Episode 20
Show Notes
Live With Matt Rad - Episode 20
Sept 22, 2020
w/ Jon Castelli - Week 18
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Most famous vocalists have their own vocal chain and vocal producer dialed in. Alicia Keys has had Anne Mincieli for the last ten years.
Q: What do you do when you don’t feel like making music, or dislike what you’re making?
We all feel that.
Matt thinks the majority what he makes isn’t good. Only a small percentage cuts it.
Comedians persevere for years despite constantly bombing on stage.
Jon can usually find something he likes about the mix. Even if he’s not crazy about the song.
“If I don’t like the record, maybe I like the snare”. Maybe there’s something that I can focus on and enjoy.
Jon always takes breaks. Go for a walk. Workout. Take a 2nd bike ride. Meditate. Get a new perspective.
The closer we get to saying “no” earlier in our career, the sooner we’ll stop finding ourselves in situations that we don’t enjoy working on.
If you’re not in the song, challenge yourself to do something new, like make the dopest guitar sound ever. The biggest downbeat ever.
Switch between more than one project. Even if you’re only getting paid for one of them.
Jon likes to let the song and his mood dictate the song that he’s going to mix on.
Daytime versus nighttime records. Sometimes he’ll be feeling a song at night better.
The thing that separates people at Jon and Matt’s level from the people two level below them is rarely skill. It’s usually the ability to deliver and be consistent.
Taking Notes:
Q: How do you deal with notes that you know are wrong?
You don’t know that they’re wrong. You have to try them.
You have to be willing to listen to what they’re asking for.
There is no wrong note.
You don’t want to be resistant as a collaborator.
Our job is to facilitate a group of people trying to make something happen.
If someone gives a bad note 49/50 times the bad note doesn’t get kept, but it can be a gateway to something else.
You can’t have ego around taking notes.
You need to be able to interpret notes.
The most common note is to “turn the vocal up”. If someone says this it’s because there is something in the way of the vocal. Sometimes you can just saturate the upper-mids a bit, instead.
When someone says turn it up .5db, Jon usually turns it up 1 dB. He rarely does it exactly what they ask.
Our job is both technical and interpreting an psychological situation. How can you help them achieve their creative vision?
If someone asks for vocals up in the chorus you need to also ask yourself, what else can you do to make the chorus more exciting?
You need to think laterally. Think differently.
Jon doesn’t ride faders. He draws automation. He even automates saturation on sections or certain words.
Serban is always going to be a better Serban than you will.
For upcoming people: really figure out what it is the you like and where you sit that distinguishes you from other people.
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Q: Did people in your family believe in you or did they tell you get a real job?
Most of Matt’s friends who aren’t in music still don’t know exactly what he does. His parents have a decent idea.
The people who get through that first 5-10 years of not making money are finally breaking through.
Most people have gone through some sort of phase like that where they have decided not to quit.
Jon was fully supported by his family all the way to the point where they built him a studio.
It wasn’t until Jon was 27 and had been in LA for 4-5 years that it finally clicked for his mother when she could hear a song on the radio that he worked with Tony on.
Jon and his dad built a 3 room studio together in Long Island.
To do something that is outside of the mainstream is a possibility that has much greater potential and paths to go down these days.
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Q: How did you meet your mentors?
Matt:
He met Eric Valentine through records that he had made. Eric found out through local CA punk rock bands. He met with the bands Matt had produced and then Matt got to come around.
Jon:
He got an introduction through Tony’s manager.
The way Tony recognized that Jon had something he didn’t is that he did something that Tony wouldn’t have done.
Luck is the point where preparation meets opportunity.
The world is full of opportunities you will not see until you are prepared for them.
The hustle is important and DM’ing people is important.
You need to take risks too.
You need to provide value for others. You need to
Tony is a great listener and he surrounds himself with young people who can show him new things.
