We recently connected with Leland Grant and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Leland thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
About two years ago a pipe burst in the studio and flooded the entire building. Everything had to be gutted from the walls to the floors to the ceilings, and a bunch of my audio gear was ruined beyond repair in the standing water.
An engineer friend of mine in town told me I should do a GoFundMe, which I was initially against. But he pushed me to do it and I’m thankful he did because in reality, I was losing money, potential clients and time. In retrospect, I don’t know how I would’ve done it without the GoFundMe because it took two years to build my studio back to where it was.
Anyway, to answer the question, the kindest thing anyone’s ever done was a friend very generously donated $5000 to the GoFundMe, which doubled my goal in less than 24 hours of putting up the page… I was humbled and brought to tears by how the community, here in Nashville, rallied around my loss and somehow turned the flood into a heartwarming moment. I still think about this every day when I go to work in my newly renovated studio.
Leland, 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?
Day to day, not only do I run and own a recording studio, but I also write songs and produce records. I am constantly doing a multitude of things scattered across different tasks and working projects which keep me busy.
Like anyone who is a full-time Musician, I can attest to the intense amount of focus and dedication it takes to hone the craft of playing your instrument, writing a song or working in a recording studio.
The people that I admire the most are those who really dive into the craft of whatever they’re doing with 100% commitment and passion. I try to emulate that every single day when I sit down in the studio and pick up a guitar
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I already talked a little bit about the flood, which was definitely a “what doesn’t kill me makes me better” situation. I was down for two years, rebuilding the studio, and somehow found a way to keep going… There were times throughout that period where I felt like stopping or that I was never going to be able to recover not only financially, but from the client list that I had to send to other studios and producers during the downtime of the flood.
Looking back, obviously I’m glad I stayed with it but resilience is an understatement, and without the community of friends and musicians that I have come to call home here in Nashville, I would not have made it through that or remained a professional in this business.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It’s funny, because I say it to myself all the time that eventually I want to write a book called ‘How Not to Build a Recording Studio’, and go through all of the things that I tried that didn’t work or so many times when there was a “cheaper option“ but in the end, it ended costing me more money… I think this is true in every business, but there are so many nuanced components that go into being successful in the recording studio industry. It’s funny to me to look back and reflect on just how many things I’ve had to unlearn that I thought I knew when I started out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.southlightsound.com
- Instagram: southlightsound
- Other: www.lelandgrant.com
Image Credits
Craig Young, Dusty Barker