Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sean Whiteman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sean, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

The audio world has grown exponentially in the past 20 years. With the digitization of hardware plugins and new DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) options it has never been easier to record yourself. A lot of these programs are now basically doing the work for you when it comes to mixing. This has driven me in to the field of doing a lot more live sound for corporate gigs and less in-studio work for bands and artists. Also, people are surprised by the amount money they need to spend to pay for quality studio services, and the competition for recording studio clients is very intense.

Sean, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a child in the 1990s I had parents (like many other) that learned signing your child up for music lessons was good for their development. At the age of 7 my parents signed me up for piano lessons and I quickly disliked what felt like extra homework. So, after 2 years of piano lessons I learned that I was allowed to pick my instrument as long as I took music lessons once a week. I figured if I chose the drums my parents would quickly get sick of all the noise and I’d be off the hook. Well, it turns out that drumming is quite fun. I loved learning songs and playing along with bands that I loved. This passion grew as I entered my teens and I quickly found other kids to try to start a band with. Obviously it did not go well and we were horrible, but it was a stepping stone. By the age of 16 I joined an established local band with all the members in their 20’s. This gave me a chance to play local venues across the valley. After entering college I found myself wanting to play heavy music so I joined up with some friend’s of a friend and created a band called Keep Your Distance, where we gained a following from the “scene metal” fan group. While in this band we able to record with Matt Good from the band From First To Last. During this recording process I had already had a slight interest in recording, but I saw an opportunity to ask Matt for an Internship when he asked me to help him write drums for a vocalist who was recording songs with the hope to recruit members. During my internship with Matt I learned way more than I was ever able to in audio school. I interned for Matt for over a year and eventually left to create Interchange Audio, my recording company. Since then, I have also been doing live sound work for Sahna’s Music, and drumming in my band This Modern. I am also hoping to expand in to Sound Design too. Basically, I love to do anything sound related. When you get a good mix or nail a song you get the same satisfaction that you would if you were to build a house, and get paid for it. There is no greater feeliing.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I first started working in sound Youtube was still very new and there were no tutorials on how to mix in Pro Tools or even dial in a decent guitar tone. Now there are thousands of videos showing you how to do virtually everything you could possibly imagine. It would’ve been a nice source to have at the beginning of my journey, but I’m happy to have it now.

Question not found

I’ve noticed that a lot of people tend to underestimate the work it takes to get good sound at their event or in their recording. I’ve received calls of people panicking and asking me to come make their sound work. Don’t put yourself in that sort of position. Always hire a professional!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.interchangeaudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interchangeaudio/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interchangeaudio/

Image Credits
Timodesignco.