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

Alright, Nolan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I started Monigold Studios as an Instagram account to keep track of the work I was doing, from shows to recording/mixing credits. After enrolling at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 2017 I realized through bouncing around multiple studios and having consistent clients that a physical studio space of my own would be more beneficial in the long haul. I setup my first official recording space Grandpa’s Attic (in honor of my grandfather who was always more than supportive). One quick meeting with a lawyer I met in Music Business class, and Monigold Studios LLC was born! It’s come a long way from the simple attic studio in college, now headquartered at Chapter Room Recording in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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

I started off wanting to go into mechanical engineering and design robots. My parents are music educators and the arts were always fostered for me growing up. Watching the making of “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen opened my eyes to production as a career, and I officially caught the bug the first time I got behind a soundboard in high school working with a local band.

In college I started my first studio Grandpa’s Attic, and started working seriously with the group TasteFull. They were the first group to come into the studio, sit down and play me half their album ‘Radha’ on the first day, and allowed me to grow with them and the production as we all learned. We were in Florida on a recording trip when the 2020 Pandemic started, which inevitably delayed the process of the album. This would become a blessing in disguise as we got to truly open up the project and take our time with it. That project opened my eyes to the importance of detail in a performance, but also showed me the importance of relationships. When spending countless hours with a group, having them become lifelong friends along the way makes it feel like anything but work. I’m eternally grateful to TasteFull for trusting me with their vision.

After college, I began interning with Grammy Award-winning producer/mixer/finisher Ken Lewis (Credits on Taylor Swift, BTS, Alicia Keys, Wu-Tang, etc) and have soaked up every bit of knowledge that I possibly could. Having an opportunity to be around someone with such deep knowledge of the industry on all facets is something that if you’re ever given the chance, jump at it. Since starting as an intern, I’ve climbed the ranks to be an official assistant at Ken’s thATMOS Studios, a badge I wear proudly.

Honesty and integrity are the only ways that any of these relationships I’ve had the fortune of fostering exist; You are nothing without your word and your name. We hold ourselves to a higher standard not because we want to, but because the client deserves nothing less.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Truthfully, we have never spent a dime on specifically paid advertising. Social Media has been the key to leveraging our position within the Cincinnati music scene. Overall, the account @MonigoldStudios was started to catalogue the work being done and connect all of the personnel/performers credits in one place. Distribution services like DistroKid and others don’t always deliver and show credits across all platforms, and with little to no physical liner notes ever distributed there are often essential roles that go uncredited. Credits are your resume in this industry, and using my Instagram account to track and connect others who shared efforts on a project has been very helpful in the long term.

Monigold Studios also produces live events, starting with house and bar shows, and most recently focusing on Bellevue Hill Pavilion down the street from UC campus. These shows have been crucial in growing the awareness of the studio, along with helping to give opportunities to artists from every genre and skill level. We believe strongly in community, and have leveraged social media to help grow that community without a cent of ad-pay.

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?

Something that is often misunderstood about creatives is their priority of time. Many of us work scheduled jobs, be it 9-5, part time, or even vending at a street fair. In all those situations, you’ve got a scheduled start and end time. For many creatives, there is a constant river flowing in their brain that can’t really be turned off, and that often causes schedules to cease to exist in a normal sense. The amount of sessions I’ve been in that have run until 2am because the performer is still delivering heat are countless, and also happen to be my favorites! I strive to schedule myself so that if a client gets in a run, we can keep going and not stress about the clock running out (in an ideal world). Obviously this is different when taking business into account, but from the creative side, if your artist friend or partner tells you they’re “wrapping up, be home in 20 minutes!” there is a good chance you won’t see them for another two hours! This is NOT because they don’t care about you, much the opposite! They just locked in to get something done quickly, and fell down the rabbit hole making amazing work! Catching the muse is a true thing, and when it’s there we grab on and don’t let go.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.monigoldstudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monigoldstudios
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-monigold-154073156
• Other: Muso.ai Credits: https://credits.muso.ai/profile/5dc5bbf7-9f66-4fba-82af-73d13b33aec7

Image Credits

Brenna Nicole
Sydney Gregory