We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Shanks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.

Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

A message from vishruti popped up in my inbox. Interesting I thought…lowercase artist name…

She said that a friend had given her my contact and said we might be a good fit to work together. The email included an attachment of a demo she had been working on called “changing cities”. Also lowercase…

As a producer, the very first time listening to a song is a super important moment. It’s one you can never get back. It’s where the only thing that matters is emotion; not the song structure, the background harmonies, the bass line… just pure feeling. I don’t take notes the first time (but definitely the second time). Also, audio quality matters little. A great song will sing from whatever speaker you play it through. I clicked the attached mp3 on my phones screen and sat down on the couch.

Immediately I was transported into a nebulous world of melancholy… luscious reverberated piano chords enveloping an exotic female voice lamenting a lover long gone yet still present. My excitement grew when I heard her belt the high notes of the chorus like a budding Adel, yet clearly something unique. I knew we would make a great record together. I pressed play for a second time and grabbed my notebook.

We decided to do 4 songs, 1 single and a 3 song EP. With vishruti, E=everything fell into place so effortlessly that I don’t remember many details. The whole project felt like a dream, bouncing ideas off of each other like a see saw going back and forth. I believe the we finished in three months, which is not too long for creating an EP from the ground up and escpecially because this was during the Covid lockdowns.

The first single, “changing cities reprise”, ended up getting over a million streams online and earning vish a 2021 Spotify Fresh Finds India Artist of the year. I’m very grateful to have worked on a project like that and especially thankful to the artist and her label for trusting me with their art. Also, as it sometimes happens with this line of work, one ends up finding a new best friend in the process. Unfortunately we live continents apart now, but can’t wait to go to India to recconnect.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been working in the music industry for 15 plus years. I started out as a guitarist. I’ve performed with artists all over the world like Duncan Sheik, Suzanne Vega and Mando Saenz.

In 2019 I decided to attend graduate school at Berklee in Valencia Spain to study music production and performance. Since then, I’ve owned an ever-growing studio where I grow songs from the ground up for my clients or simply mix tracks for other artists.

However with music production, the service I provide clients is not just a place to get their ideas recorded. I envision myself as more like a director of a film, seeing to it that every detail of the project is tended to as best as possible. Also I’m not just an engineer, I’m more of a collaborator or a sounding board to get the best out of my artists. When two heads are working in sync together it’s a truly remarkable thing. The project can be taken to such greater heights that way and it’s way more fun having a partner in crime! Also, I often will play many of the instruments myself on the records I’ve produced, anything from classical guitar to a toy melodica.

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

My goal is to take my artist’s project to the next level; create something unique that’s never been heard before yet something that also feels genuine.

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

When someone listens to a song I’ve produced or hears me perform and says something like, “that really touched me. It reminded me of my grandma that is no longer here.” It’s comments like that that make it all worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://michaelshanksmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelshanksmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelshanksmusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-shanks-7778122b/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf0gUMvQcCbZjeot9JQJKiw