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

Farrokh, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

In the music industry as a striving Recording Engineer if your lucky one day you will be presented with an opportunity to step into the Engineers shoes. If you aren’t able to do so you will never get called back! Unexpected emergencies can put you in the drivers seat before you expected it. In fact this is the very reason why I got the opportunity to rise faster than usual because my successor was under prepared and therefore got passed over. It is a fast paced job as you never want to keep an artist waiting, this stalls their creativity and can ruin your session. Just learning the basic fundamentals of recording and the gear used to do so is essential right form the very beginning.

Farrokh, 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?

As a teenager I grew up playing guitar in India. My first band “Groove Gully” was signed to Universal Music Group, India. Under which we released our debut album “Take a Chance”. Soon after I left the band to further my music carrier at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where I earned a bachelors degree in Contemporary Writing & Production. After graduation I moved to Los Angeles where I was fortunate enough to record some amazing musicians like Mulit-Platinum singer Lupe Fiasco, Grammy winners like Robert “Sput” Searight, etc. In recent years I was one of the mix engineers for ÁTTA and Blóoberg by Grammy Nominated artist Sigur Rós, as well as Production Sound/Location Sound Engineer for Short Film “Walk, Run, Cha-Cha” which was Oscar Nominated.
I am a recording engineer as well as a mixing engineer for music, dialogue and sound effects. I also Play guitar and compose music as an artist/performer. What sets me apart from most engineers is that I have spent as much time performing as I have recording so I am able to understand both sides and therefore I am able to communicate and achieve goals faster. As an engineer I know how to describe exactly what I need to the musicians because I have been in their position countless times.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

1) Leaving my family behind (in India); to go to music college was hard and continues to be difficult as my parents get older and new family members are born. During Covid I couldn’t visit home and then I started a New job at so i didn’t want to ask for time off, I ended up not visiting India for 5 years. 2) When I was 29 the studio I managed closed as the owner moved away from Los Angeles. I had to take a massive step down in order to continue working in the music industry. At the age of 30 I once again became a runner at a different recording studio! Thankfully it paid off and I am now a Recording Engineer and Assistant Engineer at one of the few remaining Legendary Hollywood studios – Sunset Sound Recorders.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goals depend on what hat I am wearing that day/hour/moment. As an engineer it is to capture the highest quality audio for the performers, artists and composers who have worked so hard constructing their songs.
While producing artists it is important to create a comfortable environment that facilitates freedom of creativity. Someone has to gently steer the ship and maintain productivity.
As a guitarist I want to play parts that best suit the song.
At the end of the day the goal is to create music I can be proud of and hope that it stands the test of time!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @fnssound
• Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/@farrokhshroff5328
• Other: Original Music Album https://album.link/us/i/1582055581

Image Credits
Farrokh Shroff (myself)