We recently connected with Thanos Willey and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Thanos, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

One of the people that I look up to is Tom Dowd. He was a physicist, recording engineer, and a producer. He was innovative in his use of multitrack recording and also popularising stereophonic sound. His involvement in The Manhattan Project during World War II and his achievements in the music industry are inspiring to me.

One of the lessons that I learned from Tom Dowd was to work hard and stay consistent. Both are key to accomplishing goals over time. Tom Dowd has influenced me by developing a deep appreciation of physics pertaining to sound and the world we live in. It is a subject that I enjoy studying routinely as it is a part of acoustics as well.

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.

Well first off, in case anyone is curious about my name, yes. I am named after Thanos from Marvel’s Avengers. My dad has always been a big Marvel fan. Back in 1992, he got a copy of my birth certificate signed by Stan Lee. I never met Stan. However, I have the utmost respect for him and his achievements.

My interest in audio production began in 1998. Back then, my family and I visited my Uncle Robert in Port Arthur, TX. He had renovated his garage into a recording studio. He had a pearl drum set mic’d up with Shure SM57s and several Fender guitars hung on the walls by the sound booth. I was fascinated by the gear and the room. That’s where it started for me.

Not long after in 1999, I was fortunate that my uncle Pete gave me a Washburn acoustic guitar. I still own and play that guitar to this day. Over the years, I continued to play guitar and studied classical singing. Eventually, I dove into audio engineering. During my senior year in high school, I started my first job working with KISD TV. That’s where I developed my skills in live sound and video production.

After I graduated, I started working at Guitar Center for a few years. I met a lot of great people there as well and made some good friends. There was one audio engineer I met when I worked there by the name of Nick Guage Todd. He mentored me when I started live sound for theatre. I learned a lot from him. Nick is one of the hardest working engineers I know. It was because of Nick and my former supervisors in KISD TV, Randy Hudson, Brad Retz & Jerry Wilson that I had a decent foundation of knowledge and experience to build on.

Eventually, I went on to mix front of house for musical theatre and artists of many genres for several years. The experience I gained working in live sound was invaluable. Although my background consisted of live sound, I had always wanted to pursue studio recording and production. That became my next step. I was fortunate to work in KISD TV’s new recording studio in 2013 – 2016. It was a great experience.

In 2015 I attended the Art Institute of Austin to further my knowledge and education. My former teachers, George Oldziey, Adam Fangsrud, Kyle Evans, Marloes Polman, and Robert Nabbe, were phenomenal. I learned a lot from them as well. While attending the Art Institute, I was a studio maintenance tech.

I soldered cables, installed patch bays, repaired equipment, and performed maintenance on recording consoles (SSL Duality, Toft, Digidesign, etc.). From 2015 – 2018 I recorded bands, orchestras, and sound designed for my friend Ben Gibson’s former video production company YOUvolution in Austin, TX.

Over the last seven years of having different jobs in the audio field, I found that I enjoy working with music, film, and podcasts. Later on in August 2020, I ran into Eric Meyer, the owner of The Noiz Faktory Recording Studios in Georgetown, TX. He invited me out to meet with him at his studio, and I have been working with him ever since then. Eric is a good man. He is kind, honest and lives with integrity.

At Thanos X Productions, I record, mix, master, and sound design for film, music, and podcasts. My freelance business started back in Jan. 2015. It started off with sound for film. Between 2015 – 2017 I worked with my friend Ben Gibson’s company Youvolution as an audio engineer. I recorded and directed ADR sessions, sound designed, and mixed short films. After getting into sound for film, I fell in love with it.

I enjoy synthesis and sound design. It is fun to create custom sounds that bring a movie to life. My love for sound design eventually led me to work on podcasts as well. Working on podcasts is also enjoyable because often music and cinematic sound design can be implemented. Aside from podcasts and sound for film, I love working on music too.

I engineer, edit, mix, and master music as well. Mixing live shows in the past gave me experience with artists and bands of several genres. Thankfully that experience translated to the studio side regarding interaction with musicians and running recording sessions. Over the years, I have recorded some incredible artists, bands, and orchestras. I love working on music because it makes me feel happy.

There’s nothing like the sound of a well-rehearsed band singing tight harmonies or an orchestra performing Mozart in an excellent concert hall. It’s simply inspiring. That’s why I enjoy working with music. Regardless of the production, whether it be a short film, podcast, or engineering a record, I will always do my best to make everything sound good.

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

There have always been challenges to be met and overcome every step of the way. When I first started working, the goal was to gain experience however I could. I took whatever gigs came my way to gain experience.

As a result, I ended up doing live sound for several years. Although I had gained video production experience on previous jobs, the main goal was to become an audio engineer. One of my first live sound jobs was mixing FOH for musical theatre. I did that for a few years while working at Guitar Center.

– Shortly afterwards I went to college to expand my knowledge and skills. From 2015 – 2018 I attended The Art Institute of Austin full-time. I lived over 51 miles away from the college. My commutes were long and gruelling. While I was there, I freelanced, had a part-time job, and was often up late studying. I would drive to school in the morning before dawn and back home in the evening after dusk.

When I had to work, I would drive even further. There were countless sleep deprived nights on the road that I could’ve ended up in a fatal car accident. I am lucky to still be alive. While in school, I freelanced as much as I could, recording artists, mixing live shows, doing ADR sessions, sound designing, etc. It took time to learn and become proficient in different areas of audio engineering.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have always been fascinated with recording and production since I was kid. My goal was to find something that I enjoy and to make a living out of it. Audio engineering was it. I enjoy working with artists, podcasters, and film makers. It is an opportunity for all of us to come together to do what we enjoy and make an awesome product in the process. My mission is to produce the best work possible with whomever I work with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thanosxproductions.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Thanos-X-Productions/100094377320598/?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/thanos-w-822390178
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkb_xXtN-GpFajEDgvvIaBoqrgYaNxImv
• Other: https://youtu.be/_wokK-ccu5k

Image Credits
Photos by Eric Meyer & Cerria Humphrey.