server!
As usual you can find Tangela on her website where you can sign up for the Newsletter!
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2022-05-07
