Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Kennedy.
Hi Matt, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started getting into the music scene my senior year of high school in 1999 after attending my first electronic music festival. My parents were always very supportive of me and bought me my first set of turntables. I started playing at local clubs around the Dallas Fort Worth area. My friend Mark Gonzalez, who also was a DJ, was getting ready to leave to attend Full Sail University and that got me interested. So, I went to attend Full Sail in their Recording Arts program, but not really knowing what that was about, I just knew I wanted to have a career being involved with music. Full Sail was great, I was hooked on being a part of the process of making a record and I met my soon-to-be wife. After graduation, we moved back to Euless TX and I began an internship at a studio here in North Dallas. After a few months as an intern, I was brought on as a staff engineer and worked at this facility for 12 years. In 2018 I decided to become a freelance engineer and that is what I am currently doing. I work out of one of the best facilities in Texas called Empire Sound Studio owned by Alex Gerst.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For myself, the path to becoming a recording/mixing engineer has been difficult but very fun, exciting, and rewarding. Working in the music industry has a demanding ever-changing schedule, lots of late nights, early mornings, and very long days. It’s very tough starting out, networking is key to meeting artists, over time and being able to provide excellent work, things will start to smooth over. There is lots of trial and error in making records, yes there are college courses, YouTube videos, and books to read, these are created tools for getting a grasp on starting points, but there is not an exact formula to making a record. Every song is different and every artist is different. With this being one of the challenges, it is also part of the process that is fun. That means every day you go to work you are working on something new. With there never being a set formula or a set rule, the opportunities are endless for you to discover new ways to creatively make amazing music.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to classify myself as an all-around studio ninja. An audio engineer where’s many hats. I specialize is in recording, mixing, mastering, and producing music. I am known for being able to create recordings from artists and creatively transpose them to amazing-sounding masterpieces. Here in DFW my home base is Empire Sound Studio, the facility ranks top in the country. A recording is capturing the artist’s vision of the song they wrote. It is very important to create a comfortable environment where an artist feels at home and where they can let their creativity flow. At the studio, there are lots of fancy expensive microphones but they are useless without capturing the correct energy of a performance. Yes, having nice microphones and gear brings quality, character, color, and tones to a recording. But microphones also capture the energy of its sound source. Music is a tangible energy that our bodies receive. Part of the recording process is editing, arranging, tuning, and comping. Next comes the mixing process. Mixing recording is taking all of the elements of the song and combining them together to create a single audio file that can be played across any medium. I like to mix in the analog world, although digital plugins are helpful and I do use them, I still feel there that mixing in the analog domain sounds the best. I mix on the studio’s SSL 4048 E/G+ console with racks of awesome outboard gear and great speakers. Once the mixing is completed then comes the final step of mastering. I also like to master all the records I work on but if an artist has a favorite mastering engineer, they already like its way ok for them to send the records out. Mastering is the final process where the overall loudness and eq for the record is set for translating over all platforms, mediums, and speaker systems. I am most proud of that there are so many great artists that in trust me with their musical vision, I have had the opportunity to work with some very well-known artists and have received several awards for these recordings. My normally consistently working clients make me the proudest. It was also super cool getting the opportunity to record the rock band KORN. What sets me apart from others in my field is that I care about the records, I genuinely want every artist I work with to succeed.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Sometimes you can hear someone say, “It’s all about who you know” to making it in the music business. There is a good truth to this. I work with some amazing local artists that push out such great music but it’s hard for them to get their music out and heard how it should be. For having a successful career as an audio engineer, there is no luck that can achieve this. Hard work and consistency are what will get you there. I believe the ones who are successful today are just the ones who never gave up when they hit a bump in the road.
Contact Info:
- Email: mixedbytheengineer@gmail.com
- Website: https://mixedbytheengineer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedbytheengineer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mixedbyTheEngineer
Image Credits
Alex Gerst
Zack Braidwood
Jay Indigo
