mattgerhard

Matt Gerhard is a Producer/Engineer/Multi-Instrumentalist based in Austin, TX. Matt is the Co-Owner of Hen House Recording and the Staff Engineer at Public Hi-Fi Studios. Over the past decade I have had the pleasure to work with artists like Spoon, !!!, Tennis, Future Islands, and Knife in The Water. As well as many leading producers including Jim Eno, Joe Chiccarelli, Charlie Sexton, Steve Berlin, Jack Lawrence, and Rick Hart. Q&A Q: Analog or digital and why? A: Most mixing projects lately are a combo of the two. I mix in the box and print outboard gear and effects. Then the mix is printed through my API 8200 summing mixer. I would love to do more all analog tape sessions, because it's a fun and different workflow but realistically the budgets and time constraints are limited. Q: What do you like most about your job? A: Getting to work with all kinds of people and personalities in many different styles of music. I think that really keeps me fresh. Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do? A: That mixing and mastering is magic and everything can be fixed. Don't get me wrong a lot can be fixed, but there is no substitute for great source material. The job of mixing and mastering is to enhance the song. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients? A: What direction do you want the mix to go? On a 1-10 scale, 1 being pretty close to the rough mix but a little more polished/hi-fi or 10 pretty unrecognizable from the rough mix? Q: Can you share one music production tip? A: Listen! Be fearless and experiment. Turn that delay all the way up maybe it'll work, maybe it won't? You don't know unless you try. Also don't be afraid to kill your darlings. Q: What type of music do you usually work on? A: All kinds, thats my favorite part of the job Q: What do you bring to a song? A: Fresh ears and a new perspective Q: What's your typical work process? A: For mixing, I try to learn as much about the song as I can. I have a detailed conversation with the artist and try and get an idea of the vision for the song before I start. A rough mix is always helpful I listen to that a couple of times and right down my ideas and notes. Once I feel like I'm at a got place with the mix I'll send it to the artist for notes and then revise based on any notes they have until they're happy with the mix. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you? A: Oh boy, lots of people. I really love people like Tchad Blake and Dave Fridmann who are making wild sounds you've never heard before. As well as folks who came up more in the "documentarian" engineering world. People like Sam Phillips, Tom Dowd, Steve Albini who are trying to capture the performance in the room. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients. A: Mixing, Mastering, Editing.