Music City Listeners :: A Topical Tour
Take a listen to how our guests answer your burning questions
Click a topic and choose a link to watch them answer
+ What got you into audio?
- Shane D. Wilson’s initial interest in audio technology hit when he was 11 or 12 years old, poking around the sound booth at church.
- Paul Moak’s love of music really kicked into gear when he won a guitar off the radio.
- Russ Long describes his shift from being interested in playing drums to to the engineering side of things.
- Cason Cooley comes from a family of gospel musicians, and he grew up singing and playing on stage.
- Cason Cooley wanted to leave music behind to pursue architecture and sports, but that wasn’t in the cards for him.
- Tim Lauer’s father was a church musician, and he found creative ways to pursue his interest.
- Tim Lauer explains how his career quickly switched from touring player to record producer.
+ Going To School For Audio
- Shane D. Wilson won a scholarship from the factory where his dad worked in order to make his way into Indiana University in hopes of getting into the audio program.
- Paul Moak moved to Nashville to go to school at Belmont to get a degree in music business… until he dropped out, of course.
- Russ Long went to state school in Colorado, and then transferred to Belmont to study music business.
- Cason Cooley knew he wanted to go to school in a music city, but New York or LA seemed like quite a big leap from Wichita.
- Cason Cooley went on the road instead of returning to sophomore year of college.
- Tim Lauer went from touring to studying arranging at Belmont.
- Tim Lauer talks about his first lesson in school, about what it means to be a professional.
+ Making Art
- Shane D. Wilson digs into the passion of making art
- Shane D. Wilson answers “What is a perfect album to you?”. He digs into a formative album and what really matters.
- Paul Moak talks about spending his twenties on the road and getting more and more removed from the creative side of the music the better and better gigs he got.
- Paul Moak speaks into the difficulty of making art that’s commercially viable and how he hates the music business.
- Cason Cooley talks about “constantly failing” to achieve the ideal sounds in his head, and how that is okay.
- Tim Lauer discusses examining one’s motivations for certain projects, and the validity behind different priorities.
- Tim Lauer is more envious of projects people said no to, rather than gigs they did take.
- Tim Lauer talks about the “usefulness” of music.
+ Making Money
- Shane D. Wilson afforded interning by working second shift at a tape duplication plant until he landed his first assistantship.
- Shane D. Wilson would hustle his way back into the studio after working his second shift job.
- Shane D. Wilson addresses some of his reasoning for starting his own studio in a residential neighborhood so that he could accommodate his clients and their budgets.
- Paul Moak’s businessman father saw his son’s passion and helped him to see early on that he needed to move to a music town like Nashville to be able to make a living at his craft.
- Paul Moak talks through his early productions and how he floated his finances while moving from one phase of his career to another.
- Paul Moak talks about how he works to keep the business end of making a record distant so that he can stay creative while handling his business responsibly.
- Russ Long talks about working out of Belmont’s studios and making “enough” money when he first started out.
- Russ Long talks about getting paid early on in one’s career.
- Cason Cooley discusses royalty splits and working on spec for sync.
- Tim Lauer recalls how negotiations for pay went on his first “major” gig.
- Tim Lauer talks about transitioning from playing sessions and writing songs to landing placements on TV and in ads.
+ Self Doubt
- Shane D. Wilson spends a while unpacking his self doubt. He has a hard time ever listening to something he’s mixed after it’s finished.
- Paul Moak talks about overcoming self-doubt and plateaus.
- Russ Long talks about never knowing how sustainable this career was for him.
- Cason Cooley discusses imposter syndrome, even 15 years into a career as a producer.
- Tim Lauer still feels like a failure.
+ The Virtue of Taking An Internship
- Shane D. Wilson’s required internship is what brought him to Nashville and got him connected into the music industry.
- Shane D. Wilson afforded interning by working second shift at a tape duplication plant until he landed his first assistantship.
+ Continual Learning
- Paul Moak summarizes his journey from playing in bands in college to having a successful career in music with a story about always learning new things.
- Paul Moak talks about growing creatively in his own craft in response to being asked about going from “good to great.”
- Cason Cooley wishes he spent more time “digging in and learning more” earlier in his career.
- Cason Cooley tries to “get a little better at this every day… for years”.
- Tim Lauer talks about resisting being “pulled comfortably back”.
+ Knowing Your Role
- Shane D. Wilson addresses staying in his lane as the mix engineer and respecting the other people’s role in the creative process.
- Paul Moak talks about learning to do it all and the freedom and improvement to his process he’s found in letting other people do parts of the process on his behalf.
- Russ Long talks about respecting the creative direction of bands and artists while working as a producer.
+ Early Paid Gigs
- Shane D. Wilson picked up his first paid assistantship because somebody got fired that day.
- Shane D. Wilson’s first paid gig at quad fell right in the middle of his getting married. Here he talks about how much was required of him and how little he was paid.
- Shane D. Wilson talks about getting hired to be the overdub engineer for a project and realizing that he should quit his assistantship at Quad Nashville
- Paul Moak talks about saying yes to pretty much every gig opportunity when he first moved to town and how that positioned him to take on bigger and better gigs.
- Russ Long started by doing demos for publishers, and initially working out of Belmont’s studios.
- Cason Cooley supported himself with a good road gig while building his initial portfolio.
- One of Tim Lauer’s first writing gigs in Nashville was writing theme songs for WWE wrestlers.
+ Chance Encounters and The Importance Of First Impressions
- Shane D. Wilson picked up his first ‘gig’ (ie, second unpaid internship) with Doug Sarrett by making a good impression in his school-internship.
- Shane D. Wilson ended up working a lot with Charlie Peacock because Tom Lonne was engineering and Shane was assisting, and Charlie liked Shane’s work.
- Paul Moak met the Wallflowers in his hotel elevator on his first visit to Nashville, and the whole experience helped seal the deal on his decision to move here.
- Dewey Boyd landed his internship with Paul Moak by helping him move studios in 2009 after a previous encounter cleaning out Charlie Peacock’s attic.
- Tim Lauer stumbled into a gig at the Opry, the day of the show with musicians he had never met before, leading him to many more gigs.
+ Landing Gigs
- Paul Moak talks about being a terrible networker but being really relational.
- Cason Cooley talks about his approach for getting work, and being genuine when he has to “hustle”.
+ Being Pigeonholed :: Being A Specialist
- Shane D. Wilson got pigeonholed as a mix engineer because of other people’s perception of him.
- Paul Moak made a purposeful (and expensive) move to turn away touring opportunities in order to move into working on making records in town.
- Paul Moak addresses the tension between the demand for having a diverse set of skills, the time it takes to practice a craft, and the demand for specialists in a competitive town.
- Russ Long talks about cutting demos during the day, and beginning to do live gigs at night.
- Cason Cooley helps in the songwriting for many of his projects, but knows his value really lies as a producer.
- Tim Lauer breaks down what it means to be a specialist vs having a diverse set of skills, and how that plays out in his life.
- Tim Lauer is considered a specialist by many different people, in many different areas
+ Tips And Tricks
- Shane D. Wilson talks through how he starts a mix from scratch.
- Shane D. Wilson talks about bass tone.
- Shane D. Wilson gives a breakdown of his 2bus chain
- Paul Moak talks about how he’s taken down the creative barriers in his studio so that people can see, hear, and capture something as soon as they want to.
- Paul Moak talks about how he helps bands find their way from where they are to where they want to be.
- Paul Moak talks about how he’s handled budget and time constraints at different phases of his career.
- Paul Moak talks about his method of deciding whether to say yes or no to a gig, the Three ‘M’s.
- Paul Moak talks about Pre-Production.
- Russ Long shares his typical vocal chain, for mixing and tracking.
- Russ Long talks about how important the initial days of a project are, and why it is important to start off prepared.
- Cason Cooley describes making “a musical pinterest board” as a jumping off point for a project.
- Cason Cooley says learning about record production breaks down into arranging and psychology.
- Cason Cooley breaks down how is view of the role of a producer has evolved.
- Cason Cooley talks about combining live and programmed elements in modern productions.
+ Handling Studio Situations
- Paul Moak talks about preserving a band’s unity even if the whole crew isn’t up to par.
- Paul Moak talks about having CLA remix a song that he and the band had lived with a different way for three years.
- Russ Long talks about having some tracks remixed so as to have a “known factor” on a new record.
+ How Did You Accumulate Your Gear?
- Shane D. Wilson reveals the secret for collecting gear.
- Shane D. Wilson addresses his regret over selling his V76s and it not being worth the appreciation to buy them back.
- Paul Moak, known for his huge collection of gear, talks about his gear accumulation almost as an aside born out of necessity.
- Paul Moak specifically addresses his biggest leap in gear, the purchase of the new Smoakstack in 2009.
- Russ Long acquired gear using budgets for records, accumulating great pieces over time.
+ Gear Talk
- Shane D. Wilson talk about his transition to ProTools, the industry pressure put on him to do it, and how it’s early deficiencies shaped his workflow.
- Shane D. Wilson addresses the feasibility of mixing in the box now, but places a strong caveat that room treatment is often neglected.
- Russ Long talks about what he deems essential gear in the modern age.
+ Dealing With Family Expectations
- Paul Moak’s family has a multigenerational car dealership bearing his name. Here’s the story of Paul finally telling his father that he doesn’t want to be in the family business.
- Russ Long had plans to be an entertainment lawyer until he found his passion for recording. He talks about his parents’ reaction to his change in path here.
+ Relationships
- Shane D. Wilson met his wife while they were both interns at neighboring businesses… splitting a copier and a fax machine.
- Shane D. Wilson’s wife understands that he has to spend money to make money.
- Cason Cooley and his wife are on the same page about music being a “real job”, and the commitments that come with that.
+ Hobbies and Life Outside of The Studio
- Shane D. Wilson talks about his hobbies and its importance to him and his craft.
- Paul Moak talks about breaking out of a plateau by cultivating a life outside of the studio.
- Russ Long talks about the decision to mix from home, in order to balance work and family.
- Tim Lauer talks about his experience with unhealthy work-life balance.
+ Formative Records
- Shane D. Wilson answers “What is a perfect album to you?”. He digs into a formative album and what really matters.
- Tim Lauer shares how Quincy Jones changed everything for him.