We recently connected with Ryan Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

As I work in the music industry there are always different trends happening. The most recent and maybe the most important trend is using AI to make songs. This has been a very controversial topic as it’s seen as something that could be a detriment to recording artists as well as producers, engineers, writers etc. I myself personally feel AI could be a useful tool, Just like anything else it’s about how it’s being used. However anyone in music industry feels about it, it is here and it’s getting better everyday so everybody including myself should learn how to use it and then apply it in ways to enhance the music. I also say this because I recently was offered a gig for a big recording and it involved using AI. I unfortunately did not know how to use it at the time and lost out on the gig. So that for me was a quick lesson learned to stay with the times.

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 pretty much became an audio engineer by accident. At first I wanted to be an artist manager and that’s what I was doing. I was managing a rap group from my neighborhood and 1 of the group members was technically the engineer as he was the person doing the recording. We had the studio equipment set up in my apartment so one day it was just myself & Chase one one of the group members. He was running back and forth from my living room to my bed room to record himself and this is something he’s always done but for some reason that particular day I happen to notice and ask him if he wanted me to push record for him. He said Yes and as soon I pushed record I became fascinated with what I was doing and from there I slowly became the groups new engineer and a few years later I went to school, graduated, got an internship and I’ve been in the music industry ever since. Now I’m currently the chief engineer of IMI Studios in the Lower East Side of Manhattan where we provide recording, ,mixing ,voice over & podcast services.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This isn’t one particular story, but more so something that’s happened multiple times. So since l finished school and became an engineer professionally at about 3 studios I worked at and called home were shut down and I was stuck trying to figure out what to do and where to go for work. Of course freelancing is always an option for an audio engineer but I spent the early days in my career freelancing and I wanted a place to call home. At the end of the day though you do what you have to do to make money and pay your bills so I went back to freelancing until I came across where I’m currently working at now IMI Studios.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Personally for me I’d say my personality and my work ethic. My personality because I’m not too quiet during my sessions but I’m not too chatty either. It’s all about reading the room you’re in and the people you’re around and I think I do that pretty well. Also I show that I care about the quality of work the client is receiving as well as me giving input and guidance when necessary. As for my work ethic, it goes back to me saying I care and I show I care. For my clients I always go the extra for them as far as the quality of work I’m giving them, whether it’s a recording or mixing session. Whenever they ask for files to be sent to them I make sure to send them as soon as I possibly can or I’ll have someone from the studio do it for me. If I know a particular client of mine likes to have candles or snacks in the room during their sessions I try to have these things in the room for them so they can feel as comfortable as possible so it’s easier for them to work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mixed_by_boogie

Image Credits

MannyPiqs
Omni Photography