We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Yes I am able to earn a full time living as a touring Front of House (FOH) Audio Engineer and it has been quite the journey! My musical journey started with me taking piano lessons as a kid, finding my voice and eventually going on to study voice at Roosevelt University. Once I graduated from Roosevelt, I knew being an opera singer wasn’t the path I wanted to take so I started searching. I had a friend who attended SAE ATL, so I got some insight from him and took a leap of faith and moved to ATL to attend SAE. The curriculum, at the time, was focused on teaching students how to be a studio recording and mixing engineer. So, that was the goal: I’d be working in a studio as a recording and mixing engineer. Once I finished school I started working at SAE but I also had about three internships that didn’t pay, and I needed more money. My friend/classmate had gotten an interview with a local church to be an audio tech, and he asked me to tag along to the interview. They ended up hiring both of us and that was my first live sound gig. Once I started at the church I knew being a live sound audio engineer was what I wanted to do with my life. As they say, the rest is history. I’ve been working as a touring FOH for 9 years now. I embrace my process. I do wish I would have found production companies a bit earlier to learn a few things but I truly believe my journey is why I’ve been blessed to have a successful career for almost a decade.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

AMANDA DAVIS is a woman of many talents. The Memphis-born, audio engineer, educator, production manager, singer and musician has learned the ropes from some of the music industry’s best and is using her skills and connections to empower women around the globe.

A proud graduate of Chicago’s Roosevelt University (2008; Bachelors of Arts in Music — Vocal Performance Concentration and SAE Institute – Atlanta (2010; Music Recording and Production), Davis has always had a passion for education, women’s empowerment, and blazing trails. Upon graduating from SAE, Davis was hired as the Institute’s first female Lab Supervisor and first female Music Theory instructor. After two years of teaching, interning, and mixing audio for many of Atlanta’s rising artists and producers, Davis opted to travel the world as an Audio Technician for Carnival Cruise Lines.

In 2013, Emmy-winning artist Janelle Monáe handpicked Davis to serve as her Front of House Engineer. In her stint with Ms. Monáe, Amanda has mixed legendary artists Prince and Stevie Wonder and has mixed in some of the world’s most renowned venues and events: The White House; Madison Square Garden; Radio City Music Hall; The Hollywood Bowl; Coachella; The Grammys; The Oscars; Glastonbury Fest; Good Morning America; The Today Show; Montreux Jazz Festival; Saturday Night Live; BET Awards; and American Idol.

Canadian indie/pop duo Tegan and Sara recruited Amanda to serve as their FOH engineer in 2016. In the fall of 2017, she was named Production Manager on Tegan and Sara’s “The Con X” tour. Also during this time period, Amanda worked with the late, great Nipsey Hussle, legend Olivia Newton John, DC-rapper Wale, Nigerian artist Jidenna, and classic R&B group SWV.

A busy 2018 and 2019 followed as Davis returned to her perch as Ms. Monáe’s FOH engineer for “The Dirty Computer Tour” while also taking the helm as the Production Manager and FOH engineer for chart-topping artist Ella Mai’s “The Debut Tour” and Tegan & Sara’s “Hey I’m Just Like You” Tour. While preparing for “The Dirty Computer Tour,” Amanda worked with non-profits, universities, and local organizations to create “Linecheck, Women in Live Production” a mentoring program dedicated to young women who are pursuing a career in live sound mixing and production/tour management; focusing on professionalism practices and life as a tour crew member.

In 2020, Amanda returned to her native Memphis to return to her studio engineer roots. Working out of David Porter’s 4U Recording studio, she recorded, mixed and co-produced Kortland Whalum’s A Love Letter extended play project and TANGELA’s Splendid Mind – EP. Tegan and Sara also entrusted Amanda with mixing duties for their Tonight in the Dark We’re Seeing Colors album; a special Record Store Day vinyl release of live recordings from their Hey I’m Just Like You Tour.

2021-2022 has seen Davis return to touring, studio mixing Ralph Lauren spring fashion premiere (featuring Janelle Monáe), as well as handling live sound for Doja Cat, Jon Batiste, Chloe and Halle, Olivia Rodrigo, Summer Walker, Lil Durk, Audrey Nuna, Jazmine Sullivan and Ella Mai.

A highly sought-out speaker, Davis has appeared on Pensado’s Place; Guest Lecturer for Berklee College of Music Valencia; Sennheiser Webinar: Don’t Stop the Education, Women Behind the Console; UMG and Capitol Records Women in Audio Panel; Women’s Audio Mission WAMcon Los Angeles. She has been profiled by The Recording Academy; Meyer Sound; Waves; and FOH Magazine. In 2019 Amanda was nominated for the Parnelli NextGen Award. Davis’ immediate aims are to master her primary crafts of live sound mixing and production management while also taking deeper forays into music production, live television mixing, and teaching.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There’s a whole team that works for weeks or months to make shows happen. The FOH engineer is one of very few people on the crew of a tour or show that can actually see the show. It’s very gratifying to to see the show, knowing all that went into making it happen. Because of my physical position at the show, I get to be a part of the audience and feel their reactions and energy so closely and it’s a really cool feeling to know you’re actively a part of that couple hours of joy the show provides for the folks attending.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After I toured with Janelle Monáe for about 1.5 years straight, she decided to pivot and do other creative things so that meant no shows. No shows meant, I didn’t have any work. That was a huge lesson in can’t keep your eggs in one basket in this creative/entertainment business. I had to figure out how to build my clientele. It took me a while to make the moves I needed to make so I was a substitute teacher for a while and tried to stack some money so that I could move to LA. It took about two or three years to figure my way through. I got my church gig back and just hustled around ATL. Within that time I got the call to mix Tegan and Sara and things have been up since then. After a couple of tours with Tegan and Sara (saved my life a pockets lol) I was in a good financial place to move to LA and do what I needed to do to keep building my career.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @theeamandarenee

Image Credits
Jessica Mynatt (All but one) Neal Gustafson (Black and white front facing pic)