Progressions: Success in the Music Industry

Today's guest, Kavi Halemane, has worked in various parts of the music business. After starting his career in digital marketing and strategy for Interscope Records he moved on to work directly with artists and content creators as VP of Marketing for the Collective Digital Studio and EVP & Head of Digital for The Collective. Currently Kavi is working in music programming as an executive vice pr...

Our guest today is composer, producer, and co-founder of Cinesamples, Mike Patti. Mike started Cinesamples in 2007 when he saw an opportunity to create niche libraries to fill holes in the marketplace. Since then they have grown it to become one of the go to orchestral library developers for composers around the globe. As a composer Mike has done work with Disney Parks and video games such as Star...

Today's guest is producer, multi-instrumentalist, and recording artist Julie Kathryn. Julie releases music under the alias I Am Snow Angel, an immersive blend of digital and organic elements, many of which are created from her own voice. In addition to producing and writing her own music Julie also produces for various other artists, does sound design for Ableton, and is a co-founder of Female Fre...

Today we are joined by two guests. The songwriting, composition, and production duo of John Trivers and Elizabeth Myers. Operating as Trivers Myers Music for over three decades, they have created musical brand identities for clients such as Apple, American Express, Verizon, and United Airlines. The most notable of all their compositions is the CBS Evening News theme, which ran for 19 years. They'v...

This week's guest is Grammy nominated mastering engineer and audio equipment designer Ian Sefchick. Ian builds one of the most sought after boutique tube compressors in the audio industry under the unusual company name Magic Death Eye. He has also become a go to vinyl cutting engineer for some of the top producers in the world. We chat about the various hats he's worn in the music industry, the va...

This week's guest is artist, producer, and remixer Kyle Stern, better known by his moniker Attom. Kyle has built a following in the electronic music realm with his blend of chill and house with a heavy pop music influence. In addition to his own project, he has also had success doing remixes for artists such as Charlie Puth, Bishop Briggs, and Kiiara. We have a great chat about how doing remix con...

Today’s guest is the multi-platinum awarded producer, mixer, and musician Bill Appleberry. Bill has worked on Republic Records' and NBC's hit TV show The Voice for the last decade. He has produced and mixed the studio recorded versions of every song, performed by every artist for every season of the show. Outside of his work with The Voice, Bill's credits as an engineer, producer, and player inclu...

This week's guest is our very own host Travis Ference. To celebrate six months of Progressions: Success in the Music Industry we invited our prior interviewee, Damian Taylor, to guest host a live Ask Me Anything episode. Damian asks listener submitted questions (as well as some of his own) to Travis in this reverse interview. The interview originally aired live on Damian's Twitch channel. We had a...

Today’s guest is entrepreneur and creative music executive Jerimaya Grabher. Jerimaya is a co-founder of and principle manager at Global Positioning Services, a full service music management company that currently looks after some of the top engineers, mixers, and producers in the world. We have a great chat about the future of music deals, how to know if you need a manager, the importance of stay...

This week's guest is Los Angeles based producer, composer and artist Matt Lange. Matt has made a name for himself in the electronic music world both as an artist and as a producer. In addition to releasing his own music, he’s done work with Deadmau5, BT, and Glenn Morrison. He's also done work for films and games, including names like Blade Runner 2049, Ready Player One, and The Fast and the Furio...

Today’s guest is Dave Green, the front man of the Los Angeles based band The Filthy Souls. In addition to fronting his own project Dave also writes for an uncountable number of artists, brands, and TV shows, as well as plays with the band Atlas Genius. We have a great chat about music licensing, staying inspired, finishing every idea, and where picking up the guitar can take you. In this episode,...

This week's guest is sound design wizard, entrepreneur, and tech enthusiast Chris Gear. Chris is a co-founder of the hugely popular ADSR Sounds as well as the owner of both OhmLab and SoundFreqs. He’s known throughout the industry as a go to designer and producer and has done projects with companies such as Native Instruments, Output, and Noiiz. We have an eclectic and fun chat about the impo...

This week’s guest is veteran recording engineer, mixer, and golf enthusiast Jesse String.  Jesse began his recording career at the legendary Henson studios, and eventually went freelance where he would stack up credits with artists such as The Jonas Brothers, Leonard Cohen, The Band Perry, Ziggy Marley, and Prince.  We have a great chat about the freelance rollercoaster, never cracking u...

Today’s guest is Grammy award winning engineer, mixer, producer, and songwriter Ian Dowling. Ian is based out of the UK and has worked on an uncountable number of gold and platinum records for artists such as Adele, Kasabian, KT Tunstall, and Catfish and the Bottlemen. He does composition work for various television and radio clients, runs two record labels, At Swim Music and Punch Up Re...

Today’s guest is multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and educator Charles Burchell.  As a producer and musician Charles has worked with artists such as Talib Kweli, Christian Scott, and Braxton Cook as well as his own project The Love Experiment.  On the educational side, he has taken his experience as a graduate of both New England Conservatory and Harvard and worked to design va...

Today’s guest is Grammy and Oscar nominated mixer Maurizio Borgna.  Based out of Italy, Maurizio has been working throughout Europe as an engineer, mixer, producer, and label manager since 2003.  His credits include tv, film, and music projects such as the oscar nominated film Sicario, the Amazon TV Series Transparent, and artists such as Sebastian Plano and Agnes Obel.  He’s also a...

Today’s guest is London based producer, composer, session musician, and sound designer Will Hatton.  Will’s main focus is producing and releasing music under the moniker Hush Child, but he’s got an array of other things on his plate as well.  He composes for and works with various creative agencies, streams life lo-fi performances,  and curates an educational YouTube series called “...

Our guest this week is Grammy nominated recording engineer and mixer Martin Cooke. Martin’s resume reads like a who’s who of alternative and rock n roll. He's worked with artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Of Monsters and Men, Kimbra, At the Drive In, Van Halen, Muse, and Pearl Jam. I’d argue that you’ll have a hard time finding somebody else his age that has a better understanding of the dynami...

This week’s guest is Detroit based producer, artist, mixer, and mastering engineer Noël Jackson.  Noël has worked with various artists and labels including Warner Records, Superfreq, David Guetta, Kevin Saunderson, and Mr. C.  In addition to music, Noël also works as a computer engineer, user experience designer, and hacker.  He is best known in that realm for his work with Automatt...

This week's guest is Ian Kagey, the Director of Operations for Power Station NYC, a historic and classic recording studio in the heart of NYC now currently run by Berklee College of Music. The mix of skills that Ian learned working as both a studio tech and a traditional engineer set him up for where his career journey would take him later. His career has taken him all the way to Valencia, Spain w...

This week's guest is film and television composer Andrew Johnson. Andrew started his career as an assistant for composer James S. Levine at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control facility. While there he worked on hit shows such as Glee, American Horror Story, Royal Pains, Major Crimes, and many more. We chat about learning the art of film composing from the greats, getting jobs from the places you don't ex...

This week’s guest is two time Grammy winning recording engineer and mixer Fernando Lodeiro. Fernando is a New York based engineer who came up through Avatar studios. His credits include Esperanza Spaulding, Vampire Weekend, Lady GaGa, and Sir Paul McCartney. We talk about his passion for working with musicians together in a room, the importance of maintaining relationships, big studio vs small stu...

This week’s guest is Brian Zarlenga, general manager of the revolutionary music software and technology company Output. Brian's career in the music business has taken him from the sales team at a major label to handling licensing at a publisher, and finally to marketing where he would develop his expertise. We chat about staying true to your brand, always pushing for innovation, the challenges of...

Our guest this week is bass player, producer, songwriter, and artist Corey Britz. In addition to being the bass player for the band Bush, Corey also fronts his own project as well as produces and writes for numerous alternative and rock bands. He’s a close friend and collaborator of mine and this episode is an all round good hang with plenty of great advice mixed in. We cover his early career, bre...

Our guest this week is Grammy nominated mixer Jesse Ray Ernster. Jesse has made a splash since his arrival in Los Angeles with quick chart success engineering for Kanye West and mixing for Burna Boy. We have a great chat about his career so far, his unique path to success, the importance of keeping the art and the team first, and using systems to increase your efficiency. In this episode, we'll di...