Get started with the Recording Radio Film Connection & CASA Schools
Here are the job opportunities (or as we like to call them, Grind Opps) from this week's show.
08/01/16
GRIND OPP #1
Position:
Production Assistant
Industry: Film
Location: Atlanta, GA
Description
AMC’s limited project “The Walking Dead Retrospective” is seeking production assistants.
08/01/16
GRIND OPP #2
Position:
Radio Assistant Producer
Industry: Radio
Location: Concord, NH
Description
Executive Producer seeking assistant producer that will support productions for broadcast, web and social media. Web experience preferred.
08/01/16
GRIND OPP #3
Position:
Part Time Sound Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: Portland, OR
Description
Hotel looking for live sound engineer for venue operations and artist communications.
08/01/16
GRIND OPP #4
Position:
Audio Tech & Board Operator
Industry: Radio
Location: Seattle, WA
Description
Broadcasting company is looking for a part-time tech to run live and recorded programs.
08/01/16
GRIND OPP #5
Position:
Audio Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: Kansas City, MO
Description
Publishing company looking for an audio engineer that will record writers’ rough demos.
Transcript
What’s up y’all? Welcome to Connected, I’m your host, DJ IZ. Again, you can catch us here every Monday at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Man, I was just chopping it up with my team prior to starting the show man, and I just want to say we got some really cool and exciting things coming up soon. I’m pushing for next week, but you might see it in two weeks, who knows. You know, I’m just excited about what we got going on. I mentioned in last show that I was going to Japan, saw some interesting things there, for all my creators who work on music, DJs, musicians, singers, song writers, I got a coming out which I’m happy to tell you about. I was, you know, very limited on the information I was actually able to shoot you last week, so this week I can kind of dive into it. So we have what’s called an arc, and it actually allows you to loop yourself, for anybody who plays acoustic guitar, sings, you can loop your guitar, sing over it. For cats that work on beats, you can do your beats. Reads all the software, Ableton, you can do it in ProTools, all those things, so it’s really cool man, So I’m definitely excited about that.
I got into working with this company called Zoo, which is based out of here and Japan, so they deal with, you know, primarily products that are cameras, film recorders, and the whole nine, so as we go I’ll be able to kind of just share a little bit more information on this actual drum machine that drops next month, all right? So keep your ear out for that. Let’s see, what else? We got a couple other things that’s exciting but I feel like I’m going to wait until I, well I don’t want to give it away, you know. The team might get on me for that, but anyway, for those of you who are just tuning in for the first time, we are on now episode 22 which puts us at roughly 115 jobs I wanna say that I have been able to present here , so you know, I was just talking to a friend of mine over the weekend who’s actually in film, who’s consistently tuned in to the show, and just to be able to see the impact that we’ve been able to make, even with what he got going on or what he’s trying to do as far as career, it’s really exciting man. Kinda keeps , in what we’re doing.
Let me see, what else? I don’t want to miss anything, I feel like you know, with last show, I feel like, you know, maybe there’s some things, I quite wasn’t able to cover so I want to make sure you get your Q&A, your questions together right now so when we get to the Q&A part of the show that I can kind of dive through them, and get those answered for you guys, all right? So anyways, man, I hope you guys all had a great weekend, thank you all for tuning in today.
So I’m going to kick things off, we’re going to dive into our first grind op of the day, which is in the field of film, production assistant, AMC’s limited project, The Walking Dead retrospective, is seeking production assistance. This is in Atlanta, Georgia, all right? Now here are the details. Must have strong work ethic, I mean that’s an obvious must plus there. Critical thinking skills and a positive attitude, another must. Responsibilities will include preparing paperwork, running errands, and working with creative and production teams as needed. Candidate will be working a minimum of 24 hours per week, irregular hours for set. Let me do the math there. Candidate will be working a minimum of 24 hours. That’s actually not bad if that’s a minimum, but again you will be responsible for prepping paperwork and running errands, and working with creative and production teams as needed.
Now that sounds like it’s a combination of a kind of on the go gig, but also to a very creative setting. You’ll be working with folks, so you definitely got to know how to work with folks, how to work with people, be positive, you know, good energy. We always encourage those things on any of these grind ops, because you know for one, nobody wants anyone showing up with a raggedy attitude. And you know just good energy, you know, good energy, there’s always a positive because it just kind of promotes the energy of getting things done and being happy about your work, all right? Irregular hours off set, so that could be anytime they say irregular hours, man, that might be two in the morning, that might be you’re ending at, you know, the wee hours. So you kind of want to make sure that your schedule can compensate those adjustments, all right? But that’s super important, again, that’s in Atlanta, Georgia, I know a lot of folks that in film that are based out of Atlanta, Georgia, so this could definitely be a great one for you guys, if you all are tuning in, and also for our Recording Connection students that might be based out of Atlanta, definitely want to take advantage of this.
So you know, I think the key things in this one is obviously you got to have a strong work ethic, and you want to have some experience. It doesn’t say here but I’m starting to learn that with these grind ops we’re presenting to y’all, it’s really a great idea to have some experience. Like I said, the goal here is to always get in and take advantage of these opportunities and over perform, so definitely want to keep that at the forefront of your mind, all right?
Moving on to grind op number two. This is in the field of radio. Radio assistant producer, executive producer seeking assistant producer that will support productions for broadcast, web, and social media. Web experience preferred. This is in Concord, NH, all right? Here are the details for this one. Will be responsible for researching and finding necessary music, sound effects, and archival tape for the works in progress. Basic audio production, preferably ProTools, deadline oriented, comfortable with organizational tasks. Ideal opportunity for radio graduate or audio that is comfortable with working in fast paced environment under strict deadlines. Again, you know, to me this is another opportunity that stands out for our Film Connection students. As you can see, this one is asking for experience, preferred experience, okay?
So this one’s interesting because it’s super detailed in regards to job description, which is finding necessary music, sound effects, archival tape for the work in progress. So to me that’s obviously something that pertains to per project, meaning each project might be different. You got to find the content that kind of coincides with each project, or with that particular project. Whatever the vibe is, so you got to be able to kind of thing, you want to have a library of information in regards to music when it comes to that kind of thing, because you want to be able to identify the concept and goal and be able of pair music with it instantly or have an idea in your mind of what will work and what won’t. It’ll save you a lot of time.
They’re asking that you be fluent in ProTools, so for those of you who might be good at, let’s say Ableton or Logic, or any other ones, like I said, it’s always good to know a variety of recording platforms because you get an opportunity like this and they want you to be fluent in ProTools, so it’s good to know them all. Again, like I always say, it’s good to know a variety of platforms when it comes to recording, and even on the film side, I always say know your gear, know your options, all right? Deadline oriented, so you know, that comes with being structured, on point, on time, and being able to execute. So that’s always a plus, and you got to be comfortable with organizational tasks, so again, that points itself to someone who has structure and the ability to be organized. You’d be surprised how many folks just don’t have the ability to be organized.
So this is a good opportunity for a radio graduate, I think that’s why you know, we definitely want to highlight this one for our Recording Connection students, because we definitely have, you know, those bases covered especially with students who’ve actually had experience in real time in the real workplace. And you know, last but not least you just gotta be fast, it’s a fast paced environment, so you just gotta be able to go, go, go, and execute. These come with strict deadlines, okay, so some of the grind ops we’ve been getting says, you know, got to be able to deliver, got to be able to be well organized and execute, but this one is saying strict deadlines, so there’s no two days later, three days later, it’s that date is pretty much what they’re aiming for, all right?
Moving on to grind op number three, this is in the field of recording. Part time sound engineer. Hotel looking for live support engineer for venue operations and artist communications, this is in Portland, Oregon, all right? And here are some of the details for this one. Candidate must have a positive attitude, you know, it’s interesting that these grind op details would have like that specific detail, right? You would think folks would show up and just naturally have a positive attitude, and you know, I mean the reality is common sense isn’t always common. So I would say it’s something that we find ourselves having to reiterate for those of you who, you know, are looking to take advantage of these opportunities, all right man? You always wanna walk in through that door, energy and just excited, all right?
So you must have a positive attitude, a true love for music, and a desire to give musicians and the audience the best experience possible. Responsibilities will include maintenance of in-house system, set up and break down gear, liaison between hotel and bands, and report to and work directly to production manager. Time management is a must for this position. You know, one of the things that I’ve stressed even outside of this show just in the business that I’ve been able to conduct, even outside of just music, you know, one thing I’ve always stood by is the experience is everything. You know, I don’t care if it’s an album, if it’s a movie, if it’s a new product, you know, when I think about just what people get excited about these days, they get excited about the experience, and just the overall presentation. And if you look here, you know, having a true love for music, a desire to give musicians and the audiences the best experience possible, really at the end of the day that’s what it’s about. Even when you jump into a grind op interview, you want to give those folks the best experience of who you are, right, because you’ll find that a great experience will take you a very, very long way. And that’s even my rule of thumb, even today, is when I get involved with companies the overall goal is to give them a great experience.
You know, if it’s a great opportunity, if I’m investing the time into helping them come up with a product, my overall goal is to give the consumer the best absolute experience. And you know, to me at the end of the day, that’s really what it’s all about man, it’s about a great experience and really, really loving what it is you’re doing, because when you love what you do, you’re going to have a positive attitude. When you hate what you do, you’re going to walk in, you know, with a janky attitude, you know, a bad vibe, and this time and these days, nobody wants to be around that. I know I don’t, which is why I love my team, because my team’s got a great energy, and you know, I look forward to my Mondays. So at the end of the day that’s what it’s about, man.
So another detail for this one is, you know, maintenance in-house system, so one of the things I’ve talked about too is a lot of these grind ops can be very technical, but also very creative, and you’ll find that it’s either one or the other right? You’re either great at being technical, when it comes to creative, meh, or when you’re super creative, you’re not very technical, so you’ll find that some of these grind ops are asking you to really be both, which can be tough at times. You know, it’s being able to switch that gear, for instance you’ll be dealing with the hotel and bands. You’ll be a liaison, so you got to know that communication and that posture is very different. You know, when you’re dealing with people at the hotel, when you’re dealing with the artists, very different thing. So you just kinda got to know the air in the room, you got to know how to read it, you got to know how to insert yourself and just be cool, be easy to work with.
You will report and work directly with production manager. So time management they’re saying is a must for this one, so again, being structured, being organized will keep you dialed into that clock and what those numbers are so you can stay on focus and get what needs to be done, done. Let me see, what else? I think one of the things to definitely keep in mind with being a sound engineer, especially when you get to dealing with artists, you know, you’ll come across artists that are cool, you’ll come across artists that are jerks and I think it’s ultimately being able to help these artists, right, get to a place where they’re comfortable with how they want their sound to be heard, how they want the audience to hear them, and I think you do your best to complement whatever that vision is. I’ve dealt with some in the past that are just…I’m just going to say it. They’re just assholes, so you know, I think in this day and age especially in that environment, you just want to always compliment what the artist is trying to do.
It’s tough because sometimes you’re not going to get an artist that, you know, is the coolest cat in the world, sometimes they’re going to be real stiff, sometimes they’re going to seem like they’re pissed, but just continue to do your job man. Be stand up, be great, and just have a great vibe, great energy, and that’s what it’s about, all right?
Moving on to grind op number four, this is in the field of radio, audio tech and board operator. Broadcasting company is looking for a part time tech to run live and recorded programs. This is in Seattle, WA, all right. Let’s see. These details are, hold on… Candidate must have experience operating video broadcasting consoles, potential full time position, you must be available to work holidays and weekends. Candidate must have strong communication and organization skills, all right? I mean that’s pretty basic, it’s pretty self explanatory. As far as working holidays and weekends, oh yeah. Whatever plans, weekend plans, I’m gonna go to the beach, I’m hanging with my girls, I’m hanging with my boys, that’s where it gets tough. So that’s the sacrifice, and the great thing is this is a potential full time position, so you know, you definitely want to get in there and make your presence felt, because you can easily slide into a full time position which is always a great opportunity.
You got to have experience operating radio broadcasting consoles. So again, do your homework. Like I said, it’s always good to know an array of gear and equipment, so that when you get into these situations where you know, you’re in this environment and you come across something that you never really worked on before, you don’t want to slow down the work flow and you want to be able to fly. You want to be able to do what it is you do, and that only comes with you knowing your gear and knowing a bit of everything that’s out there. You know, for these kind of gigs, you get in, you assess what they’re using and you do your homework instantly. I always tell cats, you know, the quickest way to learn something or figure out something is go to YouTube. There’s tons of videos that you can find that are pretty much tutorials or cats filming themselves working on it. So that’s always an option, but at the end of the day you just want to be able to get in there and function and fly and work.
So important detail for this particular grind op is you got to have strong communication and organizational skills, and I would say across the board with all these grind ops, that’s definitely a must, having strong communication and organizational skills. You will find even with that characteristic, you know, it allows you to really knock down all the other things within this particular details for these grind ops. You know, with strong communication and organizational skills, everything kind of comes into play within those dynamics. So those are definitely, I would say in my mind, at the top of the list as far as performance and presentation. If you have those two components, 9 times out of 10 all the other ones just kind of fall into place, so that’s definitely important to remember, all right?
Next grind op which is our last one of the day, this is in the field of recording, audio engineer. Publishing company looking for an audio engineer that will record writers’ rough demos. This is in Kansas City, MO. Here is the MO for this grind op. Audio engineer will be responsible for recording burning discs, uploading audio to servers, there will be live engineering opportunities available, live engineering experience is a plus but not required. Candidate must have at least one year of studio experience. Okay, so this is a really cool…sounds like it’s pretty basic, especially for anyone that’s an engineer. We all know burning discs and transferring audio to servers is not too intense. Now the recording side can definitely be intense and I’m going to assume that any engineer that’s viewing this today has some pretty decent experience under the belt, especially for our recording students at the Recording Connection.
I don’t think I really need to dive into the details of the recording process for an engineer, I think if you’re tuning into this show you pretty much know the ins and out for that. But there will be live engineering opportunity available so they’re saying live engineering is definitely a plus as far as having experience, that’s definitely a plus. One thing I can definitely comment on is live engineering vs. live recording are two different worlds, so for those of you who are in either fields, recording or live, it’s just good to get some information and experience under your belt, especially if you’re a studio engineer, it’s always good to reach out to folks. The engineering world is a really small, small world, so you’re either a live engineer or you’re a recording engineer. There’s definitely, you know, just some things that kind of work hand in hand as far as being able to apply the same kind of things, however when you get to like the venue side vs. the recording room side, two different dynamics as far as the acoustics and different techniques are required for each application, so you know, it’s just good to know those things, especially when you get an opportunity like this, you just want to be able to know what it is, what gears you need to switch, so that you can obviously execute the goal at hand.
And you got to have at least one year studio experience. So you already know, if you got a year of studio experience you kind of know what that entails as far as the recording process. But I don’t really see burning discs and uploading audio to servers being a challenge for anybody looking into, you know, to dive into this particular grind op. So guys, that is our last grind op of the day, so now we get to move to something a little cool. You know, a little something more we can shoot some information.
If you got questions, I told you guys to get your Q&A ready and it looks like we actually got some questions, so let me see here. Another thing before I get to these questions, be sure to click on the right side of your screen, we have the apply link which is the way to apply for these grind ops, you should see that. Also too, these grind ops are available to everyone, not just Recording Connection students, but we’re making them available to anyone who’s tuning in, so as long as you’re here live and direct with us you can have access to these grind ops. If you’re looking to become a student or would like to join the Recording Connection, you know, you can go to www.recordingconnection.com. There you’ll be able to see everything in regards to what we do and what we’re in the process of doing. Also too, you can also reach us at, jot this down, you can reach us at [email protected]. Matter of fact I just had a couple folks ask where they can send music, tracks, and stuff like that so you definitely want to make sure you shoot all that info to the website and to that email address, all right?
So, Dwight, you know I see Dwight here often. what’s up D? Thank you for tuning in again. I come to you and connected from an article I read, and I was wondering are these grind ops only available to students at the Connection? They are for a limited time, so you definitely want to make sure that if you happen to come across a grind op that you find very interesting or something you want to have access to, man just jump on it right away. I’m not sure what the time frame is for our grind ops but it’s definitely a limited amount of time to where other people may have access to them. So we’re bringing them to you first, so just make sure you get in there and go for the grind ops that you see that you wanna kinda dive into, all right? So I hope that answers your question D.
Let me see. Can you give us a little history on your beginnings and how you achieved your success? Man, I started a long, long time ago. I started out on drums when I was five and my father was a musician, so we always had gear and equipment laying around the house and my dad always had the latest drum machines, samplers, and pretty much evolved from playing drums to you know, messing with these drum machines and started sampling my dad’s vinyl. Next thing I know I was making beats and kind of just evolved into writing songs, and really just got my music to folks. Music, you know, just kind of was able to circulate my music, and everything just kind of kicked off from there man, and was a very very long road but that’s the short version. I don’t want to take up, you know, the whole time of the show, but that’s kind of the short version man. That’s kind of how I got my career going. You know it started from me being a drummer and everything kind of just eventually fell into place after years and years and years of hard work and trying to meet the right folks and you know, just trying to be pressing for opportunity, and that’s how everything kind of came to fruition and came together, all right.
Let’s see. Moving on to the next question, what does paying your dues mean? Honestly man, paying your dues man, in this day and age, folks don’t really know what it means, and paying your dues at the time I was coming up was really just, man…start from the bottom. I hate to say it, but it’s like going through a mental process of telling yourself, you know what, before I focus on what I feel I’m entitled to, what I should be earning, what I should be getting, I’m just going to be a fly on the wall and sponge up everything I possible can. I’m going to keep my mouth shut and I’m just going to learn. To me, that’s what paying your dues is. Man, you shut up, you be a fly on the wall and you learn, and you learn, and you learn, and one day maybe somebody might ask you for your opinion, or ask you for some information. Somebody might say, “Hey man, let me see you do what you do, okay? You engineer? Okay cool, mix this music for me,” and then that’s when your opportunity comes, and you got to be able to deliver, so paying your dues is a very, very important component and fundamental to getting into the game and learning.
You know, a lot of cats these days it’s like they know everything, there’s no room for growth, there’s no room to learn anything, and it doesn’t work like that. It does not work like that. Your experience is what validates you, not your entitlement, not your talent. Your experience is what validates you, so I think that’s definitely important for those of you who are tuning in who are looking to be an aspiring engineer or videographer or filmmaker, or songwriter, musician. Definitely want to keep that at the forefront of what it is you’re doing, and just the mentality. You know, the mentality should be to really get in there and grind and work hard, and just keep going, keep going. You know, you’re going to have your road bumps, you’re going to have your trial and error. You’re going to have your mistakes, but you just got to keep going, you gotta keep grinding. If you love it that much, trust me, you’ll keep going.
Let’s see here. Also too, the main way the Recording Connection can help you get your music out would be through the connections you make taking the program, the audio engineer, who’s your mentor and producers, and artists you meet while externing in your mentor’s studio. That’s another way we do it here. We actually put you through a mentoring process, where you sit with somebody in real time and you kind of get your traction there, you kind of get your experience there, but at least it’s with somebody who’s really in the game and doing it in real life. So those are some of the cool things we do here at the Recording Connection, so definitely keep that in mind.
Let’s see here. How long does it take to be an overnight success? You know what man, that’s a good question. I think to be a overnight success it takes damn near 1,000 overnights. You know, the thing is I don’t know really what the value is of being an overnight success. What I can comment on or account for is the work I’ve had to put into being where I’m at. The value’s there, you value it more. You do more of your best to maintain it and to continue on growing. You know, when it’s an overnight thing that kind of just fell in your lap, it’s hard to really appreciate that, you know. It’s hard to really understand it for what it really is versus the sweat, the tears, the blood you had to put in. Two different dynamics, and for me, I think anything had fell in my lap, I can’t really say that I’d hold onto it and nurture it the way that I have when it’s come to crafting my passion, but because I’ve had to work 20 plus years, I think I value it, and I try to take care of it and maintain it. And you know, keep that passion first. So to me that’s crucial, in any journey that you’re going through, to just remember that the value is in the work and the sacrifice that it took to obtain what you love. So overnight, mine wasn’t overnight, so I really can’t comment on that, but y’all know what’s up.
Always an informative and an inspiration being here with you. Much love to D. Much love to you Dwight for constantly being here every Monday. You know, I see your name pop up all the time on my Q&A man, so definitely keep tuning in man, it’s always great talking back and forth with you and answering your questions. Also, how long should my reel be? I think a good reel is anywhere from a minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Making sure it’s just kind of very sparse, very engaging, very exciting. Try not to have your reel be one clip that’s extremely long, kind of just take the most engaging and exciting pieces of work or presentations that you have. I know for me if I’m looking at somebody reel, I just want to see some really exciting, very informational content on this person. So just kind of keep that also at the top of your list when it comes to putting your reel together, making sure that it’s the most exciting pieces of you and who you are and what you represent.
What if I’ve never done something a job requires but I know I can do it, should I apply even though I know I don’t have the real world experience in that exact requirement? Let me see. If I’ve done something that job requires but I know I can do it. Here’s the thing, there’s a difference in between knowing you can do it and knowing that you’ve done it. If you’ve done it before but maybe not in the professional setting, then yeah absolutely, apply for it, go for it. But in a professional setting if you know you haven’t really done it, don’t even do it. Don’t even do it. You’re shooting yourself in the foot. You know, if you’ve done it at the crib or you’ve done it with your boys or whatever, and y’all get together and let’s say you feel that you make music, or you work on ProTools, or you engineer, yes. If you’ve never done anything remotely close to what the job is asking, and you have no idea you just want to get in there because you think you have the ability to learn, that is not the time to learn if you’ve never touched it, so definitely I don’t recommend it.
What was your favorite thing you saw during your Japan trip? What did I see? Well, I’ve been to Japan years ago, early ‘90s and I’ve always known the Japan culture to be very kind of just, extremely conservative and chill, and kinda just…I’m not going to say boxed in but their posture is just very, how can I say it? I can’t even say very chill, they’re just very tamed in their expressions I think. So I got a chance to go to this kind of area, city in Japan called Roppongi, where culturally this specific area has really kind of diversified with foreigners, and just even Japanese that are really non-cultural, meaning you know, they’re a little more outgoing, there’s clubs, nightclubs, they go out. It’s a little more…it kind of mirrors a little more of what the States here is, as far as just, you know, hotel, the night life. So that was kind of exciting to see just the different dynamics of Japanese culture in that fashion, whereas outside of Roppongi it’s very traditional, very reminiscent of what I remember it to be. Then you go to Roppongi and it’s night, everybody’s out walking the streets, you know, completely different experience. So that was kinda like one o the things that stood out to me about Japan. I’ve never seen that side of Japan so that was cool, that was definitely a great experience being out in Japan till three and four in the morning out listening to music, seeing other Japanese people, just out hanging, dancing and drinking. Definitely.
So guys, it looks like that’s about it for our Q&A. Remember, if you’re trying to get at us, here’s where you can do that. Jot this down. Again, you can get us at [email protected], so if you’ve got content, if you’re trying to just you know, get in touch, show your work, your music, reach out, get more information you can definitely hit us there or you can always go to www.recordingconnection.com.
Shout out to my team. Shout out to my squad. I know I spent a little bit of time talking about what we got coming at the top of the show, but I’m very excited. All these next couple of weeks you’re going to see some cool, cool additions, changes, and it’s always gone be fun because that’s what we do. And shout out to my team for consistently making this happen for me and allowing me to come to you guys every Monday. Again, we are here every Monday at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, so for those of you who are just tuning in for the first time, I hope you were able to kind of see what we’re trying to do and what we’re bringing to the table, unlike any other thing that’s out there, we’re doing it. And we’re the first ones to do it, so I stay proud about that. Gotta stay proud about that. Shout out to Brian, Howie and Mike for holding it down.
I look forward to seeing you guys next week and I’m excited where the show is going, so yeah have a great week. Get out there and grind, get out there and make it happen. Again, this does not happen by itself, you got to put in the work. Get an application, all right? Have a good one y’all, peace.
Previous Episodes of Connected
- Electronic musicians, DJs and beat-makers
- Runners and assistants
- Filmmakers
- Broadcasters
- Aspiring show hosts and more
- Get job tips on all the best jobs and career opportunities
- Get mentored and find out how to get and keep the best gigs in the music and film industry
- Get to know your favorite artists
- Hear industry success and horror stories from the legends inside the business
- Find out real tips to get hired at your dream job
- Connect!
LIVE EVERY MONDAY AT 11AM PST VIA GOOGLE HANGOUTS
Learn More
