We recently connected with Sam McNeil and have shared our conversation below.
Sam, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I imagine a world in which I was much bolder as a kid. I didn’t know any better, and I didn’t know anyone else that knew any more than I did. (Pertaining to music production) There was almost this feeling that, if your recordings weren’t very good, you just weren’t very good. The level that was “good” also was loose, because what is “good” for a 14 year old kid that is recording songs with a gaming headset microphone? Well that answer is probably anything recorded with something that sounds better than a gaming headset.
So its not like I didn’t start learning music production early in life. I just became stuck at the absolute beginner level for so long that I decided I was never going to be able to make anything that ever sounded “good” I subsequently would stop trying for over a decade.
As an adult, and habitual skill learner I decided to (re)learn music production to assist in my writing process. I met some producers and learned quickly about a vast library of tools that make life so much easier. The big one is a proper workspace. I recorded a lot of songs on Audacity before discovering what an actual DAW for music was like.
So I think I just wish I had the boldness to learn more when I was younger. I frequently wonder how “good” I would be if I started learning properly 15 years or more ago.
Sam, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
If you spit right now, you can probably hit a few people with a home music studio. Look! you even got me!
I grew up a small town kid from the Midwest, we are talking real small (2-3 thousand population). A complete oddball. Played on the basketball team, listened to NuMetal, rode 4-wheelers, avid skateboarder and punk rock kid at heart, loved art and music. Most importantly I knew that I had to leave that little town, and when I graduated I did just that.
I don’t think I have ever lost that oddball mentality and its definitely inspired my career in creativity and art. I’m what most would refer to as a jack of all trades. I’m a passable motion graphics artist, a decent graphic designer, a pretty good music producer, and a self proclaimed good singer.
So I’m basically a one man record label. I could produce your track, make your album art, create social media ad’s, solve distribution needs, and give you all the notes you need on song writing and performance.
I love creating my entire brand, creating my product, and most importantly performing my music live.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Creating music for me has always been about journaling in a sense. I’ve written a lot of songs. I will write a lot more. Trust me when I tell you that they are better now than they have ever been. The process of becoming a good song writer is just burning through hundreds of ideas, most of which will be considered bad ideas. I don’t even have the guts to call myself a good song writer at this point, but I know I’m better than I was.
Some people think that if you aren’t trying to be the next big thing, you’re wasting your time with music. Others think if you only want fame and fortune you are making music for the wrong reasons. I believe there is room for both. I’m making music that allows me to release these trapped emotions and feelings. Getting things off my chest by writing 10 songs about it, is reward enough. If one of those songs catches fire and I get a paycheck, you wouldn’t find me complaining.
The goal is to make good music. Regardless of how others feel about it, how “successful” I am really depends on how satisfied I am with how it sounds, and if I think it conveys what I was trying to say or feeling. Everything else is really just a bonus.
Recording other artists, making their visions come to life as well is very rewarding. There’s nothing quite like making someone’s vision materialize.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I didn’t know what a VST was until about 6 years ago. I just assumed, people got tone and compression and everything else from hardware. (That I would never be able to afford).
My recording and song writing went from a 2 out of 10 in terms of quality to at least a 5!
Jokes aside, learning about proper DAW’s, and plugin’s was an absolute light switch moment. Its been all downhill from there. You start throwing thousands of dollars at software that does the smallest thing, but creates such a big picture.
For young aspiring producers and artists out there, the quicker someone shows them the proper tools, the better they will be. Though there’s no wrong time to start learning.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @SVMUELmusic
- Twitter: @Svmuelmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@svmuelmusic1638
- Other: twitch.tv/thegamedudes twitch.tv/svmuelmusic tiktok.com/svmuelmusic
Image Credits
Ethan Beazley Amanda Valentine Artificial Iris (Michael Hunt)