ANAK Creates Podcast | Coffee with Creators

Video Version! - https://youtu.be/jegDxzFevf4 To be successful, and allow yourself to thrive and have a long career (or hobby) you need to embrace your authentic sound as an artist, engineer or producer. If you think your sound is to strange and no one will like it, you're wrong. Don't try and water down your creations to please others, make what you like, and people will be attracted to that. Alo...

There's a podcast I really enjoy listening to which is the "My Forever Studio" by MusicTech. If you haven't heard of it before, it's worth a listen and there's some really interesting discussions about gear choice and workflow due to gear choice as well. Basically, the guest has to pick their gear for their "forever studio" where budget is no limit, but they only have a set number of items they ca...

These days, social media is such a large part in how we get our information. Likewise when learning thing, we like to follow social media accounts who's posts are relevant to what we enjoy, such as making music. The problem is that most fundamental educational concepts and social media educators (if you can call them that) don't really take into account the whole of many concepts. In this podcast...

Gibson (yes, the 127 year old guitar manufacturer) recently announced they will be entering the record label business. Along with this announcement, they also said that the first record they will be releasing will be with Slash (GNR) in 2022. Gibson Records (which operates out of Nashville) is also a partnership between Gibson and BMI. So, is this good or bad for the music business and artist? Acc...

I'm back! I had a little bit of a break after the last episode, and today I explain why, and what I was up to, along with the takeaway lessons to help yourself maximize your energy and prolong your creative energy and avoid burnout. It's important to find an activity and things that help refresh you that you can do BEFORE you burn out. Not all "breaks" are created equal, and in this episode I talk...

Burnout is a real thing, and I feel like it his creatives hard. Because we love what we do, we sometimes don't notice the signs before it's too late. This week I talk about my experiences, how I notice I'm reaching a point I need a break to avoid real hardcore burnout, and how to deal with it if it's happening!

This is Part 2 of my chat with Jay Riehl about breaking into the industry, the networking and personal aspect of getting your foot in the door and climbing up the ladder to where you want to go. The biggest keys to the importance of making a good first impression, being a good hang and someone people want to be around, and showing your passion and drive to be learning and soaking up knowledge whil...

This week we have an co-hosted episode with Jay Riehl! This is part 1 of a 2 part episode, because we ended up talking for a long time.. So tune in next episode for the conclusion to the chat! We discuss about getting started in the industry, the networking aspect and the personal aspect of getting your foot in the door and climbing up the ladder to where you want to go.  The biggest keys to...

In today's music creation economy, the biggest currency to help producer, engineers and even artists, is credit. The ability to prove the work you have worked on, and getting acknowledged for the work you've done, can go a really long way for your career and your relationships. Likewise, messing that up, over crediting yourself or not giving credit where credit is due, can be detrimental. We're al...

This weeks episode I talk about my creative journey in gearing up to release my first single in a long time, YOU. This song has been part of a big transition in my life, and I talk about what it took to convince myself to release it, how releasing covers helped with that, and how some things to think about if you feel like you are in this same situation! I talked previously about my struggle with...

In this episode, I talk about some of the tips of I've learned to help engineers, producers and anyone else, learn and succeed in the music industry. This started with a question I got from someone looking to get their foot in the door with an internship at a large studio. In answering that question, I realized many of the tips apply to anyone wanting to learn and build themselves up in this indus...

This week we have our first co-hosted episode on the ANAK Creates Podcast!! I'm joined by Malcolm Cottle, who will be joining me for a monthly show (approx, but no guarantees) where we get to sit down and chat about various things! This week, we're discussing the trend of "live videos" on youtube, videos that are branded as "live" yet are clearly not really live, what we think about that, what tha...

This week's podcast is a little update video and some thoughts on some new updates! First, my new cover song My Head My Heart by Ava Max that just came out, Addict by Ellocin Daz, which I produced the track and made the video. Then we talk about my thoughts on the new Spacial Audio feature from apple announced at WWDC, and my thoughts of what that means moving forward! LINKS My Head My Heart Cover...

In this week's episode, I'm joined by my friend Ryan Tuer from SG Studios and Scary Gnome Productions. We talk about Ryans journey in music, the process of building SG Studios, and then we talk about some practical tips for home recording musicians and aspiring engineers and producers looking to create a creative space for music recording in their home. What you need to get started, how it doesn't...

This week's episode is a Listener Q & A! I love being able to answer your questions, so keep them coming! Shoot me an email over on anakcreates.ca or on Twitter or Instagram @anakcreates, as I will be doing more of these! This week's questions are: - Why did you choose Pro Tools? Why do you stick with it? - What was one of your favourite sessions you've ever done? - Why do you share your knowl...

During a recent episode with Jay Riehl, I asked him about his one piece of advice for up and coming engineers and producers to help with their productions. While we only briefly touched on it, I thought it was a great piece of advice and wanted to dive deeper and share some more of my own thoughts about what he meant and what we talked about. I discuss the importance of leaving space, not only in...

Many people hate on music streaming, claiming it has ruined the music industry. I discuss how streaming saved already declining record sales and gave artists much more opportunity than ever before, if you view it the right way and embrace the reach and marketing that it gives you. Making a career is more possible than ever, it's just all about how you think about it. LINKS: EP 44 - anakcreates.ca/...

Over the last few years, the major labels have been slowly loosing a bit of their grip. Due to their power, they are still able to put certain narratives out there that people believe, but in reality, they are not necessary for small artists, as many still believe. In this episode I talk about why this is the case, and what has enabled small artists to move past the idea that major labels are the...

This week we have a fun episode with our regular guest Malcolm Cottle, but instead of him being the guest, he did a full on takeover of the podcast, where he flipped it around and interviewed me! We talk about my approach to drum samples, the ethics of drum editing & editing in general, my thoughts on drum programming, sample augmentation and sample replacement. We go into how I few the creati...

This week, we're diving deeper into something that we talked about with Malcolm Cottle back in Episode 37. While making is latest record, Malcolm tried a new tactic of getting a producer to help keep him on track. Even if you aren't hiring a producer, getting someone to help hold you accountable to your project, your goals and even just offer a 3rd party perspective to help you know what's right w...

I really believe that to become a better creator, and really allow yourself to express what you want through your craft, you need to understand and know the tools you have at your disposal to create what you want. In this weeks episode I talk about the importance of learning your tools, which in the case of music is your DAW, your plugins, your instrument. Starting from stock plugins, and building...

One of the most important parts of the production process, starts at the very beginning. The song. No amount of technology is going to save you if the song isn't great. If no one is tapping their foot, if no one can hum along or feel emotionally attached in some way, then no amount of great gear is going to make that song better. This is a deeper dive into this topic which we touched on in one of...

Jay Riehl was one of my first real mentors in the music space. Along with his business partner Ryan Tuer, took me under their wing at The Swamp studio back in the day, when I was just getting into high school. For years they taught me and I ended up engineering session for them before I went away to OIART (which was highly recommended by both of them). Over the years, we have stayed the closest of...

With the growing demand for home studios, there's the problem of needing to make a less-then-ideally treated rooms sound good and translate well. This is one of the things that Sonarworks is aimed towards, which is a pioneer in speaker calibration software.  Based on their recent announcement of the new SoundID Reference Software announcement, I wanted to talk about the whole concept of this...

While 2020 was difficult, creators adapted to use the tools they could to create things remotely, and it actually opened up some amazing new technology and workflows, as well as access to the whole world of collaborators! This week, I sat down (virtually, again) to chat with Malcolm Cottle about the newest Sons of Horus release that just came out on March 15th! This EP (the Revolution EP) was crea...