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Here are the job opportunities (or as we like to call them, Grind Opps) from this week's show.
04/04/16
GRIND OPP #1
Position:
Runner
Industry: Recording
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Description
Full time position at the Record Plant. Great entry level opportunity.
04/04/16
GRIND OPP #2
Position:
Audio Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: New York, NY
Description
Full time position at Jazz Club in NYC. Hours are 6pm-2am five days/week. Audio for live shows.
04/04/16
GRIND OPP #3
Position:
Videographer
Industry: Film
Location: San Antonio, TX
Description
Communications company seeks videographer/writer/producer for client videos. Full time.
04/04/16
GRIND OPP #4
Position:
Live Sound Engineer
Industry: Recording
Location: Orland, CA
Description
Six month gig running live sound for event venue. Experience running live sound required.
04/04/16
GRIND OPP #5
Position:
Studio Manager
Industry: Recording
Location: Washington, D.C.
Description
Top Washington D.C. recording studio seeks studio manager to run day to day operations.
Transcript
What’s up, y’all? Welcome to “Connected”. This is episode 6. For those of you that are tuning in for the first time, this is the show entitled “Connected”, which I do every Monday at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. So of course, I’m your host DJ IZ. So check it out for those of you who have your Facebook and your Twitters, we now have share buttons. So you can actually connect and share with your friends, and they can actually check out the show right then and there. So like I said, for those of you who are just tuning in, we’re on episode six. “Connected” is really about a show where I connect, you know, people who are into film, engineering, music. We’re going to add a couple other things like culinary, but for the most part, I like to connect folks to real opportunities, and also prepare and prep them. So that pretty much is just what the show is now and what I’ve been covering over the last five episodes.
So the goal is to, you know, get you some experience, get you some information that best suits what it is you want to do whether it’s, like I said, in those different genres or categories of film, music or what have you. So shout out to the Recording Connection who obviously are able to make this possible for me to do for you guys, and to be able to come to you via this Google Hangout, and just share information and job opportunities. Shout out to my team, Mike, Howard, who constantly put it down for me and have things set up so I can come to y’all every Monday. So I’m actually here in Cali, again, in my studio, chilling. So if you can get a view of last week, I featured my man, Bismark [SP]. He was my co-host.
So this week, I’m going to feature my man right here, Leatherface, right, because you know we are making beats in the studio. You want things to inspire you to really just kind of kill, and smash, and destroy. But anyway, so we’re going to get to the most important part of the show which is the job opportunities, which I call “Grind Opps”, right? Grind Opps is, you know, pretty much opportunities for those of you who are looking to do things with engineering, film, producing, songwriting. These are real opportunities that nobody has access to. So one of the things I always say in my show is that this world is super small. So everybody is trying to get at the same gig like, “Yo, IZ. Man, is anybody looking for runners?” “Yeah, yeah.”
With this, it does make your world smaller but with the opportunities a bit more tangible and possible for you to reach, all right? So what I like to tell you guys is to get your pens and pads out, and take as many notes as you can. Jot down this information that I share with you. Now, keep in mind, you’ve got to stay with me throughout the show because later on in the show, you’ll see a link on the right side of your screen, and that is the only way you can apply for these job opps, all right? So you’ve got to stay connected, stay with me.
Later on in the show, I’ll be doing a Q&A, too, to get some of your questions in, and hopefully I can answer them in a way that allows you to get the most information possible. So get your pen and pad. We’re going to start off with these Grind Opps.
So we’re going to go to the Grind Opp, first one of the day. And this is recording; looking for a runner, full-time position at the Record Plant. Great entry-level opportunity. This is based out of Los Angeles, California. Shoot, I’ve been to the Record Plant many times. That’s pretty much like a landmark studio here in California. Everybody has worked at the Record Plant. And it don’t even make sense for me to say any names because it’s pretty much everybody. So let me give you a look at more info on that job opp.
So runner, which is somebody who’s obviously running errands whether it comes to getting food, getting coffee, getting supplies for the studio. A lot of times you’ll be pulled into a session because somebody needs something. But it’s a great way…I mean we always talk about…you know, people say, “Well, what’s it like to climb the ladder?” Well, this is one of those jobs where it’s definitely a ladder-climbing process. A lot of friends of mine have started out as runners, you know, just to get into a studio role. And then they kind of get to sit next to the engineer maybe one time, and then next thing you know, they grow into being an engineer, and actually having a runner who runs and gets food for them. So that’s a good one. So again, that’s great entry-level especially for recording students to get themselves into one of the best studios in the country. Like I said, the Record Plant is definitely one of those spots, all right? So that’s Grind Opp number 1.
We’re going to move on to Grind Opp number 2, and this is, again, in the field of recording. This is audio engineer, full-time position at Jazz Club in New York City. Hours are 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. five days a week. Audio for live shows, and this is in New York, New York. All right so, you know, we’ve had numerous audio engineering opps throughout the episodes. One of the things I like to stress when it comes to these type of job opportunities, you definitely want to have some type of experience on your belt in a live setting, live engineering. People want to know that you know what you’re doing because the last thing you want to do is underperform based on, you know, what is actually on your resume. So this kind of job, you know, there’s very little room for error in this environment.
Let me let you jot down a little bit more details on this. So again, this is in New York, New York. Responsibilities include operating all audio equipment, running live mixes and sound effects, regulate quality; great opportunity for any audio engineers who are proficient with mixing in or out of the studio. So that’s interesting because usually these type of gigs, you know, it rarely ever mentions somebody who can also do studio, being that they’re very two different roles. So it looks like they definitely want somebody of experience for this particular job opportunity.
We always talk about the difference between doing sound in a studio and doing sound in a live event or a live arena. It’s so different because in a live setting, you’re dealing with so many different dynamics, you’re dealing with very high ceilings, very little sound deadeners. It’s just open the way sounds bounce off the walls is completely different, whereas in the studio, it’s sound proofed. It’s very, very tight. There’s no bad reflections. It looks like, you know, they want somebody with both sides of experience on that. They want somebody who can run live mixes and sound effects, and regulate quality.
I’m assuming “regulate quality” would be just, you know, overall quality of the sound, no feedback in a live setting, running all audio equipment. So you’ve got to know your gear. You’ve got to know, you know, when it’s too processed, when it’s not processed enough.
A couple of weeks ago, we had a gentleman say, “Well, how do you know when it’s over processed or you’ve put too much on it?” That comes with experience with doing it over and over and over and over again. Your ear starts to learn what sounds good and what doesn’t sound good.
Sound effects, I’m assuming, are your delays, your reverbs, your echo chambers, all those various things. So you definitely want to have experience in those, and be able to know what you’re looking for, all right? So that is job opp number 2. I hope you got those notes. Again, that is in New York, New York, all right?
We’re going to move on to the next one. This is job opp number 3. This one is in the field of film; videographer. Communications company seeks videographer, writer/producer for client videos; full-time. And this is in San Antonio, Texas. Now, we had a question last week pertaining to any job opps, if we had any that were in Texas. Well, the great thing with this show is you’ll find that we have job opps that span anywhere in between LA and New York. So for that person who tuned in last week and asked about Texas, here you go, San Antonio, Texas.
So let me give you a little bit more details on this particular job opp. Again this is videographer in the field of videography. This is in San Antonio, Texas. The candidate will manage development planning and production of videos end-to-end. Videos will include how-to videos, Vines, Instagram videos, basic interviews, still photography when necessary. This is a perfect opportunity for any film student graduate who has been creating their own content already, and has some experience creating short form videos.
Now, this is actually good to know because I know with platforms such as Instagram and a couple of others, they only allow you 15-second clips. And I learned that firsthand off the last Usher tour I did which was The UR Experience where they were constantly shooting content and they all had to be the most impactful content within 15 seconds. So that’s taking your most explosive, most cool, most creative stuff, piecing it together in a way where it feels cohesive to, you know, whatever it is your theme is, and make an impact within 15 seconds which is tough to do. Now, you can compile a bunch of garbage in 15 seconds. [Inaudible 00:10:19] 15 seconds is good to go, but not necessarily. So you definitely want to have an eye for that.
What I like about this is it looks like it’s allowing you to be creative, because it says, “creating their own content already for clients.” You also manage development, planning and production of video. So it looks like you’ll be putting the whole, what I like to call, storyboard together as far as what the vision is, what are the different, you know, creative angles, how we’re going to shoot it, what does it need to feel like, what does the message need to be. So it looks like you’ll be handling all of that from start to finish, as the note said, from end-to-end. But it is a great opportunity for film student graduates, which tells me…
Student film graduate, you’ll have an idea of what it is you’re getting into, and you’ll be able to rely on that information that you do have. It doesn’t look like this is something that would be pertaining to anybody who just started. I wouldn’t recommend it, but definitely for somebody who has some videographer hours under the belt, all right? So that’s a great opportunity. Again, that’s in San Antonio, Texas. Last week we had a gentleman ask us about Texas, so here you go, man. I hope this Grind Opp is something for you, all right?
Moving on to number 4, make sure you’re taking your notes. Again, you’ll see a link in just a few moments that allows you to apply for these jobs. So make sure you stay connected with us over there, all right? This is Grind Opp number 4, and this is, again, in the field of recording. This is live sound engineer; six-month gig running live sound for event venue. Experience running live sound required. This is in Orlando, California. Let me see if I can give you a little bit more details on that. This will be responsible for set up and operation of live sound equipment during sound checks and performances, as well as client relations with performers.
This is actually good because what this tells me is that…you know, sometimes I get people who say, “Well, what is it? Is it knowing how to talk to people? Is it knowing how to network? Is it, you know, being at the right place at the right time?” I always say it’s all of the above. It’s all of that, but what this particular one…the reason why I stress, you know, networking and being social is because with certain entertainers, you definitely have to know how to address them, and you definitely got to be a people person. This particular job opp mentions, you know, dealing with client relations and performers. So it’s always good to know what that environment looks like, you know how to engage the artist. You definitely want to be confident in knowing that you know what you’re doing, but you also don’t want to be too confident to where an artist feels like they can’t approach you or they can’t mention their ideas to you.
So you always want to be neutral in those situations. You just want to be cool. You know, you won’t be a fly on the wall. You want to be very assertive, very helpful in those types of things. So you’ll be responsible for set up and operation of live sound equipment during sound checks and performances. So set up can be anything from, you know, setting up the rigs, mic-ing, running cables, taping down cables, all of those things; and performances. So that’s definitely something I would recommend you having a little experience in before jumping into this Grind Opp. Like I said, you never want to underperform in these opportunities because these opportunities are such great opportunities. You want to be able to get in there and execute; something I always mention on shows. But yeah, it’s definitely a great gig for anybody who’s in Orlando, all right? And not in Orlando. Orland. My bad. Orland, California.
It’s funny because before I started the show, I was like, “Man, Orland? I’ve never heard of Orland.” So this is in Orland, California, all right?
So we’re going to move on to our last Grind Opp of the day. This is Grind Opp number 5. This is in the field of recording again. Wow, man, for all you recording engineers, man, I hope we’re making your day out there. This is in the field of recording; studio manager. Top Washington, DC recording studio seeks studio manager to run day-to-day operations. This is in Washington, DC. But I can tell you about this one. I’ve actually dealt with a couple of studio managers throughout my career, and I could say, you know, the number one goal for any studio manager is to get traffic, right? Get traffic through the studio, get the studio working and get the studio paying for itself. A lot of studio managers I know have brought on marketing firms and pretty much anything that they can do to help drive traffic.
It is a great opportunity, however. You deal with a lot of different dynamics. You know, you’re dealing with your day-to-day person, your intern team, your running team, your engineering team. A lot of relationships require building and studio managing because, you know, when your studio gets working, you want to be able to facilitate various needs from clients. So I would say the most important thing on that side is really, you know, having an array of engineer friendships that you reach out to, to facilitate these sessions.
Another important thing of studio managing is your techs, right? Because we know in commercial studios, you know, a lot of the gear, especially vintage gear, might go down, might not be working or might have hums or whatever. You want to have your relationships with the techs as well because like I said, the worst thing for studio is downtime. You want to be able to get this gear up and running, and fixed as soon as possible. So I would say definitely on the studio manager, you definitely want to be a people person because you’re going to deal with so many different personalities and dynamics. It’s really knowing how to navigate through those different relationships, and address issues when needed.
So some of the details for this one, make sure you jot these down: responsible for maintaining or scheduling the staff, clients and studio space; monitoring multiple projects, keeping time records for equipment; and meeting clients’ needs which is the most important thing. This is a really great opportunity for any recording student looking to get their foot in the door at a great studio, especially if they have any history of working in the admin side of a studio previously. So again, this is another Grind Opp that definitely requires some experience because it’s asking for, you know, anyone that has a history on the admin side.
And what’s cool…because, you know, you’ll find that most studio managers are either guitar players or a musician of some sort. And I’ve always said, sometimes, you know, not everybody is going to have the greatest gig as a guitar player or a vocalist or any musician that can keep the lights on. So the cool thing with this is, you know, these are opportunities that still allow you to feel connected to what it is you love, whether it’s music or film. You don’t have to necessarily be a session guitar player to be around music. You can be a studio manager, you know? And it still keeps you in an environment of music, creativity, and around your musicians. So that’s a key thing, you know, for those of you who are looking to cross that bridge or a stepping stone to get to the next place, all right?
Again, this is maintaining all scheduling of staff, okay? Now, that can be intense based on your studio’s workflow. You know, if you get…all your rooms are booked, you definitely want to make sure you have staff on-hand to facilitate, you know, that type of environment. Like I said, you’re dealing with runners, you’re dealing with engineers, you’re dealing with techs, you’re dealing with a person at the door, your secretary, okay?
Monitoring multiple projects, keeping time records for equipment, and meeting clients’ needs. I say meeting clients’ needs is one of the most important things with being a studio manager because you definitely…you know, you want your clients highly satisfied. You don’t want to ever have clients in there feeling like the rooms weren’t ready or the gear in the room isn’t working. You know, I’ve run into those issues personally while working in the studio where you get in a room, you get a walk-through a week prior. You get there, and there’s a bus. You’re trying to get that going, you know, you’re on the clock because you’re paying for a specific amount of time.
You know, I always look at some of the studio managers that I know, which are great ones, like Jeff Greenberg, who is a studio manager in Santa Monica at a spot called The Village. That guy runs that spot like a serious assembly line hospital. You know, everything’s on point. He’s got his techs on-hand. If you run into a problem in the room, he’ll do anything he can to accommodate you. And I think studio managing is definitely doing what you can to accommodate your clients because the key thing is you want those clients always come back, and you want them to refer your studio. So that’s Grind Opp 5 [inaudible 00:20:14] today.
So make sure you got all those notes because those are crucial. And like I said, the biggest part of taking advantage of these Grind Opps is making sure you’ve got some experience, or you know, don’t oversell yourself on your resume because, like I say, you never want to underperform, all right? So for those of you that have been hanging with me throughout my show, you’ll be able to see a link on the right side of your screen which is the only way you can apply for these Grind Opps, all right? So make sure you click on that link to make sure you put all the information that it’s asking you so you can partake in these Grind Opps. At the end of the day, that’s one of the things “Connected” is definitely about. It’s about the opportunities and the preparation that we want to take for you to get hired, all right?
So my favorite part of the show is the Q&A. So we’re going to move on to Q&A where I allow you guys to ask me questions, all right? So let’s see. Go to these questions.
“How do you learn skills? School, do it yourself, or friends?” You know, it’s actually all of the above. You know, I learned through the school of being a fly on the wall. That was my school; being a fly on the wall, being the sponge absorbing it all. You know, some of you guys are in school. So you’re able to learn that way, too, which is always a great way. School…I always say a hybrid of school and a hybrid of real life, you know, is the best combination because you learn both sides. And in this game, you need to know both sides because just knowing the books only goes so far to where you’ve got to know how to actually gauge and network, grind, hustle, parlay. And you know, school doesn’t teach you those things. So if you can learn both those things, you’re in a great place. All right, next question.
“Yes, a DC gig that I’m confident in applying for.” All right, man. Well, shoot. Man, go ahead and apply for it, man. Good luck on that one. Next question.
How much of an advantage is it to be inside even as a runner to be able to move up the ladder?” I think it’s a huge, huge part to, you know, the road of being an engineer. Most successful engineers that I have met and have worked with have started as runners. And you know, they get themselves into a position to where they get called in one day to be an assistant engineer. And when that starts to happen over and over again, you then find yourself being an engineer and having a second engineer assist you. But running, like last week, we talked about paying dues. What is paying dues? What does that mean?
You know, running is one of those ways you pay dues. If you want to be an engineer…even to be running at a great studio is awesome. So you’re in an environment, you’re around folks, people get to see you. It doesn’t matter if you’re fetching coffee or whatever. That’s part of the process. You know, the goal is to ultimately get in that studio and be engineering. So you know, it’s all part of the process, and that’s what we call “climbing the ladder” or “moving up the ladder”. All right? You know, you definitely want to embrace that. That’s how you get to where you’re going, you know. Let’s see. We have another question. Where are you? I’m trying to get some good questions.
So I did mention that gig I thought was Orlando. It’s actually Orland, California, so let’s make sure I redo that, too. That was the live sound audio engineering Grind Opp. So that’s Orland, California; just to make sure I got that right for you guys. All right, we got a question here.
“What was your big break? That’s a tough one because I’ve got to think like so far back. I would say my first break was…well, I started playing drums when I was five. And my dad was a keyboard player, and he would sneak me and my brother into his gigs on their downtime. So he would make me and my brother play on their downtime, you know, while they kind of just got to take a break. We would go up there and play for 10 or 15 minutes. So for me, you know, that was my first break because that was the first I got to play in front of folks. And the great thing with that is it kind of…along the way kind of curved, you know, just being nervous and having butterflies when playing in front of people. Playing in front of people at eight or nine years old, you don’t realize you’re just having fun at the time. So for me, that was my first big break.
Next question. Desiree. “Where is the line between showing passion and just been annoying when trying to get an internship job at a studio?” Well, you know, most people who I met who are passionate about what it is they love, they love it so much that they’re annoying, anyway. And I think, you know, they kind of share the same space. You know, if you love something that much, you want to be persistent. You want to keep pounding the pavement because the one person that was going to look at that and hire you and make a difference is going to acknowledge how much you love what it is you’re going for, and how you’re going about it. You know, to me that’s old-school fundamentals of having a passion.
You know, this day and age people feel because they got a little skill or something that that’s the automatic key to open the door without having that appetite. So you know what, man, I would say, Desiree, stand on, stay passionate, and just keep continuing to do what you’re doing to make it happen because somebody is going to notice that. Somebody’s going to, you know, provide an opportunity. Hey, man. But you know what? If you love it, love it. You know, go for it, absolutely.
Let’s see. Well, I think that’s it for our questions today. I want to say thanks to everyone who shared this Hangout via Facebook and Twitter. Like I said, it’s something we just added this week so you can definitely, you know, make mention of that to your friends, this share button. They can actually join in the show right then and there, and be able to partake in some of these great Grind Opps that we provide here at our show “Connected”. I think that was the last question so thank you to Desiree. I just got a “thank you” message from her. Thank you, too. I appreciate you tuning in.
Tell your friends who, you know, are in music or film to definitely catch up with us every Monday at 11 a.m. Also a great way for you to stay connected to what it is we’re doing is through our social media, which is Instagram, Twitter…what other ones do we have? Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and our social media handles are IZconnected. So it’s a great way for you to keep up with us on our day-to-day because I am constantly moving. I’m constantly in the studio, on the road, traveling, but it’s a great way for you to have insight on what it is, you know, this world looks like and what the demand is because that’s something we like to capture with this show is not just the opportunities but what it looks like in real time, all right? So that’s crucial.
What’s up, Cats [SP]? Got to thank you, man. All right, I see you, Cats. Thank you for tuning in, man. So we’ve got a couple of questions flying in over here at the last minute. “Yo, you produce as well?” I do produce. IZ Avila, one-half of The Avila Brothers. Check it out. Do your homework.
Well, guys, you know, it’s been a…it’s always great hanging out with you guys every Monday. I look forward to this. I look forward to the questions. I look forward to, you know, you guys picking my brain and trying to extract as much information as you can. Again, shout out to the Recording Connection. Without them, this would not be possible. Without my team, Howard, Mike, Bryan [SP], this wouldn’t be possible. So much respect to you, guys. I appreciate you all.
And I look forward to catching you guys next week, all right? So make sure you take advantage of that link to apply for these jobs. Make sure you have your notes in hand. Make sure that you are prepared, well-prepared, for these Grind Opps, all right?
I’ll catch you next Monday11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. 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!
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