We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Kennedy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.
Let me tell you about one of the craziest events that ever happened in my career. One afternoon I was hanging out at the studio doing some office work and taking calls. The phone rings and on the other end of the line is a representative from the record label Prospect Park. First they inquire if a time and date is available, I reply yes, then they said they would like to go forward with scheduling for that time for KORN. I said could you please repeat that, did you say the session is for the rock band KORN. They replied yes, they would like to schedule the time for KORN to record horn tracks and possibly drums for a remix project they are working on and they will be accompanied with their live engineer Marko for assistance. Everything confirmed and I screamed, Holly Crap, KORN is coming to the studio. I am a huge fan of KORN, listened to them for a good part of my life. I was so nervous, I am about to engineer a session for KORN. The day of the session came and I am equally excited as nervous. I get there and start getting the live room setup, Marko arrived early wearing a awesome jacket with KORN embroidered on it, its starting to get real. We get the session prepped and finished setting up for the horn section. Then (drum roll) KORN arrives, not the whole band, its Jonathon Davis and Ray Luzier. Both of them super nice and fun to meet. Horn players get there and knocked out their parts. Next they decide to record some drums, I will never forget the thoughts running through my mind that I was eqing a kick drum for KORN. They were at the studio all night, recording more vocals, B3 and percussion. It was a great session, everything went perfect.
Matt, 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 name is Matt Kennedy, I am a Audio Engineer / Music Producer and work out of Empire Sound Studio in Carrolton Texas. I began as a electronic music producer / dj and attended Full Sail University to receive degrees in Recording Arts and Music Business. After graduation in 2006 I began an internship at a recording studio in Dallas where I worked my way to assistant engineer and then to staff engineer. In 2018 I made the decision that I wanted to start my own company and began working as a freelance engineer out of Empire Sound Studio, where I am also a staff engineer. What sets me apart from others is the amount of care I put into their projects and the desire for their success. I am most proud of that I have been able to create a full time career as an audio engineer / music producer that supports my family. What I want most for artists to know about my services is that I can take their musical dreams to audible reality.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
For a song I mixed to win a grammy.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Being in a creative job field such as music can be challenging. There is no set of rules or formulas to create an end product. Every song and every artist is also different. People who have worked in the industry for years have developed methods that work great for them and I highly advise beginners to try and learn from veterans. The industry is constantly changing with sound trends that you have to not only keep up with, but understand how to implement these things into your current work flow that works best for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mixedbytheengineer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedbytheengineer/
Image Credits
Jay Indigo Andrew Sherman Electrik Ants Thanin Viriyaki