Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Trepagnier
Hi Michael, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got started making records, music, art et cetra as a little kid. I loved making things in elementary art class, then decided to play violin at an early age which turned into playing bass guitar around high school and starting bands with friends. I also realized early on that I was not a great artist or musician, but I had a deep love for the craft. This prompted me to explore the intersection of art and technology, somehow, I found recording to be my true passion. Soon after I began interning at a local voice-over studio in high school and bought a recording rig with some graduation money.
In college I started making records for friends in my dorm room, and once I moved out of the dorms I filled my apartment with recording equipment as I was trying to figure out how everything worked. I graduated college and went to a recording-specific school in Arizona, The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. I did very well there and moved to New York City to begin my career.
Once in NYC, I started interning at Bennett Studios, run by Tony Bennett’s son Dae. It was a very cool place, and I met some cool folks there, but I wasn’t there for too long before I got a job helping run a small facility called The Buddy Project in Astoria Queens with the owner, Kieran Kelly. I was at The Buddy Project for a year or so before making the move to The Looking Glass Studios. I moved to NYC with the goal of working at The Looking Glass, and I was so thrilled to call The Looking Glass, and the amazing people there, home for quite some time. The Looking Glass was famously Philip Glass’ recording studio, it had a cultivated a rich tradition of making amazing records with trancendant artist, and I was able to work on some pretty big records there too. Coldplay, Philip Glass, Counting Crows and many more. When the financial crash hit the USA in 2008 Philip had to shut the doors of the studio, and a buddy of mine, Brian Bender, and I started a small studio in Brooklyn called The Motherbrain. We built and opened the space together, but I ran out of love for living in NYC and my wife and I began planning a return to Oklahoma City, where we’re from.
Once back in OKC, I taught at a ACM@UCO a recording and contemporary music school while I began building up resources, clients and equipment for what would become Cardinal Song, the recording studio I opened in 2020.
Cardinal Song is the culmination of all that I had learned about making records to that point. I designed and built it with my Dad, so the building has immense meaning; there’s something to be said about all the problems we solved and created to make something unique and special here. It’s truly a very special and unique place. I’ve been lucky to have had some very cool projects come though our doors, especially in 2024. Jason Isbell was here for a quick one off. Willow Smith popped by for a rehearsal with her band, but like most studios we mostly make records for local and regional artists for our bread and butter.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, this venture has been a struggle most of the time.
We opened our doors the week that the COVID-19 pandemic hit the USA. Here in OKC that’s marked by a particular basketball game where the Utah Jazz were playing our OKC Thunder. Center, Rudy Gobert, had come down with COVID and exposed the entire stadium. Mind you, this was before we had any understanding of the extent of the pathogen so they cleared the stadium and things got weird the next day. I say all this to impress on you that this was the day after I threw our grand opening party. Suffice to say this studio has been born into fire.
Sadly, what we had been building up to and planning was met with a deafening silence, and it stayed that way for a few two months, then I started to get calls for voice-over sessions for car dealerships and things of that ilk. By late summer I was able to get back to making music with a friends band The Damn Quails. It’s been a slow and steady build. We’re still doing our best to get traction and strive to keep making fun and inviting records in out space.
I think that if I’ve observed anything in the last few years it’s that whoever can stick around the longest and keep making things work will survive, and we’re doing that! So there is always some light at the end of the tunnel.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I spend most of my time in the studio working and creating music with people. Which can range from recording instrument, creating onteresting sound design or mixing. It’s a lovely existence making things with people and constantly being inspired. I’ve recently finished my first book. Pro Tools Bible: The Guide for the Working Musician is a technical guide about a piece of recording software called Pro Tools. I’m terribly proud of it! It all stemmed from my tenure teaching, and wanting to still be able to help people get better at their craft. I tried to create the book I wish I had when I was getting started. It’s a no-nonsense text about how to immediately gain functional mastery over the application. We’re taking pre-orders now, and look to ship at the top of the year!
www.protoolsbible.com
What makes you happy?
My wife and I love to get out into the world and see things. Hiking and being outdoors together is always a treat.
I really like to feel small in the world, or to be reminded of how small we all are. There’s nothing like going and standing in the presence of a rock formation that predates all known history or jumping into the ocean and being a guest to a completely different world. I find that I can relax in those places and gain a lot of strength from those types of activities.
I make experimental and ambient music under the name Head of Fame, it brings me a lot of joy when I have the space to do it. It’s great to just make something and release it into the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cardinalsongokc.com
- Instagram: @cardinalsongokc
- Other: https://82f6a3-c5.myshopify.com/
Image Credits
Personal Photo – Rebecca Sarkar
Additional Photos – Brian Laws