Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zukye Ardella. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Zukye, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I feel as though you should not have to ask family or friends to support your business. It is something that should be done without asking. If they love and care about you, they should be supportive of all your aspirations long as they are positive ones. On the flip side, the support should not necessarily be monetary. I don’t believe it is appropriate to constantly ask family or friends for money to support because people have their own personal life situations going on. However, support can be something as simple as reposting an advertisement on social media, showing up to an event, or words of affirmation. When I was seriously pursuing my music career, I did not always get the support I felt I needed from certain family members. Don’t get me wrong I have always had amazing friends and family around me throughout my lifetime. But when I decided to quit my job to work in music full-time I did not get the words of affirmation I expected from some very important people in my life. I am not upset at them because the lack of support came from a place of love. I had a degree in Pre-Medicine and was suppose to pursue and medical career so to quit that for music seemed ludicrous to them. However, I was 100% sure I was making the correct decision and I needed them to trust and believe in that.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Zukye Ardella is a New York City based certified gold audio engineer, music producer and acting partner of s5studio a states of the art commercial recording studio in New York City. Ardella’s passion for creating music began as a childhood hobby and morphed into talents that were carried into the career she has today. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Medicine, Ardella denied medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time musician.
How I Got Into My Industy: In 2013 after graduating college in North Carolina I knew was coming back to NYC I wanted to firgure out how to become a professional music producer. I had absolutely no clue how I was going to do this. So I started out going around the city and producing for whatever indie artist I could find and started making record with them.
In 2015, I met Sonny Carson at the original s5studio which , at the time, was a recording studio with one room in a dual purpose loft located in Brooklyn, New York. Carson is the owner/founder of s5studio. He is also a music producer and engineer. He was the only engineer at his studio at the time and had amassed over 700 clients on his own. He was overwhelmed with the work, seen the consistent work I’d been doing on my own as a producer and basically said “I can teach you everything I know about engineering and once you are efficient you can take on some of my clients and work here.” This was the beginning of my professional career. I was consistent and eventually became a great engineer which , in turn, made me an even better producer. This also gave me access to more artists and the ability to make money from music. I produced and engineered projects for local and independent artists and eventually moved on to working with major label artists in 2017. During that time, I became a freelance engineer working with numerous reputable studios around New York City. All while purchasing my own high-end studio equipment. In 2021, Sonny and I teamed up to move s5studio to its current location in Chelsea, Manhattan.
What Type Of Services Do I Provide: Recording, Mixing, and Mastering services for all genres of music. Podcast services. ADR & Voiceover services. Production and Vocal Production.
What sets me apart from others: I am an amazing people person and I do not always charge a separate fees for my services. In a typical studio session with me, you will get recording, mixing, mastering, vocal production all for the same hourly price you would normally pay for an engineer to just record you. When someone books a studio session with me or any of my staff, you get an engineer, producer, vocal producer and more. I also really care about everyones’ music and the final product that they leave with. Whether I am working with worst artist or the best artist, I really do give my all everytime. Lastly, I am a woman of color, which I consistantly hear is scarce in my job field.
What I am most proud of: The ability to work in an environment with people that I genuinely enjoy. Sonny, the entire s5tudio staff, and the majority of our clientele are like one big family and even new clients tend to feel this energy. It’s a very welcoming and home-like environment. I am also proud of the quality of sound we produce. s5studio has arguably the one of the best sounds in the city. Since moving to Manhattan we have worked on a good deal of amazing records and when I am walking down the street I get to hear them playing on people’s car radios, stores, in clubs etc. That is a great feeling. I am also (last but CERTAINLY not least) happy about the opportunities we provide young, up and coming producers/engineers (internships, jobs, one-on-one teaching etc).
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Consistency. Also Quality over Quantity. I consistently post things relevant to my work and I have been since I started, However I will goa couple without posting if I do not feel I have any posts of quality. Your IG page or TikTok etc is like your resume these days so what you post is important. If there is ever a time I have to go months without posting I make sure I keep my followers entertained with occasional stories or reels etc.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @TheyCallMeZuu
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zukye-ardella-ab073923b/
- Twitter: @TheyCallMeZuu
- TikTok: @theycallmezuu_