We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shane Stanton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

The last twenty years have and solidified the “new” version of the recording/studio industry today- The changes since COVID have rapidly accelerated the current model of the recording industry even more-so. In the most general sense we’ve seen the trends- more autonomy for artists to make music own their own, and a rise of budget to prosumer to semi professional studios that have adapted passed a lot of older studio models. That being said, I’ve experienced both sides of the coin- I have worked on SSL’s in professional rooms, I have also made records on laptops with friends in houses. I love the artistic process no matter whatever the type equipment is being used. There is a creative fearlessness I believe you need in this industry more than ever, and my experience of bringing everything from the bedroom producer archetype to a staff engineer at a high studio has helped me reach new levels of communication with a wide variety of artists. How does an artist, band, client, etc. distinguish in 2023 levels of “professionalism” in this field without any sort of barrier of entry? I find more people overwhelmed and confused with who to hire sometimes. I really try to pull from a variety of life and artist experiences to influence my sense of professionalism, there is a lot more than just making a great sounding product. There is no standard for budgets, quality, that can become very overwhelming for a new artist. My goal is to help artists dial a vision and believe in a voice that is authentic to them, my job is to channel those emotions and deliver a high quality product at the end of the day, no matter how we chose to get there technically and philosophically.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve played in bands from middle school all the way to my adult career- I started to develop some semblance of a “producer role” with my high school and college bands organically over time. I found myself getting a lot more involved in the songwriting process and production side than just drumming, which was my main focus up until I purchased a small multitrack recorder in high school, this pretty much solidified my direction to go to college (UMBC, University of Maryland Baltimore County) to get a degree in Music Technology and Recording. During my time I played in all sorts of bands in the Baltimore area, recorded local artists at the school studio while cutting my teeth still at home. I eventually landed an internship with J Robbins of Magpie Cage Studios (Jawbox, Clutch, Against Me!) and became his assistant for my senior year of schooling. During my winter and summer break, I doubled down on an internship at Architekt Music in Butler, NJ after discovering my childhood favorite band, Sevendust had recorded there. My second of two internships eventually led to a position at the studio- During this time I got my hands dirty in a lot of aspects of the music industry- managerial, booking agents, I TM’d on tour twice, and part-time assisted at the studio until I became a full time assistant under Mike Ferretti (Sevendust, Thank You Scientist, The Warning). I worked and learned from a wide range of genres and clients, I think from a life perspective standpoint that has been a huge factor in my diversity as a producer and now studio owner myself I pull from a variety of people, places, and experiences that not many may have had. I’ve slept in hotel rooms, slept on friends floors, stayed in studios over night- I caught the tail end of some of the “older” industry model- mixed with “laptop”-era mindset today- the stories and experiences that come with this and the people that I was around during these times, plays an integral part in my views as a producer for my clients. (see previous question as well).

I don’t define my work and productions in genres, boxes per se as much as the business and general public may want to categorize things. Obviously if there is an intention and goal of the vision the artist wants, that is to be seen through. But I find the “best art” and experiences tends to come from letting go in the most pure sense and really channeling a fearless in your art to say what you want to say. That is much easier said than done, and sometimes requires difficult conversations with people. The amount of life experiences when they are recording tend to go by very quickly, even in longer sessions. Life is short in the sense of I’m really big on having everyone leave “everything on the floor” in terms of laying an honest expression of their art. I ask people sometimes, “Why are you doing this?” “Why does this matter to you?”, or “Where does this come from?” You can tend to translate these answers literally and figuratively in guiding the artistic process with an artist.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Building something bigger with a client that surpasses what the two (or group) of people individually could do. Collaborating and working together honestly and discovering those “ah hah” moments are so rewarding and tend to be the most enriching as human beings. Creating a piece of art together that you all collectively came together for and brought to a new level- nothing better than seeing a great team win, and I want to help channel that with all of my projects.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

In the most general sense of how we view businesses today on social media I believe it is important to remain authentic in a world where those lines have been blurred more than ever. Everyone will have critics and people who do not like you or what you do regardless of how you present yourself or whoever you are- it is important to “stick to the bit” as they say and find what works for you and be consistent in your morals, vision, this will influence your entrepreneurial journey subconsciously and consciously in ways you may have never expected. People pick up on these things, and in a world where it is easy to manipulate yourself and platform the playing field has really changed on view on WHY we pick people to work with, not just the outcome of the “product”.

Contact Info:

• Website: glowerstudios.com
• Instagram: shanedstanton
• Other: I play in a band called “Good Teal”. Our instagram is @goodtealhc