Today we’d like to introduce you to David Lanza.
David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sound design for theater is a job that I fell into, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since. I grew up acting in school, and also with a musical theater company called Kids Who Care, so theater was part of my life from early on. I was also in a couple really bad rock bands in high school. For one of those bands we pooled our money together and booked time at a professional recording studio. That’s when I fell in love with the technology and the recording process. I went to Belmont University to studio Audio Engineering with the plan of owning my recording studio or mixing live concerts. After college, I moved back to Fort Worth and while I was looking for jobs, my old theater connections and my new audio training started to collide and I began helping out with sound for some local theaters. I continued to learn more about the industry and build up my client base and within a few years, I had enough work to keep me busy as a freelance sound designer and engineer.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a new career is never completely smooth, but with the help of friends and family, I’ve been able to get to where I am today. My training was not in theatrical sound design so while I understood the basics of the technology and some of the theory, I had to do a lot of learning as I went which can make for some tricky situations especially during live events. I also have been freelancing for most of the time so in addition to honing my skills as a sound designer, I’ve had to learn how to run my own business. Early on especially finding new clients was difficult. I’ve never been good at selling myself or discussing my rates and fees so those were things I had to focus on improving over time.
Please tell us about your work.
I do a little bit of anything that involves sound. That ranges from consulting with schools and churches to upgrade or better utilize their sound system, to designing and mix sounds for recorded and animated projects, to setting up and operating sound systems for various live events and concerts, and much more. The main focus of my work though is in live theater. I work with various theater organizations to find and create sounds and music to help tell stories, and to figure out the best ways to work with the sounds in their production. Sound design is often one of the last pieces of the puzzle that anyone considers, and is often treated as an after thought. I believe that I excel in showing companies what is possible with a dedicated sound designer and working diligently to make sure I can provide things they never even knew they needed. I also take pride in my work in education. I’m a big proponent of working with students to give them some sound design training and experience that may not be available through their schools or other regular learning avenues.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I would say my flexibility. In any creative endeavor, it’s easy for ego and personal feelings to get in the way but I try hard to adjust to the bigger needs of any project that I am a part of. The theater is a very collaborative art form and works best when everyone is serving the end goal rather than their own needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DavidLanzaAudio.com
- Email: davidlanza@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidlanzaaudio
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