We were lucky to catch up with Jack O’Connell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jack, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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.

I took 8 years of private drum lessons with my now long-time friend and mentor, John Coale, starting in 2004 when I was around 10 years old. While taking drum lessons, I practiced the ways of performing and band dynamics starting with “Kidz Rock” bands at The Music Workshop, and graduating to playing countless shows at venues in and around Baltimore, including Soundstage, Rams Head Live, and Ottobar. I learned styles outside of my usual comfort of pop and rock while playing with my middle school’s jazz ensemble. I even played with liturgical and musical theater bands at my high school, Calvert Hall. I’ve also toured cities around the East Coast, which gave me important experience working through the politics of booking shows and engineering quality live sound.

I studied music industry and production beyond drumming when I attended a summer program at Drexel University. That experience cemented my decision to attend Towson University and major in Electronic Media and Film, focusing on audio engineering, with a minor in Music Industry. While working on my degree, I maintained a job which trained me in live sound and visual for Towson University’s event services, while teaching drum lessons from home. After graduating from college, I found the Unstoppable Recording Machine (URM) community, in particular their “Nail the Mix” sessions, as an invaluable resource to further my education in audio production, engineering, and mixing. Through that community, I’ve made countless connections from all over the world including my main mix assistant, Tiago Carvalho of Poison Apple Studios in Lisbon, Portugal.

Not that I regret going to college – without it I would have neither my current full-time job nor have had access to hands-on studio experiences – but I wish I had found the URM community sooner. I learned more from their moderators and members than from college coursework, especially in essential modern production techniques such as drum reinforcement, vocal tuning, and audio editing. In college, there were “rules” taught and I felt as though I was limited with what I could achieve from a production standpoint – engineering and mixing were the main focus. Through URM, I now feel more confident in my abilities to help songwriters mold their projects into something they can be proud of for the rest of their careers. I’ve learned that an idea is only as good as its execution, which I feel I do best. When I gained that confidence in myself, I began attracting artists who trusted me with their projects. Producing not only is a technical skill but a psychological one – therefore you need to know how to communicate well and be able to help them with anything they need in order to facilitate their creative process.

I am constantly working to hone my craft and learning new tips and tricks on how to produce the perfect record. I never produce a song the same way twice because I continue to learn new skills. Every project is different, and it can be a challenge to get the best out of an artist; sometimes I need to push them. It is imperative that my client and I share a vision of the finished recording. I have learned it can be difficult working with other musicians due to differences in creative energy and opinions. It really is like a marriage – communication is so important, and everyone needs to put in the work to play their part.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been involved in music most of my life, studying the drums since I was 10, and honing skills in the studio since college. I am dedicated to making an artist’s musical vision come to life through my broad industry experience and deep technical expertise.

I founded my studio O’Connell Sound to help artists achieve the success they strive to earn. To do so, I offer artists an environment that promotes creativity and premium sound, guaranteeing an exciting recording experience and the highest quality outcome.

I consider myself more of a music producer than a recording engineer. I do whatever it takes to make sure an artist’s songs are in top shape before getting down to recording. I plan and lay out the recording process, help draw out the artist’s best ideas and steer them through efficient and creative sessions before hitting record.

I am always looking to collaborate with like-minded artists to develop song ideas into something memorable and emotionally fulfilling. I especially enjoy working with singer-songwriters; there tend to be fewer cooks in the kitchen, fostering a personal connection with the artist.

I often write and record drum parts, which gives me some influence over the foundation of the artist’s songs. Unlike a typical session drummer, I not only develop drum parts to best suit their songs, but I work as a band member to rehearse with them before I go into the studio with my drum engineer – shout out to Mike Bridgett of The Monster House in Waldorf, Maryland.

I add nuance to recordings by sweetening tracks with parts supplied by my network of session musicians to ensure the artist and I have a full, textured recording. For a solo artist or those without a full band, I am ready with musicians who can help flesh-out the song.

I also assist with artistic development and serve as an advocate on the commercial release of the record. From my many years of experience playing with bands, I can advise on how to communicate with prospective managers and promoters. I always work to make the record heard by as many as possible.

I am particularly proud of an emo rap turned pop-punk/metalcore cover of the nothing, nowhere. track “Hopes Up”, that I produced with my long-time friend Mikey Kehr, known on Twitch as ThonggDeLonge. It has received recognition from producer Matt Squire (Panic! at the Disco, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato) and engineer Glenn Fricker (Spectre Sound Studios).

I am also excited to keep releasing songs from my band Backyard Games, which currently includes the single “Trevor (I Could be Anyone for You)”, and has garnered several thousand streams on Spotify and Apple Music this past year.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Some recording “rules” that were emphasized to me in college were: you have to EQ a snare drum a certain way, you have to use a specific microphone on a vocal, parallel compression on drums is bad – the list goes on. Sure, there are guidelines that every engineer should follow, but I’ve learned never to use them as crutches to “just get it done” or “fix it in the mix later”. I have committed myself to avoid cutting corners and not allow boundaries to get in the way of creativity. With each and every project I work on, the more I try to think outside of the box and make my productions stand out.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is nothing more rewarding than hearing your finished song and reflecting on all the hard work you put in to get to where it got. I can do what I truly love, by either playing drums or making music, and people get enjoyment out of it, whether it is playing at a restaurant to just the bartenders, or on a big stage in front of a ton of people.

I am also rewarded by meeting so many talented musicians and engineers that have become great friends and resources over the years to assist me with making my productions the best they can possibly be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oconnellsound.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jackondrums
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/oconnellsound
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/oconnelljack
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/jackondrums
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Se9fk7Jw6zMpmDanhOMoQ
• Other: SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/oconnellsound All Links: linktr.ee/jackondrums

Image Credits
Maxwell Brown, James Harper, Ian Bell, Chris Tracy, Pocholo Itona