We were lucky to catch up with Garrett Forsberg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Garrett, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The most important thing that I can tell anyone when they decide they want to make music is to fall in love with the process of it. Because that’s exactly what happened to me and I’ve never looked back. A large part of my learning has been through YouTube university. I’ve watched hundreds of hours of tutorials and breakdowns. When I was starting out I would search for exact processes like “how to make an 808 hit hard” or “how to sample” but now I study more conceptual and technique style videos. I am always hungry to absorb as much information from professionals as I can possibly get. You have to learn and watch before you can do yourself and with music specifically, there is an abundance of information and help out there.

I don’t think I would change any way that I’ve done things up until this point. I love my process and I trust it. I’m glad I’ve taken the time I have because it has pushed me into new career directions and given me opportunities at times when I can actually capitalize on them.

My entire life up until I got out of college revolved around sports. The regimented, everyday grind mentality that comes with playing competitive sports at a high level is a huge skill that I am very lucky to have. I am a major believer in making sure I get something done in the studio every single day. The person who comes in day in and day out, even if it’s just for 20 minutes, is setting them selves up for success purely because they were prepared for the moment. They’ve been putting in the hours. They’ve been making the sacrifices. The luckiest people are the ones who were prepared.

My biggest obstacles to learning more was honestly what I didn’t know I didn’t know. Everyday I learn a new term or discover some process that I didn’t even know existed the day before. With music, there’s 10001 ways to do the same thing but some ways unlock the doors to new discoveries and the only way you can find them is by doing it and finding them yourself. A huge one for me was the art of mixing a song and the profession of being a mix engineer. When I first started out, all I was doing was making beats. I had NO IDEA the depth and breadth that came with mixing and taking rough demos and turning them into fully fleshed songs. That’s why you have to stay hungry for more knowledge. Because you don’t know what you don’t know!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My technical title is Music Producer but I really do anything and everything in each phase of music production. I have been lucky enough to have been part of songs that have gained millions of streams across all mediums, traveled across the US for live shows, and get to work with some of the most talented individuals in my area on a daily basis. I create instrumentals for artists on the spot in the studio, record professional grade vocals, mix down songs and entire projects to compete at industry standards, and execute high fidelity master song files for distribution to all media platforms. I am also an artist myself with several releases under my belt.

The best part of my job is getting to make the sound the artist has in their head a reality. Making this all feel real and tangible to my artists is truly where I get my purpose. That is what sets myself and all of the people i get to work with apart from the pack in my opinion. We come in with the expectation of HARD WORK and at the end of the session we all sit back and can go “wow, we were all just a part of that” It’s truly something I live for and I think all my artists see that I do this because it’s like breathing for me at this point. I wasn’t in it for the money. I’m in it because I can’t live without this. People want someone like that on their team. And vice versa for me. You really can’t fake fire. You can’t fake drive. You can’t fake passion. That’s why we will be successful.

I am currently in the process of opening up a fully dedicated studio in Kansas City, MO named “The Zoo” with my fellow producers Andy Maynard and Joe Armato. We will be fully accessible to clients who are willing to go the extra mile to be successful. It will rival all the studios currently available in the area and will have a focus on quality, community, and growth of everyone who walks in those doors.

Looking forward, I am most excited to just continue to grow as a person, as a businessman, and as a fellow musician. I have a lot of projects on the horizon from artists like DMAD, Burgos, Ayel, Kamaal Malik, TayGlas, Raelee, RizzIlluminated, Soso, and so many more than I can’t wait to get completed and out for everyone to hear. I am so proud of everyone I get to work with because it’s alittle bit of myself in every one of those projects with all these artists. It truly is my purpose to do this and it only makes the fire burn hotter.

Have you ever had to pivot?

The biggest pivot I’ve made in my career is to add recording, mixing, and mastering for artists into my toolbox instead of ONLY producing instrumentals for them. When the pandemic hit, I was having artists to my home studio and we would make awesome instrumentals but it wouldn’t go past that. Then I’d be waiting for an artist to go pay for studio time, probably not pay for the beat, and the whole process was just not conducive to what I actually wanted – to be making songs. So when all the lockdowns started I made it a mission to figure out how to record vocals. And then that led me down the rabbit hole of mixing, which then led me to the black magic of mastering. The extra time I had to learn these new skills is now invaluable to me because it has led me to more business than I’ve ever had. It gives me a lot to look forward to (I’m always projecting 5 years into the future) and learning these skills at that point in my life has set me up to continue to improve and be better for everyone around me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me, the most rewarding things about being a creative is the fact that you took that intangible idea in your head, and made it REAL. Being the conduit for people to express what they feel is hands down the most rewarding thing for me. Taking their emotions and thoughts and molding it into their own, never before heard, piece of art is truly a one of a kind experience. We are all one song away from life changing experiences. We are all one decision away from putting things into motion that will change everything for us. Having the trust and support of everyone I get to work with is so satisfying and rewarding to me as not only a creative but as a person.

Contact Info:

• Website: engineears.com/prodbergotti
• Instagram: @prodbergotti
• Youtube: Prod. Bergotti
• Other: Tiktok: @prodbergotti Beatstars: bergotti.beatstars.com