We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andre Tidwell Jr. a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Andre thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

One of the reasons that I started the current work that I do today, is to help people, businesses, organizations, etc, capture the sounds of everything. The reason that I say, capture the sounds of everything, is because anything that people create in this world has a sound to it, even silence. Also, sound is a part of my brand name (ReTroSoundWAV Media) because audio production and engineering is currently the main type of media that I create. However, there are other forms media’s that I capture as well, such as, video (filming and editing), podcast (recording, editing, hosting), photography, and graphic design.

And little more backstory about me, growing up I was a shy kid that used to hate being in front of microphones and especially cameras; I wished, I had embraced it more, so I can have more footage and audio of my younger self to look back on. That’s another reason why I do what I do today, to give people a visual or audio time capsule from a moment they will be glad to reflect on, in the future.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Andre Tidwell Jr aka ReTro d.r.E. I’m a multimedia creator born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina that strives to be great in every area of my life. My mantra that I go by everyday is saying, “I will be wealthy, healthy, and successful.”

In 2020, I graduated from William Peace University, getting a Bachelors Degree in Communication with a concentration in Integrated Media.

Also, a fun fact about me is even though both of my parents are chefs and bakers, I don’t like to cook, but I enjoy great food.

My passions are audio engineering, creating and editing videos, podcasting, producing music, creating graphics, and working on other ways that I can creatively express myself.

Speaking of audio engineering, I became an audio engineer by starting out as an intern at Artist Mill International Studios (AMI Studios) in the summer of 2019. Then, after I graduated college in 2020, I brought one of my classmates (Phantom Swami) to the studio to work on his debut studio album (KCWP) and from there I started officially working as a contract audio engineer at AMI Studios.

Also, on July 1st, 2020, I created my own business named, ReTroSoundWAV Media LLC.
Here’s a little bit about what we do and what we’re about:
ReTroSoundWAV Media LLC is a multimedia company that provides an outlet for people to create media products to help build their brand. The media services we provide are music (creation, production, and distribution), video (editing and creation), podcast (recording, editing, and distribution), and graphic design (logo creation). Our goal is to make everyone look and sound professional by creating the media products that will get you there, by capturing the sounds of everything.

Why us? Because we know how important it is to have a quality visual representation of your business and we are going to do everything possible to get you to this point.

How?
Planning: how to make better marketing/promotion strategies, what business decisions will work best for you in the long run, how you want to be perceived right now and in the future.

Researching: figuring out what your company provides and doesn’t provide.

Execution: making and creating the right assets to build your companies future.

What makes us different?
We are going to make our abstract style look “normal” with everyone we work with. We have the ability to stay inside the lines, but once we’re able to add our flare, we’ll make sure what we do has a lasting impact.

One of the works I was proud to be a part of was engineering, producing (5 tracks), and releasing Phantom Swami’s debut studio album, “K C W P.” Being a part of this project showed me how to collaborate and help build a brand with an artist from the ground up. Also, it showed me how much time, effort, money, creativity, and resources are needed to create an album rollout.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Providing quality work for multiple clients is what has helped build my reputation, in my opinion. I approach every project with the goal of giving it my best effort and even if I’m not able to for whatever reason, I will do my best to correct it next time. Also, I’ll say that my honesty is what clients respect as well, however, when you’re working with certain people you have to be aware of their emotions. So be honest about something they may be doing wrong or not enough of, but say it in a way that doesn’t come off as brash or disrespectful, or else you’re going to go out of business.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The past few years I have approached social media a little differently, I started to approach it as a documentation of what I do on a week to week basis. Basically, showing my growth and process of what I do, how I think, and new journeys that I’m exploring. For example, recently, I started to collect vinyl, so I’m about to start making more content around that. But what I will say for anyone that’s starting to build a social media presence is make content about something you are very knowledgeable about, make content around what you enjoy, develop a posting schedule, stay consistent on your popular platforms, being on all platforms may not work for you, think about getting your own website that you can drive traffic to, and be careful on who you align yourself with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://retrosoundwavmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrod.r.e/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andretidwell/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYqhg8DZqqCAyb7fAkWnYcQ

Image Credits
Damian Perry – 1 photo Travis Stokes – 1 photo