We recently connected with Cody Doss and have shared our conversation below.

Cody, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Everyone of course has different measures of what “success” means. For me, I feel successful when my actions are rooted in a few fundamentals. Following my intuition, checking myself in the process, and staying disciplined have proven to be huge ingredients for that feeling. Without following my internal compass, it’s easy to let others make decisions for you. If you don’t have a plan for yourself, others will. Without the discipline, it’s difficult to move through work at a pace that puts you in front of the game.

Cody, 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?

My attraction to music started young. I remember playing Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (if you know, you know) and sitting there messing with a cheat code that allowed me to freestyle on the ocarina for hours. My mom, seeing this, got me piano lessons at 4/5 years old. She also put me in breakdancing lessons shortly after. She taught at an arts school, so I was always around music, theater, etc. At some point I started writing songs, and I wanted to record them! I started with a tiny handheld recorder from Radioshack. Once I figured I could do this on my own I saved up and purchased what I needed to get my own sound to come out of the speakers properly. I was thrilled!

I wound up playing in various Punk / Prog Rock / Metal bands throughout my teenage years. Always recording myself as well as friends projects throughout that time. At some point people wanted to pay me to record them and I thought, oh shit! Maybe I can do this all the time!!! However, running my own business was not something I was familiar with, so I stayed a more linear path for a bit. Fast forward a couple years and I graduated from Florida State University with a classical guitar performance + music education degree. I taught public school special needs music for 4 years, and though the kids were absolute angels, I felt I needed to be doing something more creatively centric at this age. So, I bit the bullet and started Stereogram Sound with my business partner Sean Bucheck. I don’t plan on ever looking back.

Today I spend most of my time recording, producing, mixing, and mastering projects for artists ranging in genre from Hip-Hop to French House to Jazz. My favorite thing to do is to produce new music with artists in-person. Channeling their expression and emotion through recording is my speciality. Something that sets Stereogram apart from many studios is the low-key, intimate environment we provide for our artists. The most important thing is to have a physical setting where people can allow themselves to be vulnerable. Being an artist myself has allowed me to tap into just how important that is in the studio. I’ve walked into too many rooms that are drowning in ego, or smell and look like a doctors office. We do our best to keep it comfortable and professional. A few standout artists I’ve worked with are flipturn (Dual-tone records), Tyrese Pope (Ca$hApp Records), and King Complex.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Communication, communication, communication. If anything feels off, talk it out, immediately. Ask questions. Be open. Be vulnerable. Be right. Be wrong. Be real.

Take breaks, take vacations together. Sean and I take walks all the time, and we just did Costa Rica in May and came back REFRESHED and ready to mix!!! It was so beneficial for us as people, and this is immediately reflected in our work with artists. Whats the saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? We’re all human – find ways to enjoy the process. If you’re on the same page with those around you, this will be easy and will be so beneficial when times get tough.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There’s a joke that goes something like this:

Child: “Mom! I decided what I want to be when I grow up! When I grow up I want to be a musician!”

Mother: “Oh honey, you can’t do both.” (meaning grow up, AND be a musician).

So many people will tell you not to do your thing. Out of love (them wanting security for you), out of fear, even out of jealousy. But hey, here we are!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stereogramsound.com/
• Instagram: @stereogramsound
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stereogramsound