Episode 418: Parafonic Recordings Brandon Shattuck

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Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James.

I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Make sure to let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head.

Welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host, Rick Lee James, and I'm so glad that you're here with us again this week for what I know is going to be an excellent conversation. This week we're going to be talking about going into the recording studio. I am so glad to be welcoming Brandon Shattuck, who is a recording and mixing engineer who lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Alyssa and their two kids. Brandon graduated from my alma mater of Trevecca Nazarene University in 2009 with a degree in music business. From 2009 to 2013, he worked as a freelance recording engineer in Nashville, and he worked in many different recording studios across many different genres. In 2013, he and his wife moved to the Orlando, Florida area, where in 2014, Brannon opened up his own recording studio, Paraphonic Recording Studio. There he worked on projects with a vast array of independent bands and artists until closing the studio in 2019. After pursuing alternate career options, Brandon has resumed working on musical projects from his home studio since the end of 2020. Well, I invited Brandon here to talk today because I wanted to talk about recording techniques and to have him answer some questions for artists about going into the recording studio. And some of you may know that I recently set up a home recording studio in my basement and have been doing some recording, and I just thought it might be fun to have him answer some of my questions and to maybe have a discussion about some studio techniques and maybe some things of what to expect when you're going into a recording studio. And I know I get some questions from time to time from artists who are just getting started and wondering maybe what to expect when they go in, and I know Brandon would be a great guy to ask those questions to. You can find him on Instagram through his Paraphonic Recording Studio account.

It's really a great follow.

I wanted to start today by playing some of the music that he's recorded over the years, and he sent some music ahead. You can find Paraphonic Recording Studio on Spotify. This is one of the songs you can hear there called Holy Vanguard by the band Cool Hand Luke. It's a great sounding song. You can hear just some of the ways that Brandon is able to capture some of the amazing sounds that this band brings out, and you can really hear what a difference a great engineer makes. Makes. And so here is Holy Vanguard by Cool Hand Luke, and afterwards we're going to begin our discussion, and we're going to be playing more of the music Brandon has recorded throughout the show. So here's Holy Vanguard by Cool Hand Luke.

The spirit hovers over the chaos and the mess, giving shape and meaning to the present wilderness. In the halayngway is where you found love. Spread your wings above us like an eagle to her nest. Bear with us. Don't bear a lamb. Rest in the Lord.

In the Lord. Lead us through the water into the wilderness. Into the wilderness.

Well, that track once again that you were just listening to is called Holy Vanguard, and it's by the band Cool Hand Luke. They were recorded by my guest today on Voices in My Head, Brandon Shattuck. Brandon, welcome to Voices in My Head. It's so good to have you here today.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

You know, I, I'm really glad to be able to have a chance to speak with you today for a number of reasons, but one reason I wanted to talk with you is because I've been in a number of recording studios over the years, and not nearly as many as you have been in because you You've been in a lot of great different places from Nashville to the Orlando area where you are now. But I know that a lot of people have come up to me just asking kind of different questions. You know, what's it like when you go into a studio situation? And I think that a lot of times if people haven't been in a recording studio before, they kind of get an idea of maybe seeing it on TV or maybe from kind of a movie. You know, there's a film that came out many years ago called That Thing You Do. Where they kind of went into a church at one point and they all kind of gathered around about 3 microphones, the band, and a couple of hand claps, and, and, you know, the band plays, and an hour later they've got, you know, 2 complete songs done, and, and it goes out and becomes a number 1 radio hit. And then, you know, there's other movies. I think there was a movie called Music and Lyrics where it stars Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I don't know if you've ever seen that film, but it was one that we used to like to poke fun at a little bit because there's this airport scene where they're rushing to get this demo track out to this famous singer just before she gets to an airport, and they have like, I think it's like 45 minutes before they have to get it to this airport. So Hugh Grant, who plays this musician, he jumps to his recording software and he records the keys and the bass and the vocals and the, uh, just every instrument part, and he gets it laid down, um, he has the mix ready to go, and they're out the door and to her in 45 minutes, and it's done. And which, you know, is exactly how it all works when it comes to a recording studio. Uh, so, so all that is to say, there are some misconceptions out there about, uh, what it takes to go into a recording studio. So believe it or not, I'm not going to do all the talking in our conversation today, but I did want want to give people an idea of— there are some, some kind of expectations people have when they go into a recording studio that I wanted us to maybe deal with today. Some of the myths, and then maybe some, some of the kind of things that people should expect and could expect when they go into a recording situation. And I also wanted to take the time to talk to you today because, as I've already let our listeners know, I love following your Instagram account for Paraphonic Recording Studio and just kind of hearing some of the great music you're making. From really what is your home right now and the studio that you've built there. So it's going to be great having a conversation and talking with you. So let's start today, before we get in too deep to any of that, I'd love to just know where did you come up with the name Paraphonic?

I love that name, but I'd love to know a little bit more behind it.

Uh, yeah, so actually it didn't really had Nothing to do with my doing. It was a good friend of mine. So, and it has a lot to do with the first track we just listened to and the band Cool Hand Luke. When I first moved to Orlando, pretty, pretty soon to moving to Orlando, I met a good friend, Mark Nix, who is pretty much Cool Hand Luke. He, him and I had met and kind of started talking about music and stuff. And I had mentioned to him about a space that I had known that was kind of available about opening a studio. And I had kind of gone through with, with going and getting the space and opening the studio. And he was kind of there as just a friend and support. To just kind of working with me and helping produce and do some songwriting duties and stuff with some bands. And when the idea of needing to name the studio came up, he was a big help in just coming up with some names and some ideas. And one of those was Paraphonic. Hmm. I hope that I, I do it it right here, but it comes from, I believe, either Greek or Latin words, para and phonos, which para means alongside of and phonos meaning music. And so putting those together, kind of the tag means we come alongside people and help them with their music.

Wow.

So that's kind of where, where the name came from.

That's terrific. And, you know, I think that that really comes through actually with the music that you make and what I see on your Instagram feed and what I hear coming from the studio. It sounds like you really do come alongside musicians and try to be a help with them. I love that story. I love the name. It means even more now. So thank you for sharing that with us. I think that really helps us a lot. You know, I wanted to have you on here partially today because I wanted to talk about expectations. As I alluded to a while ago, you know, every studio is a little bit different, I think. When I did a project with Lifeway Worship a few years ago, we went in the studio and everything was kind of like so well laid out in advance. It was like everybody had the charts, we were ready to go. We walked in and and it was just like a machine almost. It was like clockwork, you know. They had just like the greatest musicians in the world playing there, and we did like 8 tracks in 6 hours or something. It was just unbelievable how fast, you know, it was a turnkey operation when we went through. Another studio that I was at just a couple years back in Buffalo, New York, Old Bear Studio with Brothers McClure. Much more of an indie artist type studio where I, where I spent a week with them. And it was much more like exploring the space and, you know, playing one instrument at a time and kind of finding different sounds and being much more experimental. And, you know, let's put an organ in here. No, let's try this instrument there. And so all that is to say, there may not be, as we talked today, like one studio experience, you know, like when you go in you can expect a lot of different things. So I realize when I'm asking you today, I want to ask more from your perspective. If someone was to come into your recording studio and you were the engineer, what can, can musicians expect from you coming into one of your recording studio sessions as, as an engineer, as someone who is contributing what you do to a record, what are some of the expectations that a musician should have whenever they come into a project like this? And I know that's probably a huge question to ask, but things like, you know, what kind of a time commitment can they be thinking of, and, you know, things that they need to bring with them, costs that are involved, things like that. And I'll let you kind of elaborate as much as as possible, but I think expectations are important. And it's not always something that musicians think about in advance because we're so often thinking about just the song itself.

Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot in that question for sure. Yeah, and I've kind of been in— you kind of laid out two different worlds there, kind of the Nashville world of And then kind of the more indie world of studios. And I've kind of seen both. I spent about 5 years working in Nashville where I was the engineer at a studio where, yeah, session musicians and you're getting songs done very quick and fast, which is still— I mean, it's done at a very in a professional manner, and it's done very well and efficient. And I mean, amazing records are done that way. And then when I had a Paraphonic recording studio, when I had the actual studio space that wasn't my home, it was more of the indie studio where, like you were saying, like, let's explore the space and explore sounds. And, you know, you spent a little bit more time on things. And then, and so that was the way I worked in that studio. Now, right now I'm working in my home and I kind of still, that's kind of still the way that I work. And I'm working on a lot of projects that are more remote. I'm doing a lot of mixing and not as much recording, but the recording projects I am working on, time, it's, it's remote clients where people are living in different states or different towns, and they're sending me like a scratch track, and I'm recording some tracks, sending it back to them, they're recording their vocals, you know, sending stuff back, and then I'm mixing. So it's kind of a little bit of a unique approach, at least for me. I think there's probably been a lot of people that have started working that way, especially in the past year. Yeah. And so still, still really figuring that kind of workflow out a little bit because it's, it's kind of new to me. And that there's a little bit of a different experimentation with that because it's like you're working on something in a way where, okay, are they going to like this? Is this kind of the route that we're going? And so you kind of work on it, send it to somebody, and then you kind of wait for feedback. So that— those are— if that's kind of unpacking that question a little bit, that, that's kind of the, the workflow I'm in right now.

Well, that, that's great. And while we're on that, because, you know, recording has changed a lot, I'm sure even over this last year it's, it's changed a lot for someone like you who's doing it in your home, and now you're doing a lot of mixing and things. How are you set up at this point? Because I know different studios tend to use different software. So like the studio that I have just recently set up in my home and have been working with, I used to use Pro Tools, and all the studios I've worked with before have been Pro Tools-based studios. Well, now I'm using Logic Pro for the first time, and there was a little bit of a learning curve on it, but now I'm actually really enjoying Logic and a lot of the the things that it has to offer that I'm like, man, 5 years ago when I had Pro Tools in my home, like, I couldn't have done half the stuff I can do now on this. So let's say, let's say somebody was gonna send you a project. Are they limited by the software that they're recording on when they're sending you music to mix or to master? Do they have to have it recorded in Logic or in Pro Tools, or what would someone need to send if they were going to send you music to work on?

Yeah, really. I mean, there really is no limitations in that regard because if somebody's working in a different DAW, and for anybody that doesn't know what DAW is, that stands for digital audio workstation, and all that is is just fancy language for the computer program you're using to record in. All you have to do is just bounce out WAV files at the end of the day, and, and those files can be sent to anybody that works in anything. It takes a little bit more work to do that at the end of the day, but ultimately people that work in different programs, that's what you can do to collaborate. But a lot of people that work professionally will have Pro Tools, but then they also have Logic, and they might have some other programs too, just so that they can very easily accept whatever is being sent to them.

Nice.

Very good. Yeah, so now that being said, I have Pro Tools. I don't have Logic, but I am getting to a point where, you know, people are like, hey, I've got Logic, can I just send you Logic? And I'm like, well, no, I don't have Logic, I just have Pro Tools. So I think I'm seeing the need where I should probably, you know, just get Logic so that I can just very easily say, yes, you know, send me your Logic stuff and and there's a problem. I've worked in Logic before, and I've worked on— I've worked in so many projects where things start in Logic, but then, you know, we end up dumping it, you know, into my Pro Tools at the end of the day. I've just— I started with Pro Tools, you know, forever ago. And so that's just what I know. It's what I'm comfortable with. It's what I can work very fast and efficiently in. But Logic is just— it's such a strong program. There's, there's so much stuff in it. It's just, it's such a useful tool. And there's so many people that, that do so much good work in it that it makes sense that, you know, people are using it. Logic and Pro Tools, you know, seem to be the most popular, but there's, there's so many other things out there that people are using too. And, but yeah, it's, it's pretty easy to go back and forth. I've worked on projects where people were, you know, using GarageBand. And we were able to, you know, get, get things, pass things back and forth.

Wow.

So that's, well, that's really good to know. And I want listeners to know that too, because I do get I get questions and of course as a musician myself, I have need as well from time to time whenever I'm sending music out and tracks. But it's good for those people who are listening to Notoday who are wondering like, who can I send this to? Or I always find that when musicians are recording, especially when people like me who have some home studio and you are working on some projects, you don't know where to send things to sometimes. Who is somebody good to work with? And that was one reason I wanted to have you on today, just because I know you are someone trustworthy that you can trust people's music with. And so if you're listening today, one reason I really wanted to have Brandon on today was to say, hey, Paraphonic's got some great stuff going on, and you can send music their way, and, and he'll be able to— just like we're talking about today— he'll be able to walk you through kind of how to get the files to him and how to, you know, walk you through how to make it sound the way you want it to sound and things like that. And that's an interesting thing too. I love the way that you come alongside musicians and try to help work with them. It must be kind of a daunting challenge, I would think, especially in the times that we're in, when you haven't necessarily been in the room with a lot of the artists. Say if you're working on a project that you didn't personally record as the engineer or the producer, and then you're the one mixing it or mastering it and trying to figure out, am I getting the sound that they're wanting? You know, because some of the things that are great about the recordings that, that our listeners are getting to hear today are some of the great ways that you make use of the microphones and things and the instruments and the effects that you have on some of the voices. I think especially the final song that they're going to get to hear today by Wind Words called Thread, there's just some really cool effects on the microphone that I love. And I was thinking like, well, I bet Brandon really like had a hand in just thinking through like how we're going to really bring out this artist his voice in a way that really makes the song pop, you know. And, uh, and, and that's something that's so valuable to an artist because usually what we do is we grab a guitar, we sit at a keyboard, and we just sing and try to make it sound as best as we can. But people like you, um, really, you're, you're as much an artist as we are when it comes to, you know, bringing the song to life in the studio because there's such another layer and another element there. So there really is some— I'm going to call it studio magic that people like you do.

Yeah, for sure. That's always been my favorite part of the process is recording. Just being in the room with musicians, a band or an artist, and just, yeah, getting to experiment and the microphones, you know, the sound of a room. And it's just, it's a lot of fun when it, when you get to make that come alive and come through the speakers. And it's just, it's, it's fun, you know, mixing, mixing is kind of when everything gets polished. And, and that's, you know, that, that's kind of its fun thing, but, but you're so isolated and you're by yourself, you know, most of the time, most of the time mixing is a lonely thing. Like, you don't really mix with the band in the room, and it's not a community event. Most of the time it's just one person mixing by themselves. That's usually how that's done. But recording is everybody. Like, everybody's in studio, everybody's together, and there's just— like, when I had the studio I, it kind of fit my personality well. Like, I was kind of 50/50 where like, like half the time in my life I really want to be around people, and then the other half of the time I kind of just want to be by myself.

Sure.

And it really worked well because I'd usually, I'd have a band or I'd have an artist in and I'd be around people and we'd be recording, and then by the end of that I'd be ready to be like, okay, I want some alone time. And, you know, they would— they'd go away and I'd spend the next week or so mixing the album that we just got done recording. And then by the time that I was done mixing it, I was like, okay, I've had enough alone time. I want— I want some people to come back. And then I'd, you know, have the next project ready and I'd be around people again.

Yeah.

And so that— yeah, recording is is a lot of fun. And that's, that's kind of where, kind of where you really get the bread and butter of the project, is in the recording phase.

Well, you know what, speaking of recording, let's take a listen to another one of the tracks that you sent ahead. And this is a track that can actually be found on Paraphonics' Spotify page, which we're actually going to make sure that we link on our podcast site as well. So anybody listening can just click through and be able to go straight to your Spotify account as well. But this is the song. This is actually a little bit more of an acoustic feel. The song we opened with is a lot bigger sonically, and this one is going to be— I love how it just gives another different feel for some of the things that you've recorded. But it's called Bella, and it's by the band Native Culture. And and we're just gonna play it and let everybody listen to it. It's a really great tune, so here it is, Bella by Native Culture. before.

One glimpse of your beauty and it left me wanting more. Oh Bella, won't you wait for me? Oh Bella, I'll be yours eventually. For now I'll dream and a distance that is far too much to bear. But if you stand at the shoreline, I swear I'll meet you there. I'd walk on every island I'd wander through the streets. I'd climb the highest mountain till my feet began to bleed. If ever one more moment I could hold you in my sight, I'd do whatever I must do to prolong our goodbye. Oh Bella, won't you wait for me? Oh Bella, I'll be yours eventually. For now I'll dream at a distance that is far too much to bear. But if you stand at the shoreline, I swear I'll meet to this city they call beautiful but it doesn't feel so right cuz they've never seen the way you light up the sky at night!

La la la la la la...

Hello, Bella, won't you wait and see? Oh, Bella, I wish I could guarantee I don't wanna dream at a distance 'cause it's far too much to bear. And if you're standing at the shoreline, it means that I'm not there. Oh, Bella.

And that was Bella by Native Culture, and that song was recorded in Paraphonic Recording Studios by my guest today, Brandon Shattuck. And Brandon, why don't you tell us a little bit about that song Bella? It's a much more acoustic feel to it than the first song that we heard today. But what is the, the difference that you have in mind when you come into a session? Um, the first song that we heard today, again, it was, it was a much bigger, more, um, I would say like almost a more large band. Um, I don't even know how I want to describe it exactly, but it's a much bigger song. Um, Bella is a much more, um, acoustic type feel to it. What's the difference for you as an engineer when you're thinking through how the different ways that you want to make it feel for the artist and you're trying to record them on a track like that.

Yeah, so I don't know, just, I ironically speaking, the Bella track was a big band and the Cool Hand Luke track was just two guys. Oh, wow. Yeah, just, just ironically speaking, that's how those, that's how those two songs were recorded. But, but either way, so the Bella track is, yeah, like, so it's mainly an acoustic guitar is kind of like the main instrument. But there's, I mean, there's a piano in there, there's a, there's kind of a string, a faux string section. I say faux string section because it was really, it was just a violin and a cello. But, you know, we did some stacks and things to make it sound like a bigger string section And then there's an electric guitar, drum, you know, there's more things kind of going on in that track than maybe what appears. But it's a really pretty sounding song. And honestly, the reason why it sounds the way it is, is just because it's a great song. And the whole arrangement idea was Dave, the lead singer and songwriter of Native Culture. He just had an amazing vision for that album and for that song. And he's just, he's an incredible songwriter and just has a great ear for songs and just production. And again, he just had a great vision for how he wanted that project to sound. And I just— so, you know, he came to the studio really with the vision. And I just think, you know, we executed it pretty well. And my part was just helping Dave see it through. You know, he had the idea for strings on that song. It was his band, you know, he had his drummer, piano player, guitar player. Yeah, I keep stumbling over my words, but I mean, you know, it was his band and yeah, it's just there to record them and just kind of, you know, see it through and just, you know, make sure that things were done well. Dave's a great singer, and I, you know, the strings on there sound really good. And when I came to mix it, it was a little bit challenging because there, there was a lot of stuff on that track, and, you know, just to kind of make it all feel good. There's a mandolin on that track too. Yeah.

Oh wow.

Yeah, yeah, there was just a lot of things to fit in there and just make sure that, you know, fit in there well and that the important things were heard when they needed to be heard and just make sure it wasn't too muddy and that it didn't get too cluttered. And yeah, hopefully that's how it turned out.

I love, I love what you're saying both about what you did on that track, but also what you said about— I believe you said his name was Dave, was the lead singer and songwriter of the band. I love what you were saying about him as well, which is something that is so important, I think, that maybe takes singers and songwriters a while to learn before they go into the studio. I think oftentimes those of us who write and sing, we feel like when we go into a recording studio, we'll get prepared when we get there rather than being prepared in advance. And you maybe have run into that a time or two, I'm not sure, depending on which artist. Like, the studio will fix it up when we get there and they'll know how to make this sound the way we want it. But it sounds like he, you know, and his band, they really did the hard work in advance of knowing what they wanted and knowing the kind of sounds that they were looking for in advance. And that can make such a difference whenever you go into a setting for someone like you, and then the cooperation where the engineer can work together and to really help bring to life what it is, the vision that the artist and the band have in their head. And you're actually working together out of the artist's preparation rather than sort of the artist just kind of haphazardness. And that can be, that can be challenging for artist-type people sometimes, I think, to be that prepared in advance. But it sounds like his preparation makes all the difference. And I'm sure you see that time and time again. That probably makes all the difference when you're going into a recording situation, just sort of how much work in advance the band or the artist has done. And maybe you could speak to that a little bit, just kind of like the preparedness of like artists maybe that you've worked with versus artists that have come in and just sort of like maybe they're still writing as they go type thing. And maybe there's a place for both actually. But you, I'm sure, have a preference one over the other as the person recording them, for sure.

Yeah, well, definitely. And I would say, you know, especially, you know, all three of these songs that we've heard or yet to hear on this podcast, the artist or the band brought a pretty well-defined vision, of their song or their album, you know, to the studio, um, but before, you know, before we kind of like set, set sail on the process. And, and that would be why, you know, we ended up with a pretty, in my mind, successful product in the end. Um, the, um, Mark of Cool Hand Luke, he would always bring a pretty complete demo in Logic of his songs, you know, when, when we would, um, start on a song. And, and he has detailed parts of, you know, drums, guitars, bass, of, of how he hears the song. Now, that doesn't mean that in a robotic way, like, that's exactly how we record the song. I mean, that's, that's a pretty good idea of, of how he hears the song in his head. Along the way, we might find better sounds or better parts, or we might think of other parts. Same thing with like Dave's song. He's obviously said, says, oh, this is my vision for the song. But, you know, there might— there's obviously room for experimentation on sounds and parts. And same thing, you know, with his band. You know, they— we spent time experimenting with different sounds and different ideas. But there is a very strong basis of an idea and a vision for a song in the beginning. And that, that gets you 80% of the way there. And then there's, there's still 20% of, of ideas and experimentation going on. But I would, I would say that almost every project I've ever worked on, that that's been the case. We usually spend time in pre-production before we really get going on a project with an artist or a band, you know, kind of seeing like what's the status of their songs, getting an idea of where the songs are before we get going. And if there's some songs in question, we kind of say, okay, you know, these songs need a little bit more work you know, before we start hitting the record button on them. And that work ahead of time just makes the process go. Because if you get into a song, you know, and there's just not vision or there's just not concrete ideas ahead of time, it's— you're either going to end up with something that you're just not happy with, not proud of, or it's just not gonna really work out.

And this is why a lot of artists will, you know, especially on the professional level, they will hire a producer when they go in too, because, you know, they, they do know, and they kind of— they're kind of the ones that keeps the trains running, so to speak, when it comes to like going into the studio. There have been times that I have found a producer in the studio to just be such a valuable person to have to kind of keep the focus where it needs to be, or to kind of say, "Yeah, that's working," or "No, that's not," or "We need to add this or take this out," and things like that. Sometimes to make the tough calls because sometimes, you know, artists, we can really be— we can get so lost in like one particular thing that we're working on, and it's like, there's more that needs to be recorded than just that one guitar part, you know? We need to get on with the rest of the song. So that's another thing that I think a lot of artists maybe need to think about if they've never thought about before when they go into the studio. Sometimes it really pays to invest a little bit on the production side of just hiring a producer. I've I've worked a couple times with some great producers now in the studio, and it's really been such a help to me in some really big ways. Again, in two different studio settings where that's, that's made a huge difference. And it sounds like you actually, in your studio, kind of play that role sometimes too, as being one who's working with artists and coming alongside them. It sounds like you are actually actually working with the artists and kind of being sort of a producer in a lot of artists' lives as well. Would you kind of consider yourself in that role for many of them too?

Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, you kind of, you have to. I mean, every project kind of has to have a producer per se. I mean, somebody that's just leading the project, or in some ways, it's like project manager, like producer and project manager are kind of maybe the same term in certain aspects. And, you know, sometimes this term producer, people think, oh, well, that's, you know, that's the person that's you know, the musical genius or like the beatmaker or, you know, like it's kind of this term that people don't really understand as much anymore. But traditionally, I mean, producer was kind of the one that managed the budget, the one that made— that called the studio and booked the studio time, made sure all those session musicians were lined up, you know, it Yeah, the producer is exactly what I just, you know, he was a project manager. Um, the, the producer did, you know, kind of made some final musical and creative decisions. Um, but, but ultimately the producer really just saw the project through and made sure that, uh, um, the record label had a record at the end of the day.

Yeah.

And so I've, I've kind of always viewed my role as producer on certain projects in that manner, to really just kind of oversee from start to finish that, you know, a project kind of sees itself through. Yeah.

Well, you do a great job, and I think that anybody listening today who's been hearing these Packs can definitely tell the kind of love and work that you put into the projects that you've been producing over the years from the studio, and I just think they're great. I've really been enjoying it, and I'm so glad to find out a few weeks ago that Paraphonic had a Spotify playlist. So I, when I pull up Spotify, usually now I'm trying to find something from your playlist to be able to listen to when I'm in my car or out on a walk or wherever I go because it's just really great to listen to. So I'm really glad to— I'm always glad to find new musicians to listen to and new people who are— I'm gonna call you an artist in the studio because I think that people who are producers and engineers, I don't know that they always get enough credit. But I do want to take a moment to say to anybody who's listening who has is maybe making an album right now, or you might be making an indie project. I just want to say, you know, it's so important to seek out someone who does know what they're doing and who puts a lot of love into the process. And don't forget your engineers and your producers and people like that in the credits of the album when it comes time to do that, because they really are as much a part of the band as the band. I feel like when it comes down to making the project, and everybody's been a part of making it happen together, and it really is something that everybody does together, and you couldn't have done it without each other for sure. Well, man, this has been so much fun to get to talk with you today, and one of the main reasons I wanted to have you on here is I'm hoping people will look you up, and especially artists who are looking for a place to not only record music and maybe they'll find themselves maybe even coming to your studio to record, but maybe they'll do some long-distance things like we've been talking about today too and say, hey, I've got some tracks I'd love to work with you on. What's the best way for them right now? I've already made reference to your Instagram page, but what's the best way, like if an artist is wanting to work out interested in working with your studio that they can reach out to you right now?

Yeah, so yeah, honestly, right now the best way is probably through my Instagram page or Facebook, and it's Paraphonic Recordings on Instagram or Facebook, and you can get me on a direct message, or I have my email is on those pages. Don't have a website right now, so okay. You use social media stuff right now, so—

but, but that works too. That's how we got connected, and that's great. So, and, and you know what, Instagram is one of the best ways too because they really get a chance to, to visually see what you're doing sonically, and, and I, I think that's awesome to be able to do that. Well, we're, we're going to close our time out together in just a moment with one more track that you've recorded, and it's a song called Thread, and it's by the band Wind Words. And it's, it's another great track, and it's, it's completely different from the other tracks we've already shared today, which just shows how vast the different styles are that you worked with over the years and what a great job you've been doing. I just wondered today though, I always want to give the guests a chance to cover anything that maybe we haven't covered, that maybe there was something that you really wanted to talk about that we didn't have a chance to today? And I realize in a short podcast setting and a subject as vast as this one, there's just not enough time to talk about everything we'd probably love to. But is there anything today that you wanted to touch on that we didn't have a chance to talk about yet?

Uh, yeah, I don't think so. I, you know, I've, I've kind of Well, you know, I was going through your— actually some of your podcast stuff earlier this week, and I noticed Brannon Hancock's podcast that you posted last week, which I think— yeah, it was one from a while ago, but you posted it. And man, that was really cool to see because Brannon is like one of the big reasons of why I just kind of got into music and like pursued like a career in music and stuff. Plaid played at like a youth camp that I went to like a long time ago, man, and I just fell in love with like seeing a rock band. And then Brandon led— was a leader of an impact team that I was on when I was in high school.

Okay.

And he was just just, just a big, uh, like kind of mentor, just someone I looked up to. And, uh, yeah, so it was just kind of cool to see that and listen, listen through that podcast. And, uh, so if, uh, if Brandon ever listens to this, he'll, uh, he'll hear me, uh, shout out to him. And I haven't talked to Brandon in a long time, but, uh, oh man, well, I'll have to—

so yeah, I'll have to send him a text and, and tell him to make sure he listens to this episode for sure. That's Cool. Well, it's funny because that, that episode was— he was one of my first guests on there. We've been friends for so long, and, uh, and I, for whatever reason, uh, on our podcast feed online, that episode disappeared, and I don't know why. And then I couldn't find it in our audio files, and then I just finally found it in one of my old hard drives, and, and I thought I need to re-release that because some people had been asking. And, uh, so that's great, that That was good timing. I'm so glad to hear that. Yeah, such a talented guy and such a gifted musician in so many ways. He just makes you sick, he's so talented sometimes. But yeah, I am so glad to hear that. That's so cool. So, well, we're going to close our time today. And again, I want to remind everybody, if you go to our Voices Voices in My Head podcast, our, our webpage, or if you go to voicesinmyheadpodcast.substack.com, you'll be able to find links where you can just click right through and go to Paraphonic Recordings Facebook pages and their Instagram pages. We're going to make sure and put all those links up there. As you can hear from our podcast today, Brandon is a really very talented artist, and I'm sure he would love to work with you on your projects. And so keep him in mind. And Brandon, it's been so great to talk with you today. We're going to close the episode with Thread by When Words, but before we do, I just want to say to you, Brandon Shattuck, thank you for being one of the voices in my head this week.

Thank you.

Well, she was a thread taken from the fabric of a life half lived, but one constant reminder to abandon all my my innocence. But you were the calm after the storm of all my significance, the still small voice I could never ignore, drawing me to repentance. Oh, she was a thread taken from the fabric of a life I've lived. The one constant reminder to abandon all my innocence. But you were the calm after the storm of all my significance. The still small voice I could never ignore, drawing me to repentance. With just one sentence, come. Let me give you rest. And I've been restless, and for quite some time now. And a slave once again to that which makes me doubt. Even there you call my name. With just one sentence, come. Let me give you rest. With just one sentence, come. Let me give you You, and I will stay above the surface until my final breath floats with the wind. And even then, I know we'll be back home again. And even now, every whisper screams sweet truth into my ear, echoing with joyous peace, chasing away my every fear. You chase away my every fear. You chase away my every fear. You chase away my every fear.

Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com where you can find out more about me, get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog, and even schedule me for your concert or a speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing in your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at rickleejames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible of this podcast will be online. And now for the benediction: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head.