Show #31: Chris Lord-Alge

IZ: What’s up, you? This is IZ Avila with Connected. I’m here hanging with one of the great masters, Chris Lord-Alge. How do you feel about just where things are going even in your road as a mixer and what you do?

Chris: We’re just trying to bring the ability for the next generation of kids to do what I do the easiest possibly way with all the tools that we’ve learned from. People like Phil Wagner who runs Focusrite, we try to brainstorm and come up with some great things, great items to help the next generation.

IZ: Absolutely. One of the things we kind of like to reiterate with what we do here at Connected is really re-educate the next generation of consumers, musicians, even entrepreneurs, right? Because at the end of the day, we’re a walking business, right?

Chris: Exactly.

IZ: It’s like your body of work, what you do, you are a mobile business. I think it’s crucial, especially for this generation, to understand what it means to not only be great at your craft or what you love but to also have a business mindset that allows you and brings you more work in the future and how you handle it. You know what I mean?

Chris: Absolutely. You have to think outside the box, not just what you’re doing on the computer but what you’re doing with it and where you’re taking it.

IZ: Absolutely. A day in the life for you, Chris Lord-Alge, when you get files and you start to process the music and about to put your touch on it, what is that like for you in your environment?

Chris: I mean it’s just all about painting a picture. It’s like being an artist. Being a guitar player, being a drummer, being a musician, it’s all about painting a picture and then thinking about other things you’re going to do with it. This is 7 days a week 24 hours a day.

IZ: Man, that’s so dope. I talk to a lot of the younger cats who want to get behind the board and push faders and mix and paint just as you speak of. A lot of them really want to know what are the dos and don’ts in that environment. How much do you paint? How much do you not paint? How much do you let the music just speak to you or speak to its listeners? How much do you really dive in, versus knowing…

Chris: The key is the more you over think anything the more you ruin it.

IZ: Right, like more reverb, more reverb.

Chris: Right, exactly. The more you overdo it, the more you ruin it, so you try to keep it as simple as possible. It’s better to put it away for a minute and come back to it. If you dig in deep and keep going, you might end up not getting it right. For me, it’s like look I only have X amount of time to make this feel good, let’s make it feel good right now.

IZ: Dude, I mean as a creator, as a songwriter, my basis for creating is really not the rules but really what feels good to my soul and what I think is going to inspire listeners and music lovers.

Chris: Right, exactly. That’s the key. The key is to come with inspiration and not follow any rule books and try things that are a little outside your comfort zone.

IZ: Right, right. I’m an analog guy at heart, right? I grew up on [inaudible 00:02:54] V72s, Telefunken, all those things. From your side, I know guys. We talk about the box or we talk about outboard gear or we talk about analog versus digital. What do those roads mean for you, and how do you bring them together?

Chris: It’s very simple. You use your toolbox and fill it with all the stuff you can. I have tons of analog. I have tons of digital. I combine both of them so I get all the shades and colors I want to make the music speak the best it possibly can. That’s what it is.

IZ: Honestly, guys, I don’t know what else to tell you. I mean you heard it for yourself from one of the greats, Chris Lord-Alge, man.

Chris: Well, thank you.

IZ: Thank you so much, man.

Chris: Yeah, man, it was awesome.

IZ: The key of this thing and what we do here with Connected is to actually connect our viewers with real guys in real time with real experience. It’s not mumbo jumbo. These are…we’re real people. We’re real guys.

Chris: Well, there’s no mumbo jumbo here. It’s, like, you’ve got to take what you have, make it work, look at how much time you’re spending, and look how much your value is per hour.

IZ: Absolutely.

Chris: Put value on yourself and value on your time, and make music.

IZ: So dope, man. By the great words of Chris Lord-Alge, you are now connected. Catch you next time.