Episode 86 - Jon Castelli
Show Notes:
Live with Matt Rad - Episode 86
March 15, 2022
w/ Jon Castelli - Week 70
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Matt:
Next week we will be doing a live streaming event from Jon’s studio The Gift Shop.
Jon:
The person coding the audio algorithms for Apple Music (who’s name I can’t recall) is the same person who originally coded the .wav file format, so they’re very familiar with the way that audio has sounded in the past and bring that expertise to Apple Music, which sounds better when compared against Spotify.
As a mixer I am constantly adjusting the volume setting of my monitors to hear a mix at different levels. I don’t subscribe to the practice of other mixers who set their volume at a fixed position and never touch it throughout a mix.
I like to do reverb moves at a very low volume, but I like to do my kick drums at a very loud volume.
I think that the only way to actually be successful in what we do is to go off our own instincts and follow and work with the people who follow and appreciate those instincts. Then you give them what you do consistently every day.
I don’t know how to do what other people do, but although I can learn to do it it wouldn’t be truly me.
Finding Work/Life Balance
Matt:
There’s always this tension between being a creative person and doing what’s unique to you and wanting to grow and learn new things.
Part of making money is being in a marketplace where people are competing for jobs, so there is often a pressure to do what others are doing or want for their records.
If you want to make money doing this you are in competition with people to a certain extent. It’s hard to reconcile those things.
Jon:
It’s okay to not be a loud personality on Instagram. This may be a phase that we’re going through right now where people feel they need to act a certain way online. I’m trying to play that game differently.
Matt:
I have made the conscious decision to take real time off and that has certainly cost me money and certain kinds of success. I decided for myself that I’d much rather get out into the world and live my life.
I am constantly asking how much I want to give and commit to this pursuit. What does that mean for my personality? Do I want to be a self promoter?
Everyone has to ask themselves this and go through their own process of figuring it out.
What’s the version of this that might work for me?
Being Comfortable with Self-Promotion
There are very few people who are amazing creatives and amazing entrepreneurial self-promoters. And most of those people - the Kanye West’s of the world - don’t live a particularly balanced life.
For this reason it’s important for us to look at the opportunities presented to us and decide which kind of life we’d like to live.
One of the best things you can do is put out music now. If someone sends me something to listen to I go to their Instagram and their Soundcloud, and if they’re not already posting and promoting themselves I look at it and think “I’m not the person who’s going to launch your career”. You have to be doing this for yourself already.
Everybody has the tools for free with social media to access and promote.
That’s the way things have to be done now.
Jon:
When it comes to self promotion, you’re promoting your known self-value. What you have to offer to people.
The best compliment I get on a mix is how it feels.
Matt:
From the chat: “Building strong relationships is more important than being good at self-promotion.”
This is somewhat correct, but I feel self-promotion is more than spamming your work and talking yourself up. It can be something as simple as sharing a song you’re working on with someone to get their opinion.
The reciprocity of “here’s what I’m working on” is self-promotion.
You need to put your work out into the world, even if it’s just to your friends.
You don’t have to completely saturate the internet or the market with your work. Self-promotion can be simply sharing it with your friends.
There are lots of ways to get your work out there.
Once again, make great music with the people around you and share it with them.
Jon:
To quote Donda West in the Jeen-Yuhs documentary about the importance of having confidence in yourself: “When a giant looks in the mirror, they see nothing.”
Q: Chair seating recommendations for a healthy back during long studio sessions?
Matt:
The answer is not what chair you should buy, but to do all of the right things for your body that are tangential to sitting: Things like a good exercise routine, not sitting in the same place over and over.
There’s no way to sit in a chair for 8 hrs and have a healthy back.
Take breaks, get exercise.
I sit on a drum throne so that I don’t get in the habit of leaning back into a chair.
Jon:
I just ordered a Herman Miller Cosm chair, because it’s the one that I can sit in for multiple hours without accentuating my pre-existing lower-back injury.
My physical therapist has basically told me that we should keep our hips above our knees while we sit.
Q: What song production or mix made you realize that your work is competitive with your favorite songs?
Matt:
A song called ‘Ms. Rolling Eyes’ by a band I produced when I was young called Street to Nowhere.
The first time I put that together I got chills.
Jon:
I don’t have a moment like that. I didn’t really feel that until later in my career when I was working with Tony Maserati, or after with him.
When I got to play some songs for Tony and Spider they said “Oh, this dude’s up to something” which made me realize that I was getting there.
That was the first time that people I looked up to recognized that something was going on.
