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

Rob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

The role of producer and its importance are slowly disappearing from the recording industry. Before the advent of the worldwide web, music streaming services, and social media, the numerous roles in recording and releasing music were distinct and well-defined. For decades, a recording artist’s job was to write songs, make records, and play shows. Once the internet came along, the entire music business was democratized. Virtually overnight, someone could use record an album at home on their laptop instead of spending potentially thousands of dollars on recording studio time. Music could be downloaded and enjoyed instantly rather than taking a trip to the record store. Suddenly, a recording artist had to work several jobs: musician, publicist, social media manager, recording engineer, and, of course, producer. Now that everyone was able to record themselves at home, everyone could call themselves a ‘producer.’ So this begs the question: are they? Almost never. The role of producer existed for so long for good reason. To be successful, a recording artist needs a more objective set of eyes and ears on their work, someone who can focus on the larger picture; someone who can act like the director on a film set. A director often is working to overcome technical, creative, and interpersonal challenges all at once. To ask an artist to do all of these things while simultaneously produce the best performance every time is a dubious prospect. This is why the role of producer is so important. Behind countless iconic acts was an iconic producer. Behind Michael Jackson was Quincy Jones. Behind The Beatles was George Martin. These creative problem-solvers kept these artists moving towards even greater heights of creativity. Today, in an era where revenues for streaming songs is abysmal and live music venues are more hesitant than ever to pay their performers, convincing an independent artist to invest in a creative team is a tough sell. Artists often don’t fully understand what a producer does, let alone why he/she is important and a valuable investment. Therefore, if you’re a producer actually trained in your craft but not working for a major label, it can be tremendously difficult to find artists, let alone those willing to pay you for your time and effort. Without clients, there is no profit margin.

Rob, 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?

I’m a music producer, engineer, and technician based in LA. I’ve been playing and listening to music since I was a kid. I got my formal education at Musicians’ Institute, where I also taught myself electrical engineering. After I started producing recording artists, I founded Merlin Electronics, an online shop where I restore, rebuild, and sell vintage recording equipment. What I offer to the independent recording artist is an intimate understanding of the real, physical tools of serious music making. I’m also a musician at heart and my knowledge of the inner workings of music itself enables me to help an artist discover their own unique sound.

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

I learned my mission from one of my mentors, Max Butler. Max is a technician specializing in Hammond Organ repair. A Hammond B-3 is a glorious instrument that I didn’t even realize I had been listening to in songs in almost every genre until I met Max. Most of the people who hire him to fix or restore their organs aren’t even aware how incredible their instruments can sound until he finishes the repairs. Most people’s conception of what a B-3 sounds like is actually a neglected or even malfunctioning piece of equipment. It was when I observed this that I realized: music production has been in the digital realm for so long, relying on digital emulations, computerized imitations of real equipment, that we’ve forgotten what the real thing sounds like. My mission is to connect the musician back to the joy of analog process of music creation.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

This is a subject I never thought I’d be qualified to speak on. When I was barely starting to learn music production, one of the major inspirations that drew me to my craft was my fascination with the electronic synthesizer. I was a classically trained musician who had played saxophone and other woodwinds in orchestras and jazz big bands for years, but never had any role models to encourage my interest in purely electronic analog instruments. The 2020 pandemic afforded me lots of time to learn about analog synthesizers and eventually start collecting them. As I learned how to use these instruments, I was struck by how often certain synthesizers had been used on songs I loved. I then tried to recreate the sounds that iconic artists made on these synthesizers as accurately as I could. This was initially just a method to practice my skills, but it ocurred to me that the average social media user might find it interesting to see well-known songs deconstructed. I borrowed some synthesizers from my mentor and tried to publish content as regularly as a could. Sure enough, I had a video go viral. Followers flooded in and before I knew it, my audience had grown tenfold. For anyone who might need help starting out, I’ll share my mantra for posting content: ask yourself: “will someone with zero knowledge of your craft find this interesting?” If you can put yourself in their shoes, you may just find some traction.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://robmaile.com
• Instagram: @robmaile
• Other: TikTok: @rob-maile

Image Credits

Chad Gledhill