We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Edwardo Rivas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Edwardo, thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

As I was growing up my sister and brothers were musicians playing music everywhere so music was instilled in me. My grandfather on my dads side was a violinist and played for Pancho Villa in the early 1900’s. My father grew up with brothers and sisters that were accomplished musicians who played for the Chicago/ San Antonio symphony. My mother and father did not play an instrument but they knew that music would be part of our lives. Growing up sometimes our house was a commune of musicians from all over the country playing in our different bands. My parents supported every move I made.

Edwardo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I graduated high school in the late 80’s I played drums frequently around San Antonio. Then I got the call to record drums at Zazz studio from Gilbert Valazquez who now has 15 Grammy’s or so. At that time, I didn’t know the music we recorded would have a big impact in the Tejano music industry. I recorded on many albums from Laura Canales, Joe Posada and Latin Breed to name a few that the industry now calls a music standard. I learned a lot from Gilbert and Joel Guzman as we pump out album after album. I started venturing on writing music with my buddy Marc Martinez who was the keyboardist for Emilio Narvira. I then started as a studio engineer for Emilio’s brother Raulito. I was able to implement what I learned from Gilbert and started my path as a studio engineer. I engineered/produced songs and jingles for Ford and many artists. During this phase in my career, I was fortunate to be part of the writing process and wrote songs for Emilio and different artists. I was blessed to be part of a Grammy nominated album and Grammy winner album also a Tejano award. I wrote songs that are on many compilations and till this day I still write. One of the proudest moments besides the birth of my son and daughter was when the San Antonio symphony performed a couple of songs I wrote with Marc. I still get the chills when I think about it! At that moment I felt like an accomplished songwriter. Ever since then it has been my mission to have my own recording studio and I built a home studio called ReelMixx. My studio has produced several artists from country, jazz, tejano and different genres. I feel the decades of knowledge and experience helps my clients be at ease and trust me with their projects.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Throughout the years of being a musician/producer I managed to acquire a degree from Texas A&M. I have been an educator in technology for 20 years in the public school system. Sense of music and technology have given me a full aspect into the engineering music field. As a musician, I have played drums with many artists from different genres across the globe. I have also built a community of musicians and friends that are my clients and trust me with their music. I am blessed to have the opportunity to create music with amazing musicians.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

To be honest, my clients are the musicians I have played with throughout the years. My studio takes on projects that are meaningful and challenging. We tend to stay away from commercial business and just take on private projects. We care about the product that comes out of the studio.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.edwardorivas.com
• Facebook: Reelmixx Studio

Image Credits
Munoz Brothers – Toro Quartet