Today we’d like to introduce you to Aurel Baker.
Aurel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always been around music since I was little but my first official experience with music started when my mom had me playing piano at the age of six. When I was eight years old, I joined the school band as a percussionist and continued playing until I graduated high school. During my junior year of high school, a friend of mine introduced me to FL Studio 9 and that was the start of my music production journey. At that time, it was just a hobby and I never had a thought of doing music full time so after I graduated, I went to the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor as a computer science major and played college football for a couple of years. By my third year, I realized I loved music more than I did playing football or computer coding and transferred to Dallas Baptist University where I graduated with a bachelors degree in Music Business with my emphasis in audio engineering.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
For the most part, my journey has been pretty smooth, but I have run into one big struggle recently. My favorite genre of music is EDM (Electronic Dance Music). It’s the genre of music I jam out to on my own time and it tends to be the genre of music I make when I decide to make music for myself as a music producer. When potential clients hear about this, for whatever reason they think I am of no use to them, completely ignore the fact that I am primarily an audio engineer who is capable of working with multiple genres. Because of this, I had lost clients. I thank Lamar Adot Thomas so much for the opportunity to work on his album Aura. It was my first hip-hop album and I had a lot of fun working on it. I was the executive producer, mix and mastering engineer for the whole project. The success of Aura has opened the door to work with more hip-hop artists across the country.
Alright – so let’s talk about your work. Tell us about Subtonic – what should we know?
I am an Audio Engineer, Music Producer, and TV Background Music Composer. I am primarily an engineer but I do produce other artists as well as compose music for TV shows on occasion. I am most known for my engineering and my EDM style of music production. I feel what sets me apart from everyone else are my ears and how I hear the music.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
MouseQuake has been the best mentor a guy could ask for. He has been so helpful from when I met him at the very first iStandard Beat Camp and I would not be where I am now without his guidance. I greatly appreciate everything he has done for me. I met J.Rhodes when I first started taking music seriously. He has always been very supportive and I thank him for everything. Randy Adams was my engineering professor when I studied at DBU. He also brought me out to his work as an assistant engineer on multiple occasions to help run choir and orchestra recording sessions. I learned a lot from those experiences and I thank him for everything he has taught me both in the classroom and in the real world of engineering. Big thank you to Matt Medlock for letting me intern at his studio “Legacy Music Group” while I was in college. Thank you, Sa’tori and DaDreak for encouraging me to pursue the style of music I choose to produce. Thank you to my big bro WillieTForATrack for always being there for me and for being a great business partner. Lastly, thank you to my very loving parents for supporting me. I know it hasn’t always been easy but thank you and I love you!
Contact Info:
- Email: subtonic24@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/subtonic24
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/subtonic24
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/subtonic24
Image Credit:
Monte Williams, The Beatwave, Mercedes Burton
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