The Self-Recording Band
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The Self-Recording Band
314: Can Recording Studios Be Sustainable? Why Michael Buschka Is Building His Studio Differently.
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Can recording studios be sustainable?
That’s the question we explore in this episode with Michael Buschka, a recording and mixing engineer from Germany who has built his studio around sustainability, conscious decision-making, and genuinely caring for the artists he works with.
Michael shares how he applies sustainable principles to every part of his business. From renewable energy and second-hand gear to ethical merch, banking, and the online services he uses. But the conversation quickly expands beyond sustainability.
We also talk about:
- Creating a recording environment where artists feel safe to be vulnerable
- Why rushing records almost always leads to disappointment
- How to build a mixing workflow that keeps the creative process fun
- Why finishing songs is one of the most important skills any producer can develop.
- Why artists perform better when they feel comfortable
- Why great templates improve creativity
- The value of mentorship and feedback
- Building a studio business around your values
Whether you’re a self-recording artist or an aspiring producer, this episode is full of practical ideas for making better records—and building a creative career you’ll actually enjoy.
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If this episode helps you, we’d really appreciate it if you left a rating/review or shared it with another self-recording artist. It helps us reach more musicians, invite exciting guests and keep the podcast going.
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For links to everything we've mentioned in this episode, as well as full show notes go to:
Michael Buschka:
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…followed by a clear plan to build your confidence and turn your demos into finished releases...
...plus the professional guidance to implement it all:
👉 Apply for coaching:
theselfrecordingband.com/coaching
We’ll listen to your music, create a custom plan for you, and help you execute it step by step.
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If you have any questions, feedback, topic ideas or want to suggest a guest, email us at: podcast@theselfrecordingband.com
Our guest today is Michael Buschka. He's a recording and mixing engineer from Germany, and he's in a very specific niche. So on the one hand, he does something that more people do, which is focusing on punk rock, hardcore, and alternative. It's a niche, but that's not like the the thing where he you know it's really different from many other people. But what's very different and very interesting to me is that he's all about sustainable uh running a sustainable recording in Mixing Studio. And we're gonna talk about that um on this podcast today because it's a topic that's top of mind for a lot of people, especially in the punk hardcore alternative scene. Um but in general, it's more people become aware of that. And I think it's very interesting to have someone um, you know, specialize in that and really care about that. And speaking about care, another thing that stands out to me about Michel is the care he puts into working with artists and the way he supports the artists he works with, guides them through the process, um, goes above and beyond, you know, even beyond the typical like audio services. So we're gonna talk about that as well. I had the pleasure of working with him inside of our coaching program. So I know that he does great work. I've seen the progress also the last couple of years, and I'm really excited to now introduce him to you and talk about his journey as a recording and mixing engineer, and specifically about his his niche and the values he cares about so deeply. So thank you for taking the time today, uh Michael, to be here with us and welcome to the self-recording band podcast.
SPEAKER_03Thanks for having me. That's a very nice introduction. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01That's true, it's true. Uh, and uh as always, I'm not doing this by myself. I'm here with my friend and co-host from Spain, Manel Espinosa Berenguer. Hello, buddy, how are you?
SPEAKER_00Hello, and as I always say, I'm really happy to be here uh once again, and I'm really happy because I think today I'm gonna learn a thing or two or three or four about sustainability, and that's a positive and really nice thing.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, happy to start with this episode. Awesome, man. Yeah. Um, if you're new to the show, my name is Benedict Hein. I'm the host of this. I'm a mixing engineer uh running a studio called Outback Recordings. We mix hundreds of songs every single year, and I've been doing that professionally for um more than 15 years at this point, or about 15 years at this point. Um, and I'm also running this platform, the self-recordingband.com, that includes this podcast and also a coaching program that we do where we help self-recording artists make better records from their gem spaces. And we also um guide and support you know artists that turn into professional engineers or engineers that are just starting out building their studio businesses. So, yeah, welcome. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please know that this is primarily a podcast. So you can listen on Apple uh podcasts, Spotify, all the podcast apps that you use, and vice versa. If you're discovering this on a podcast app and you want to see us and not just hear us, I don't know if that's better or worse. Up to you to decide. Then you can go to YouTube and also watch the video version of this. Uh so yeah, thank you for coming back to the show if you're a returning listener. And now let's get into this. So um, Michael, maybe give us a quick background info about you, like your journey so far, uh, how you got started doing this, um, and and what led you to the sustainability niche that you're now in.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Um yeah, it was a classic start with uh recording, like everybody here probably. Um, I had my own band, um, a pop punk band, um, a couple of years ago, maybe 10 years ago. And um we went to a studio. Uh the mix sounded like shit, or it sounded like uh a metal band. And I thought, yeah, I can do this better, probably. I had no idea what I was doing, but um I was very excited to do this better. Um and I tried it, it wasn't so good like it is in the beginning, and um, but I got hooked and um started to learn things, started to learn mixing, started to learn how recording went, and yeah, kept doing this this. Um, I went to um I had nail the mix and um learned a couple of things there when I was um at the coaching with you, um, learned a lot of more things there, and um yeah, now I'm here. Um I building up my studio right now. Um try to do this um as my main job um right now, but it's in the process, so I'm in the process of building this up, yeah. And for the sustainability thing, I don't know. Um I studied um in university sustainable buildings, so that's where I um went through the whole sustainability concepts and everything, learned everything, and um always in my scene, I wanted to do something better, so I started doing band merge as sustainable as possible with t-shirts, uh, the printing and everything. So everything we uh sold was um fair trade and sustainable. And um I also had a secondhand um shirt shop, like um, I don't know if you know um second band shirt in Germany, um something like that, but I always took it with with me. It was a small um suitcase um with some shirts or um some LPs. I sold it at my shows and um tried to do as yeah, as much as possible for that. And yeah.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Cool. So the the start of the audio thing was because it's a very typical story, actually, for a lot of people. It was because of your frustrations with that um result you got working with someone else, where it was maybe not just not a good fit, and then you decided to do it yourself. But also there was probably something in you that you know wanted to do it, like you probably also had interest in in the audio thing and the production thing, or was it really just because you wanted to do better? Like, did you you know, did have you been like a gear nerd or like interested in the technical side of things, or what was the reason you you we wanted to get into audio?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I was very interested in in that. Um but when I was 18 or 16 or something, I didn't have the money to do any of it, and um, it got cheaper and cheaper with the stuff you can buy, and um so I started to um to buy some an interface and um microphones, and um I was always interested in interested in that. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01All right, yeah. And then the sustainability thing obviously has also been something you've been interested in from the beginning because otherwise you wouldn't have started studying that, right? That's something that was important to you um in in many ways. Uh, does the band still exist that you were talking about?
SPEAKER_03Uh no, no, we it doesn't exist anymore. You still didn't break didn't break up, but uh like in a few band.
SPEAKER_01But that's like, yeah, yeah. You're still in a band today or in some other project? Do you make your own music in some way, shape, or form?
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, right now I'm still in the band. We had the um the songs recorded um in the program with you, and the bands still exist. The songs are at mixing um right now. Um we gave it to someone in the US, and um we're still waiting. But right now it's kind of a pause. Um one of us um yeah, got a son, and um, yeah, like it is every time. We're getting all that. Yeah, it's part of life, yeah. Yeah, but it's okay, it's it's fine. We can wait, and we don't, it's not very ambitious. Yeah, but we're starting our new band right now. Um as well.
SPEAKER_01Oh, cool. But uh but these mixes have been or these songs have been at in the mixing stage for a while now, haven't they?
SPEAKER_03Or maybe I'm yeah, um yeah. They have been, and um yeah, we s the plan was to send the the songs for mixing in September 2025, and we send it over in February 2006-26. So and that cost.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, okay. That's understandable. Yeah, I mean people are busy, and if you you know reschedule things, it can yeah, it can happen. Yeah, I get I get it. What's the new band about and what what's the what's the style of music for those two bands?
SPEAKER_03Um so the band I have right now, it's a classic mm, more of a classic Midwest emo band, emo band. Um yeah, with twinkly guitars and um yeah, yeah. We try to do be to be different, but every band does. Of course, yeah. And the new bands will be a grunge band, kind of like basement um or something like that. Interesting, cool, but still in the process. I wrote some songs already, but um finding new people is again a long journey to find the the right people who want the same things.
SPEAKER_01Uh what's what's your role in the band? Instrumental. I don't know yet.
SPEAKER_03Songwriter, um actually I play bass right now because um I didn't find a bassist, so um that's me. And but I was fine with playing bass or guitar or anything. Um but yeah, I was I'm searching for um someone to sing. Um because my songwriting or yeah, lyric writing skills are not the very best, so um I feel more comfortable, comfortable than if somebody else does it.
SPEAKER_01Alright, all right, yeah. Yeah. Uh just a little side like follow-up question on that. Because you said you're comfortable playing guitar or bass, um, it's it seems like it's not decided yet, finally, for this band. But um do you feel like I I mean you come from the guitar, probably, right? You're not a bass player originally. Yeah, yeah. That's why I was I wanted to ask. Uh do you feel that there's a big difference or new things you have to learn when you play bass? I'm asking this because I know because I'm a guitar player, turned bassist um as well. It's been a while, but it was my story as well. And I know a lot of examples where you know bands are like, well, you can play the guitar, so you might as well play bass. And then um, you know, it was the same for me. And then I had to realize those are not the same thing. I mean, I can uh you know, you can play bass like you would play the guitar, but like being really good at playing bass requires a different skill set often or a different way of thinking or serving the song. So I'm I'm just I'm just curious. Do you play bass like you would play the rhythm guitar, or do you have to think differently about how you play bass? Do you think those are two different skill sets?
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, both kind of both. Um, I started yeah, playing bass like guitar, and um but I felt very comfortable at playing bass, so um having the rhythm section to be my part um was something I I was very comfortable with and uh loved playing bass. Um and kind of I I felt it right probably, but it's I think it's easier with songs like pop punk punk rock songs um to switch from guitar to bass because um it's not the most complicated things, um and it's very straightforward, but the the main thing is to to keep the the rhythm up so to have a feel uh for the right with rhythm to play with the the drummer and um I think that's the what maybe some people who play guitar and play bass later don't don't see like that. But I also wanted to have bass solos like in guitar and and um I learned that that's not always the best thing to do.
SPEAKER_00Do you guys play the bass with pick or with your fingers?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, play with pick. I learned with fingers, uh or tried to play with fingers, I can do that, but um especially for the style for punk rock, crunch, um, pop punk. I don't know, playing with fingers is sound doesn't sound that how it should sound. It sounds good. Um in my actual band, um our bass is plays with fingers and it's all awesome, but um it depends on the on the style you play.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I play with a pig too. Um need to have that dangle dangle sound, you know. And um yeah. But it yeah, I know I know great bass players even in in genres like that that can play with fingers and it works. It depends on whether you have a real like the one band that always comes to mind for me that has an actual real rhythm section that's much better than most bands in a genre like that is hot water music that always comes to mind, you know. He's an incredible bass player. We had him on my other podcast actually a while ago, and that and like those two together, it's like the perfect rhythm section, and it works absolutely well with his style of finger playing. But in in my case, like hardcore um stuff, I just play with with a pick, yeah. Yeah, so okay, yeah, that's interesting. Um, but yeah, you mentioned you're comfortable and you see it as a rhythm section, and so you had the the transition was easy for you. I just see it often that people don't make that switch mentally and they just keep playing it like it's a guitar, and sometimes there's a lot of potential um lost terror, you know, that where you could do it better. Um that's just that's just something. And then what I personally like about playing bass, and I don't know if it's the same for you, it's just less strings to worry about. And like when I play live, I just like the fact that there's I feel like I can mess up less and I can move more freely, and I can, you know, there's it's like more forgiving in a live situation, which I also like. So um yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, playing live is is much more easier than guitar, and um, or at least for me, yeah. Um it makes more fun. You can you can move, like you said, and jump around and yeah, have fun on the stage.
SPEAKER_01That's yeah and people care less if you mess up, it's not as obvious.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, one one time I was uh I was playing and I was uh I don't know, I jumped during a song and I was plugging me out, but I didn't hear me on the monitors anyway. So uh I played the rest of the show um unplugged, unplugged, and um nobody noticed. I didn't notice, nobody noticed. That's wild. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It wasn't too loud to begin with, then probably if nobody noticed. Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah. So um, all right. Now back to the the sustainability, sustainability thing, real quick. Uh, when it comes to the studio, like what exactly, just for people, because I I'm sure listeners are wondering now, what exactly does this mean? And why did you take that concept to the recording studio in the first place? And like, yeah, what does this actually mean? Like, what do you do there to you know try to live those values in the business that you run? And um tell me just tell me everything that comes to mind about this, really, so we can understand.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, so the main thing is um how your energy is used. Um, so I have um so the main thing is in the studio is electricity and um how you use your energy. So um one thing I do is have um renewable energies for um as a service. So my energy provider does renewable energy, and um I think that's 80% of that, probably. Um and then I try to um have not much outbought gear or try to reduce that. Um right now I don't have much anyway, but um that's a concept I was thinking about to stay in the box completely because of uh energy usage.
SPEAKER_01Um it's an interesting take because usually people only talk about the workflow and sonic differences, and nobody talks about the fact that you use much less electricity if you stay in the box.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, but I don't know. Um I'm not there yet to um to say if I want to go that route. Um but that's the the main thing. Um and then you can look if you buy microphones, um mic stands and something like that. You have have you can buy them second hand. Um so you don't have to buy new products anytime, especially in audio. Um the secondhand stuff is treated so good, and I didn't have any problems yet with anything I bought. Um it's cheaper also, but um that's a side effect. Um but there are still things you can't buy secondhand, so like heater strings, um uh drum skins, um cables. I don't know. It's I'm not as a good electrician, so um yeah, I try to buy new cables all the time with when I buy them, but they hold a long time. So I don't know. Um that's maybe not the problem. Um and the other thing is everything that runs in the background. So um I use um for the studio, um, I use a sustainable um bank account um that goes with my values and um try to look up every service I use and every online service I use, like um Google Drive or something. I changed that to um sustainable alternatives. Um interesting. Um so Google Drive isn't that bad, um but yeah, as a guy from Europe, um it's like you don't want to be that uh dependable on US uh firms. And um yeah, I try to stay with uh European um services, online services and um that are uh run with uh renewable energy also. So that's that's the other thing. So everything that is in the background um should run with renewable energy um on on serverless. Um also try to um to look at to-do list apps and everything. Um so I'm it's a lot of yeah, it's a lot of effort and getting very into detail what what works for me, what not. And not every everything works, not every app is good. And um I'm still trying out the things, but um yeah, it's the goal to have as much renewable energy in the process as possible.
SPEAKER_01Very interesting, very cool. Yeah, it's a lot of effort maintaining this or like keeping on on top of the different options and apps out there, and like down to you know the different um software services and all that. It's like that's very impressive. Um and and also one thing that I really didn't think about that that much, but it's kind of obvious when you say it, is it's not just about the energy usage and where the servers are and the um or the the renewable energy type thing, it's also about how you buy stuff and avoiding, if possible, avoiding having to buy new stuff, you know, and and and reusing things, which is not something I've thought about much, but like it's totally true. Of course, it's more sustainable if things get used over and over again by different people. Um so yeah, it's it's an overall very, very interesting concept that I'm actually surprised that not more people, especially in our scene, are doing. Um, so I really like I really love to see that. And I still don't know if this is and it doesn't really matter that much because it's your values and that's alone, that alone is worth it. But I'm still sometimes wondering if it's an actual like business advantage as well, because you're attracting you know people that are into this and that value the same things, or if it's a disadvantage because you have to spend a lot of time and effort figuring these things out, and you're kind of limited in terms compared to people who do whatever they they want. And like I I really admire it, and it's inspiring, and it made me think about a couple things too. Um and but yeah, it's it's it's anyway, it's it's just interesting to me. And I think it can even be an advantage, you know. It's it's a niche, not many people are doing it, which I'm kind of surprised by. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I don't know yet if it's uh advantage or disadvantage. Um probably it doesn't matter, I think, um, because everything I do in the background, nobody know knows I'm doing that, and um not many people do care um about that, but um I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. On the other hand, it's I think it's never really a disadvantage to just um live your values in every single you know, every way possible. And so that's never a bad thing. And so yeah, it actually made me think because I'm I'm doing a couple of these things, these things, but not nearly to the degree that you do. And it's uh it's inspiring and really really cool to see. And like speaking of values, when you work on records, there's a couple of other things that I've always noticed that I I really liked and also the the when we work together. You're just a very kind person, which is not always the case these days. Like when you yeah it's like not everybody has great social skills, communication skills, and is overall you know kind and polite and and has values in that way. That's so I'm always I always love it when people are like that. And also how you care about the the artists you work with and all that is is also something that I want to really point out because from an artist perspective if you work with someone you want them to care about your music of course and about the result but also you want it to be an experience that goes even beyond just the the audio side of things and and um you know even the way you present yourself on the website is like you know you're you're coming from a perspective of understanding where the artists are and how much effort and time and they put into this and their heart and soul is in their music and uh you know you listen to them you take your time communicating with them and learning about their vision and all that and it's like I mean more people do that nowadays luckily but not nearly everybody and it's it's really cool to see that you yeah you you try to be that that partner in the two artists in many ways and and not just a simple service provider. You know you you really have the impression that you care about the art you work on.
SPEAKER_03So just wanted to say that yeah that's and like if I and if you and if and when if we talk about that like what does that look like like if someone comes to you wants you to work on their record and first of all what kind of services do you actually do and and what does the process look like when when people hire you yeah um so I do recording mixing and mastering um some V service services and um yeah it depends um a little bit. I try to um to talk a lot about the music with them at the beginning. So if I'm recording them and so doing the full production um and really try to choose in the first place someone I do care about the music. Because if I don't it's it's no fun for anybody. And um I can do that but um yeah if I don't care about the music I I I don't think I can do the best job I could do. And um yeah I try to talk about the music try to see um talk about references what bands they like what um what is the vision of the um of the songs or of the P they want to do or of the band um and that's kind of easy if they are in my scenes or if they are in the punk rock emo or um hardcore scene um you're almost always at the same level um with the people and um you I think I can understand very well with what they want and how we can talk about it and also how much time we need probably um to figure out something or um how much time they need to talk about it um and to set things up. And then I have so that's not a real process here. But then of course I have um I have some process um I do I have um um PDFs with um how to um yeah prepare for a recording session how to prepare your guitar and everything um so they can get they can go to the studio as prepared as possible and um so we have a good time the main goal is to have a good time in the studio and don't um don't think about the other stuff just play the songs and um so that's the most important thing for me. Also if a band says yeah we want to do uh six songs in three days um full production with drums guitar and everything um I also can do that but it's not my favorite thing to do um because I know they will be rushed I will I will be rushed um yeah and it was always a bad experience when I did that and nobody was really happy they they said yeah we we did our best but um the time um was so yeah we had so less time as we thought and um yeah that's a valuable lesson for people in general out there even if you're doing it yourself completely which most people are that listening to that are listening to this um the moment you have to explain to people why the record doesn't sound the way it should it's a bad thing you know like it's it's a typical yeah you know it's we like how it sounds but also like we were really we didn't have that much time you know and you start to justify why it sounds bad and you you don't want that you don't want to justify for the rest of your life why the record doesn't sound that good.
SPEAKER_01So just take your time do it properly and it will haunt you forever if it if it's not that great and you'll be very proud of it and you'll forget the effort, the money, the time it took very quickly but you'll be proud of the the result forever. And so think about future you be future you's best friend and make the right decisions there. And when in doubt just do less songs if it's a money thing you know whatever and and you just can't afford more than a week or more than like three songs or whatever. Instead of trying to do a full length in a couple of days maybe just do three songs and do them really really well and then see what happens and then do some more maybe you know like yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I feel like a lot of artists they you know they have reference which sometimes are bigger artists who have I don't know like big record deals or whatever and they want to do the same thing right to like make a full album with you know in a nice studio and all that to realize that you know that is very expensive many times and it's way better to like go for two songs but really good two songs and then you know move on from from there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah I I was a big fan of watching the um in 2005 or something um the Blink 182 uh album production videos on YouTube and um yeah for me recording process was uh renting a house and stay there for six months and do the whole recording and songwriting process there. And that's my kind of my ideal I don't know why anybody's doing that anymore. Yeah it's too expensive right now and the labels don't have the money for that or don't want to spend the money on that. Some people do it though. Yeah yeah but that's always the goal to have to have a good time and that's you can hear it in the songs always if you have a good time and if you are if it's an easy an easy time to play there and you're not rushed or anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah completely agree um one thing that you didn't mention when we talked about like the the care caring about artists thing and all that is um we like when we talked about when we worked together and we talked about some of these things you always also mentioned that you try to be and then this totally is fits your personality in my opinion but you also said that you want to be you want your studio or even if it's remote you want it to be like a a safe space as well for for people where they can really feel you know comfortable and and can you know be vulnerable and vulnerable what a word and um share openly you know their emotions and all of that because I mean that's part of creating art and not every artist is the same. Some people aren't don't have any problem with that but other people are maybe a little insecure maybe a little shy maybe they they have songs that are are about like really like topics that are super important to them but maybe not that easy to share and you want them to be uh to put all of the emotion and everything into the song and feeling comfortable doing that and some producers are just so bad at this like I've seen situations and I've heard stories of like uh people who don't who are just not able like who just don't have the social skills and the empathy to do that correctly and I think with a lot of artists this is such a valuable skill to have and so and it's also not too easy to communicate that and to build that kind of trust because you can say those things but you know as an artist I need to really know that that's the case and it takes you know some time to build that trust and that relationship but it's something worth pointing out as well because there are still not many not as many as there were maybe but there are still many like studio tyrants or like the cliche grumpy engineer you know who doesn't care about any of those things. And you're kind of the the polar opposite of that and um and yeah I mean that that's that's cool too you know and it's and I don't know how you feel about this still but we had this conversation once and I I think it is an important and sometimes overlooked part of it.
SPEAKER_03It is all the time if every band I talk to um so I every band I um friends of mine they always say yeah the studio experience was okay and um a bit rushed and uh not very personal and especially in in emo music um the people are aren't very uh yeah are sometimes insecure and um I know it myself um I started singing in my band right now and um I didn't sing before my whole life and started singing and I know how how insecure I felt I I was in the studio with playing guitar or bass is it's so easy for me. And um singing in the studio is a whole different level for me. And um yeah probably because I know how how hard it is to to sing in front of people um I don't want anybody to feel um insecure or not comfortable um but it's always something I don't know hard to to figure out if someone's if someone's insecure or um or something else or what to do if they are insecure it's always a process of finding that out and um yeah probably a lot to talking to them asking what's what could make them feel comfortable comfortable comfortable and um yeah but still figuring out how what's the best thing to do there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And it also it's not just a matter of being kind to people and like this whole personal thing. It just leads to better results as well because music is about emotion and about people you know being able to do their best takes and to really put their the emotion into the song. So it affects the results too.
SPEAKER_00So and then even it's true like for the DIY bands even within your band um and this is something I noticed a couple times too where if you are really close friends you everyone feels so comfortable in that and and and doesn't sometimes notice that the jokes you're making or the stuff you're doing in the band is maybe not that cool for someone in the band but they don't say anything because you're our friends and everything everybody thinks you can you know it it's all go and you can do whatever you want not not realizing that maybe somebody's not that comfortable and like so even if you're doing it yourself try to you know have that conversation and just make sure that everybody's really cool with with everything and it's like and this is not a sign of weakness and I'm not saying that like we need to be so careful with everything now because it can also go the other way the other extreme but it but maybe there is someone who was never um who never said that they're not comfortable and maybe that is limiting what you can do when you're recording together um and maybe you could create better records in the jam space together as well especially if you're friends um and yeah so I'm everybody needs to decide that for yourself but I've seen it happen in bands where as an outsider I saw that someone was not that comfortable and therefore also not performing optimally and the rest of the band just didn't notice because they thought well it's always like that we always make fun of him you know already yeah and so yeah it can it it can not not only affect you on a personal level but it can also impact the the records it's all it's all uh yeah the cliche thing of like making records is is a part of it is psychology and like you know yeah and I think that um most of the time it's not about the end goal about how the you know the final result is it's more about the process many times I have you know uh many like I can think about many songs that I've done with my bands in the past that I can listen to them now and they sound really good but I remember uncomfortable moments uh from the recording process and it it sort of shadows the end result even if the end result was great and then I have you know other memories from other recordings where I remember we had tons of fun that uh you know we we even have videos from those moments those times and that's that's not coming back ever but I have these you know these memories these really good memories of like having a great time with my friends with uh uh producer engineer there also like having fun uh and making jokes all the time and that's even more valuable than the end result sometimes yeah yeah I wholeheartedly agree yeah totally sometimes you have to probably ask all the time I'm starting to ask this uh over time myself to um how does it feel not is it good enough or anything but how does it feel um if it feels good even if it's not the best take but if it feels right um and is fun or something it's it can be better.
SPEAKER_01It doesn't have to but it can be yeah yeah cool let uh let's talk about the audio side of things real quick. So um when you came into the self-recording syndicate a while ago you were obviously not starting off from scratch and there was we had like mutual friends or bands we both knew and kind of there was this loose sort of connection um and then I I heard some of your work I knew some of the things you were involved with and so you definitely knew um your your you knew a thing or two obviously about audio already but then I also saw um a big progress over the the you know the time we worked together and I wonder um yeah for maybe maybe talk a little bit about how how you learn and develop your skills you mentioned like online courses nail the mix and stuff like that before there was probably a lot of trial and error as well but like how did you learn the audio side of things and how do you see where do you see yourself right now and and I'm I'm sure you are a confident you know professional producer that's clear but like there's always something to learn. I just I just want to know like where have you been a couple years ago? Where are you now? How do you feel the progress has gone?
SPEAKER_03How did you learn um I'm just interested in the in the in the journey and also that puts it in perspective for people who just wonder like how long does it actually take to get good at this and what does it require in terms of learning and and practicing and all that what does what did it look like for you um yeah I don't know how long it will take because nobody will be done and yeah you won't be done ever yeah it's like and um yeah it took me a while um to to get um to get on a level I I wanted to be and um with a lot of trial and error a lot of online courses um a lot of watching uh other people mix and um that took me a while to yeah you have to do a lot of mixes um and figure out what's your style probably um I don't know if I did that but um in the end I probably did that but uh it wasn't my plan I wasn't just was trying to um to to save the mix probably um to do the best I could and um not to mess it up that was my my feeling for I don't know five years and um right now probably yeah pretty at the beginning of the coaching with you um I got more comfortable and I got a mixing template that that worked for me and um that's the most important thing for me the mixing template um and um because it worked for my workflow and uh what I wanted to hear and um that I could mix um yeah like like it's art like it's something creative not like it's something technical and um yeah I got more comfortable with that and right now I think it's it's on a level I I want it to be but it's always can get it always can get better. I'm sure I mean I'm I'm very comfortable at punk rock hardcore emo stuff but everything else um still a work in progress.
SPEAKER_01It would always be yeah um hopefully I mean if not it wouldn't be in you we wouldn't improve anymore which would be very weird and like even the best still improve after decades of doing it. You said like let me let me go to one back to one thing real quick. You mentioned the template and this is something that is um I wanted to talk I want to talk about again because when people hear this and and then they haven't really experienced what it means to have a great working template the the initial reaction is oftentimes well like I don't mix with a template because I don't want everything to sound the same and it's like it's this boring cookie cutter kind of thing. Whereas a template like you said it's something that allows you to focus more on the, you know, to be actually more creative, to be faster, to have a better workflow, but not because you want to be lazy but because you want to focus more on the things that actually matter and you want to do less of the repetitive stuff and just get to the point quicker basically when you when you mix. And so uh let describe maybe a little bit the value of a of a great mixing template to you and what it actually means because it definitely doesn't mean that you just put tracks into a template and then export and everything sounds the same. That's not the point. But like what what does a having a good template mean for you? Why does it improve your work and what is it that you like so much about it kind of the opposite what you said um I I'm kind of lazy uh in in some things um but uh not not in a bad way but um I know what you mean yeah setting up a mixing template from scratch I don't I don't want to do that uh uh that's my life is worth worth more or more time and um also um I kind of want to sound it to be the same sound um that's what the mixing template is about probably because the the overall sound will will be kind of the same um but yeah it depends on um very much depends on what is going in the template for mixing um but I want some stuff to be to be the same and to have the same sound probably not the same thought but the same reaction um and consistency across your work the consistent quality kind of yeah but I think I still I just I mean I I appreciate you saying all of that I st but I still want people to hear this correctly because um you know from an artist perspective if I send you tracks I don't want I expect you to serve my song and do whatever the song wants and not just throw it into a template and hit export you know and like and I'm sure you don't you're not doing that but people could take it that way when when in reality a template is just it yeah it makes sure there's consistency but also you obviously still tweak things based on the song and it's mostly about not having to set up the routing and your go to plugins and certain things over and over again that you would do anyways even if you started from scratch. So if you didn't have a template you would have to to create one every single time you you mix a song and basically you don't want to do that. So uh yeah um but but yeah maybe it's also different for you and you try to do minimal work and just keep it the same. I don't know. Like I'm just I just what I guess what I'm what I'm saying here is that for most people having a template does not make it make the whole work less valuable.
SPEAKER_03It actually makes sure that the result is as good as possible and that you can focus on the few things that really matter instead of spending all the time and the artist's budget on setting up tracks and colors and importing things and like that kind of stuff right so yeah and it's not so yeah with the same sound I want I want the same reaction when when I'm mixing something asso for when I um you mean reactions from the plugins or the emotion plugins and from the from the source files and everything um that's what what I mean with the same sound probably and um every song will sound different anyway um because every source file is different uh every player is different and then what you do with that um I want to to have the same feeling what I do there. I want to um yeah to know how how I have to react and um that's I always have the same I don't do much anymore um when I with IQ or uh compression or anything else. It's some basic moves but it's not that it's not like I said before how I try to save the song and not fuck it up. It's just I I do the bare minimum to sound good but as much as possible to have it sound awesome. Yeah yeah and that's that's what the mixing template allows me to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I would say that you know um in a simple way mixing template it's it's like your guitar and your pedal board like you have your pedals set up there and you can decide which ones are you going to use in every song. You can change the volume of your guitar or the tone or the pickups so it's it's basically like your toolbox the one that you decided to use at this point you know and you can change things within your toolbox. But at some point maybe you decide that your distortion pedal is not your favorite anymore and you want to try a different pedal so you're gonna change that on your template. So in some ways it helps you stay within the same parameters I would say but you can change quite a lot within those parameters.
SPEAKER_03So yeah and if if you change a lot you're much quicker uh in that process so you know much quicker okay I have to change something um if you don't have a template you try a different a thousand different things and um the time until you notice you have to do something different is um much longer and that's that's why that's the lazy thing I have because I'm very unmotivated when I um get to too deep in a mix and I think after I don't know if you get after four hours mixing or tweaking a snare drum um I don't have fun anymore.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I I love that you're so honest about this and sharing this because that's a lot of people I think a lot that will resonate with a lot of people um that at some point you're obviously getting too close to the song but then also it we it needs to be fun and yes it's work if it's your profession if you are you're running a studio but also it needs to be fun because it's about art and emotion and the moment you are not having fun anymore you're gonna do shortcuts just because you know you're just not feeling it anymore and you're you're gonna become lazy in a bad way and also you're not paying attention as much to the how to how the song feels and you just you want to enjoy the process of of creating something like that. I and it's not all it cannot always be fun I get that but it's important to still be aware of that and I think it's very cool that you're sharing this and also that you're being honest about like yeah I I in some ways I am lazy when it comes to those things and I want it to be fun and that will resonate with a lot of people and I know that the home recording people oftentimes you know one of their biggest problems is that they don't finish projects ever. So many people we talk to they they have a lot lots of open projects lots of started things and never finish anything and part of the reason is that at some point they just lose motivation they don't they get stuck somewhere it's not fun anymore and then they have a new idea in the meantime of it with a new song and that is much more exciting now and so they grab the guitar and work on the new idea and don't finish the old one and it the cycle repeats and repeats because they stop every time they stop having fun. And so if you have a faster process and like templates like that and starting points and just an overall idea of what done looks like and how to get there and have the step-by-step process, you're much more likely to finish things because you finish them before that point where before that tipping point where it's not fun anymore. So it's very important you say that and I'm very grateful to hear because oftentimes in the audio world you you know a lot of people who are successful in this are also people with a mindset of like always always grinding always working hard and and and that's valuable too but we rarely hear someone say well I also just want to have fun and I don't want to work forever on a song with and you know it's there's two perspectives. And I'm sure you can you can also put in a lot of work and grind it out but it's not always about this thing that's just tedious and takes a lot of time and effort and everything is just about long work hours and everything's hard.
SPEAKER_03No it's art it's supposed to be fun also you know yeah that's that's the uh first thing to to reach out to have fun and then if you don't um if you don't get to a result you want to be um you have to grant you have to be very specific you have to tweak a snare three hours yeah it's it's it's what's required sometimes but that's always but always the the first thing to do probably is to to see how how do I get there as fast as possible to stay creative.
SPEAKER_01Yeah and when you uh speaking about like putting in the effort and all that I'm sure when you were learning um before you have refined the process and the systems and all that you had periods of time where it you had to put in a lot of effort and it was probably frustrating at some point and it was like hard work that was not always fun. And it's the journey of everyone and I just want to also have like realistic expectations for people that learning to become good at this it's it is not always fun. But eventually you get to a point where you can focus on the fun much more you know and it's a lot of fun in the very beginning then you typically go to through this like you know phase of frustration when you realize all the things you don't know and then you know confidence drops a bit and you have to put in a lot of work but then you build it back up and then you're in a place where you have much more fun again because you can be more intentional. So so what did that like learning journey um look like for you then when you said you had the template at some point but like um have there been any like major aha moments or like maybe really frustrating periods as well like what did the the the pro looking back now the whole process of learning this what were some like memorable moments good and bad maybe the most memorable moment was really finishing things um to learn how that you just have to finish um if when you start a mix or a a song or something you have to finish it um and move on otherwise you won't learn anything probably um I had a mixing course where I had to mix 30 30 songs in in a month so every day one song wow and um this was awesome this was so much work I kind of hated it but uh it was fun too but uh I learned so much because uh I had to finish every day I tried to mix them in two hours and um the quality wasn't good but I learned so much um doing that because um yeah if you have a goal I have to finish it in two hours you only do things um that are necessary and um that's that's the yeah the thing you have to focus on on the stuff that is really necessary and that's hard to figure out um I don't know it's it took me a long time to do that but it's it is a lot of practice at some point you figure it out or think you figure it out but um I'm still not there I'm still not um probably um yeah there's always a more lot of a lot of more things to learn but um yeah what what were some some things in because there's a difference between courses you mentioned and then something like the coaching we did where you work on your projects and more like in a one-on-one kind of feedback kind of sort of scenario um what were some things that you found particularly valuable in in the coaching maybe that um that helped you in the time we worked together you mentioned the template of course yeah um the template um but I I had most of the template I had before uh for coaching so um but um yeah it was the combination you had good uh good online courses in the coaching that um that were yeah that I where I learned learned a lot new stuff or uh where learned how to focus on on specific things um but what helped me the most was the um probably we didn't have any one-on-one call um I think you never booked one no no no but what but you use the one-on-one feedback quite a bit on on masters and mixes one of yeah and that was the most helpful thing uh probably to have feedback on your own mixes on your own songs um and fast feedback so it wasn't feedback that was a week later or something because a week later I wouldn't have known what I have done a week ago probably um and that was the most valuable thing to to work on your own songs probably and to have this this one on one feedback um but also the course um the group course we had um I think I I learned a lot um but this was more about motivation and the group course probably accountability and being inspired by what others are doing and yeah cool yeah that's really great to hear being in the room with the right people is it makes a a big big difference especially for us like home studio or project studio people where we spend so much time alone in front of a screen we were talking about this yesterday on the on the episode with Kyle Hoffman um which is out but at this point if you're listening to this episode uh but we were talking about how how important it is to be to surround yourself with with like minded people and get inspired and learn from different people not just one source and um so I'm really gr glad to hear that the the group calls in the community were helpful to you as well. Yeah. Really really cool. And in your case we did a couple of different things we did the one-on-one feedback of course on your audio side of things and and we and in my opinion if I if I look back at the progress like there was big progress like you've made some significant changes in your workflow. There were some things when it comes to you know drums or you know sometimes when you work with independent smaller artists sometimes the source tracks are not that ideal and you built some workflows you know to use samples in a way that it doesn't sound like samples and you know but everything gets more punchy and like a lot of things we improved there together which which was really exciting I think some mastering also that you did that sounded pretty phenomenal pretty much right away um and like these things. But then also we did the group calls and then we have this little side quest that's like in addition to the audio program for those who want to do it professionally we have this little studio business mastermind where we just exchange ideas and you were part of that as well. And for some people this leads to like really tangible results and and a return on their investment pretty immediately and for other people it's just you know inspiring and motivation and accountability and even that has value. It's just I want to I'm not a business coach but I am supporting artists who want to go on the same journey that I went on and I'm just sharing from you know my experience and the lessons I've learned and and everyone else does too in this community. And I always valued you a lot as a really cool and important member of this group because we could all learn from each other. We could share ideas you brought the whole sustainability thing to the table and I think we all learned a lot in there and continue to do so. So um yeah you've you've done a couple of different things inside of our program and yeah it from my perspective there was always great progress and I also valued valued you a lot as a member there.
SPEAKER_03Thanks. Yeah it was really fun to be there and all the people I met um even with uh yeah one of the guys invited us to a concert um yeah you met in the stage um and we met in person it was yeah so nice um I met him you know on our on another festival and he's yeah someone I know uh now and someone I can talk to and um shout out to Jan Kirsche yeah yeah really good guy yeah and but really all the connections you made and all you know where are other people doing the same thing um is so valuable and yeah you having having uh an eye on everything uh was very valuable too cool awesome yeah I I appreciate you saying that and thank you and I I love to hear that um going back to the the thing we started with we talked about the template real quick um you meant we mentioned the consistency in your work and everything how would you describe your style or your sonic aesthetic and I'm asking for two reasons mainly because um at some point in our mastermind calls there there was this uh discussion about you tried some couple some different like positionings and how you want to you know communicate what you do with your studio and at some point we talked about the quote unquote American sound versus the European sound whether or not that's a thing I'd it's up you know it's up for debate but we talked about that.
SPEAKER_01And then also that so that's one angle that I wanted to um talk about when it comes to your sound uh how you would define that and and and what this is about in your opinion. And then the other reason was that um there is there are some producers and mixers and engineers who are really kind of invisible and just try to get out of the way of whatever the artists do and they don't have a sonic footprint or you know like a sonic fingerprint and a like a their own signature sound. And then on the other hand you have some producers engineers who have such a signature sound that you know immediately who did it the moment you press play. And so where do you see yourself there? Do you have a signature sound or do you want to have one? What is your kind of consistency? How do you define that? What is your style and aesthetic and then how do you feel about the um you know American versus European whatever you like or polished versus organic or like just your take on on all of that like where are you on the spectrum or where you do you want to be and uh what's your take on this um yeah I don't know if I have a specific sound yet um that's obviously the goal but um is it that's why I'm asking I don't I'm not sure if it's the goal for everyone some people you know try to to intentionally not have a sound and just be very transparent and invisible. So for you it's the goal to develop a signature sound?
SPEAKER_03Kind of I want to fit the sound in the scene um so that's that's my main goal but I know it I know that it it will be a specific sound um because I have so many yeah yeah so many references I listen to or um I did so many um music genres in my life and I know it won't be a strict punk rock sound and um it's not who I am I don't I I don't know I love specific things from every genre and want to combine that somehow that's the goal but um I'm not there yet totally but um so that's what I mean with a specific sound to have a mixture of stuff I like um and that will always be specific because nobody likes the same stuff and um probably yeah I look up to some some mixes like uh samper obisher or uh Daniel Bronstein and um I kind of try to mimic stuff they do and implement it in my own work. But um yeah I don't want to copy them. But um yeah it's a journey to get there probably you have to mimic some people you have to see what they are doing and um yeah but I think you will get eventually everybody will get to a specific sound.
SPEAKER_01Yeah because you have your own taste and your vision and that you you can't you can't help it you you just you are you and nobody hears it the way you do so there will always be um a unique sound to you we also had this conversation with Kyle yesterday it's always interesting to me um and still there are some really successful producers and engineers who be who are very very versatile and and you don't have the feeling that they have a strong signature sound and for others it's like super obvious. You know and then the whole kind of I don't know if you still think about it that way but we we talked about it especially in the punk rock alternative context we talked a little bit about some some of the bigger you know US records versus a typical like European sound. And the interesting thing about that is there are good and bad examples of on both sides in my opinion and there is a difference in my opinion in many ways or with many people but it's not really clear what's better or worse. Like some people you know um some people approach it from the perspective of the bigger US kind of productions or bands are the standard and in some ways many of the especially smaller studios in Europe are kind of lacking a little bit there. And then there are other people who specifically say when they come to me for mixing for example they specifically say well um just so you know we prefer the whatever that means to them the the European kind of punk rock sound and we don't want to sound like big US band XYZ and like so there's different opinions and and I I wonder how you feel about that what the difference is if there's maybe even if there is a difference anymore maybe the lines are are blurred now. I don't I think I personally I do some records that sound more like the bigger US productions and and sometimes not so much because the artists want a different thing.
SPEAKER_03I I don't see myself on either side but I want to hear your opinion yeah I grew up with US or UK records so um that's something I um I love to hear and um and I notice yeah I a German punk band song will never sound like a US punk rock song because that's a total totally different style of music um not for everybody but for me it is and um so there there is a difference um and also like bands like uh uh do not see the German thing they do right now um it sounds different it's not like um it has a specific I don't know um openness probably and it doesn't sound so gritty like US stuff sometimes and um but both is good so if I have a German punk rock band you have to do something I have to do another sound I can't if I want the US sound yeah I can do that but I would do what is best for the song um but there is a I think there is a difference um but it's It's getting more and more blurred with all the mixing courses. Um you get you know how how the big US mixers are doing it. Um this is stuff you wouldn't have learned 20 years ago, probably so easy in Germany. So um yeah, what with yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's that's enough. We don't have to go too deep in there. It's like I'm I was just interested because I I don't have this I I agree in some ways, but also I don't have this like clear opinion on this. Because on the other hand, you know, especially not when it comes to better or worse. Like I have I know I there are a lot of like German or European productions that I love a lot. I'm obviously a fan of the stuff that I work on, and I and there is like stuff that um you know if you listen to uh Van Holzen or that we had on the podcast, or if you listen to uh there are like there are definitely also gritty there there's there's a big range of stuff that happens in Europe as well, and and yes, on average, there is still a difference in like the benchmark super big productions in the US are maybe different from and maybe there's also difference in in what how you know what the listeners like. I I don't do I don't really know, but I'm just saying I don't have a real opinion on this, and but I never also really thought about the difference as much um before talking to you about this, and I I totally understand what you're saying, and like it um and there's truth to that. I just didn't think about it that much. The way I thought about it more was like the style of the music, uh more than the production, where there is you know, people usually know what it means when you talk about UK punk or when you talk about um you know uh Midwest emo, whatever, or if you talk about um Californian punk rock or um you know, there's style differences in the genre for sure, and sometimes that goes hand in hand a bit with the production, but that's the only thing that I really thought about when it comes to where the music comes from, not so much what the production sounds like. But yeah, interesting topic. And I was just curious, as a fan and of the of the craft and the music, I would I just wanted to hear your take on this. And as someone who also gets these very different opinions from people, and when bands talk to me, they care about that stuff a lot and they have clear opinions on what they want to sound like, but it's not it's not the same across the board, it's very opposite opinions on this, so that's why.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, where I hear it the most is probably in DIY productions. Um I don't know, it's uh maybe something's different uh in UK or US DIY productions than in European DIY productions. I don't know, maybe it's the accent or something, but something feels always different. Yeah, maybe something like that. I don't know, but it feels always different. I don't know why, but um that's where uh where I'm coming from, and uh I don't know, that's something I always noticed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. No, that's fair, cool. Um, do you still master yourself um a lot or or do you master your own productions? Because I remember we had some mastering projects when we worked together that I gave you feedback on. And I always found that although you didn't have like a specialized mastering studio and you did it from the same mixing studio and everything you have, you got really great results there, which not everybody's able to do. Mastering is this kind of very detailed, nuanced step, and and it's a dark art for many people. Um, and so a lot of people outsource it, even like big mixers outsource it a lot. And you did a really good job at that. And I felt like you had a good feel for that pretty quickly. So I'm I'm just wondering: is that something you enjoy? You still do a lot? You master your own stuff. How do you think about the mastering process and it being part of the full process?
SPEAKER_03I totally enjoy it. Um, and I want to do it more. Um on my own stuff, um, it's it's easier to do, and it's more than I don't know. Yeah, it's a difference. You can send my mix to another mastering engineer, or I can master it myself. Um I don't know what's better. It's I can't say that um because um I don't know, but I always give uh already mastered mixes to to the artist, um, so I do it anyway. Um and that's something I have a lot of fun because it's I don't know. I I liked having the big picture of a song. Um so um it's like more our creative thing than mixing sometimes.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, it's like interesting take. But I start I don't uh I started mastering with don't know what uh I I know what mastering is, but I I started mastering the guy I started mixing and just tried it, and um I don't know, I didn't didn't lose that spark of trying something new there, and um that's what makes it makes it sometimes more creative or yeah, because you did you didn't know all the rules, so you probably bro broke some and you turned it into your own thing, and then yeah, that's an interesting that's an interesting take.
SPEAKER_01And and I like that a lot. I uh to me, mastering always was like a creative process as well, not just a technical one. And and I'm one of the mastering engineers who is I'm probably less transparent than some other mastering engineers because I like to have fun with the mixes, and if I think it needs something, I'll just do it. Um and I'll automate things a bunch in mastering, which also not everyone does. And like I I understand where you're coming from. Mastering can be a lot of fun. It's also fun to hear the transformation really quickly as opposed to like working on a bunch of like multi-tracks. Um, and of course, it's always gonna be subtle, but I I I get it, and I I understand that. And I just heard an interesting interview with uh Sam Moses, who is a great mastering engineer that I've been following for a while and I like his work. And he he also talks about this thing where if you start and like if you approach mastering almost like mixing, and you see there's a creative process, which he does as well, and you kind of break the rules, you might not be known as the most transparent, specific or like the most, you know, yeah, transparent classic mastering engineer, but some people will come to you because they know that they get back something back that's exciting. And he says, like, the worst thing is always make to make boring records, and so he he he might push it a little too far sometimes, but at least it's not boring. And I totally res that resonates with me. And so I can I can understand when you when you speak about the mastering process as something fun and creative in that way, and yeah, very cool because a lot of mastering engineers they do and they're great, but they do the exact opposite, they try to be very invisible, very transparent, very um, you know, technical as well. And it can be both, but interesting to hear where you are on this. And I I like I said, I I I had the feeling that you had a great feel for mastering. There was something about the way you approached it that worked pretty quickly, pretty well.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, I'm I think that's that's what I am. I'm a big picture guy. I always want to see the big picture or something, and um yeah, I love to go in detail, but um, it's more about having it work working all together. Good, but always in mastering, it's I I only see the um the um the creative process is mastering and all the stuff um exporting and doing the vinyl master and uh DDP master and everything. That's that's just work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but it's part of it. Mastering means finishing a record, it's the metadata, it's the sequencing, it's all that. That's that's part of mastering, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But there is a lot of technical stuff there, yeah. And you have to do it, and um you have to know the rules, but um between that you can be creative.
SPEAKER_01Totally, totally. I love it. Cool. Um now obviously you are a big believer in um the concept of you know getting mentors, learning, do always improving, doing courses and coaching and stuff because you did courses before you came to us, you then did our coaching for a while, now you moved on to like a business-specific coaching also for your for your studio. So you obviously believe in the concept. What would you tell someone um who's on the fence of like seeking out their first kind of mentor or you know, buying a course, looking for coaching, and they're not really sure? And you know, for me, it when I did it the first time, it changed everything for me. The moment I was gay, was working with mentors and coaches, everything changed. And I I have applied this in so many areas of my life, so I obviously believe in it, and we also offer it ourselves. But what would you tell someone who's thinking about getting help in any capacity um you know, with especially music and audio?
SPEAKER_03Um do it. Just just do it. You can't get better help. Um because um, I don't know, something like interning in a studio isn't a thing anymore, or not many studios do that. And that knowledge you get from from coaching is so valuable. Um, you get so good feedback, and um it's a thousand times more worth than having only an online course, for me at least. Um, because in the online course you have to put your own work, put in your own work, and um nobody's watching you. That's a thing. Yeah, that helped me um because I have to to deliver to someone, and that's that's something valuable there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, totally. The accountability, it's the difference between signing up for a gym or hiring a personal trainer. Like definitely the one will make you do more work and get better results, therefore. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. Cool. Now, what is it exactly that you are offering right now for people? I mean, you said recording, mixing, mastering, that's probably it. Uh, but like, do you prefer remote mixing? Do you prefer full production? Like, what is the ideal project that you want to work with on? So if people are thinking about now, you know, maybe I want to talk to Michael, you know, because maybe I value the sustainability thing. Maybe they listen to your portfolio and like what you work on and they like your philosophy, and like someone's thinking about working with you. What's the ideal project that you are super interested in uh working on, and how can people contact you?
SPEAKER_03Um so the ideal project is a full production, so recording, mixing, and mastering, um, and probably maybe some uh helping out with um pre-production or something. Um that's the ideal thing. So I I don't have a big studio for myself. I rent a rent out a studio I go to, and um but I want to have access to a good room for drums and stuff like that. Yeah. And I want to go with the artist to the studio. I I can work in my project studio in the small studio I set up, but it's not my preferred thing. I want to have all the time in the studio. Uh that is the the ideal thing, it doesn't work all the time, but um that's the ideal thing there. Um and yeah, have a band where that is ready to record um where the songs are ready, and um also with my help a little bit, um and then do the mixing and mastering.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Do you ever do parts of the process as well, or like outsource things? Or maybe if someone comes to you and says, Well, I wanna, you know, record with you, maybe do the mixing, but then we want to mark master somewhere else, or you know, is that is that something you you do too if it's a great fit for the with the band?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_01Um I think you want to be involved in everything of uh ideally because you just like the process of creating the thing with the band, I guess, but you're not you're not against you know uh you know, splitting the work with other people, collaborating with other specialists, you know.
SPEAKER_03No, it's almost always a benefit for everybody to collaborate with someone. Um it depends on the thing uh how you do that and um if it fits together, but um it can be so much better to do that, and I'm so excited to hear what others are doing with maybe my recording or my mix with the mastering. Um so that's nothing I'm I don't want to do because you can always learn from that, you can have um nice connections with people there, and um yeah, totally. Um even if it's a DIY band recording, um I will do the mix um maybe some help and the recording process, but um yeah cool.
SPEAKER_01And how can people contact you?
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, they can go on my website, so um Michaelbuschka.com.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. I'm gonna put that in the show notes, of course, in the description of this, so you can check out some of Michael's work and uh read about the uh sustainability thing and other things. And there's you got also some cool stats there. So there is like a um cleaner than 77% of pages tested. So website carbon usage and stuff like that on there, and you know, the websites built with 100% renewable energy and cool stuff like that. Also, you have a nice like diagram there and like a little bit of an explanation what it means for you to be success uh sustainable. Um so um just just a quick summary, it says, you know, renewable energy, but then also snacks and drinks are like organic, fair trade, uh, vegan, um, green website and cloud server services uh with renewable energy. Uh then also something we didn't even touch on the like your your commute to the studio and when you go to projects and stuff, like when it comes to the whole commuting and and um transportation thing, you try to use the the the bike or the train, you know, instead of just going with the car, that's also something. Then um there's secondhand equipment, and then there's fair banking uh and choosing banks that are aligned with your values. So there's a whole list of things, which again, lots of effort, very impressive. So you can read about that on the website too. Um and I think the website is both in English and German, so you can switch back and forth there. So if you land on the German website, just click the little icon at the top and switch it. So yeah, Michaelbuschka.com. I'm gonna put it there. And then they can find you on Instagram as well, I think, right? I've seen you post some reels lately. So Michael Buschka on Instagram.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, totally on Instagram, Facebook also, but um it's more more of I'm more of an Instagram guy.
SPEAKER_00Perfect.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Yeah, so Manel, any any thoughts on this before we wrap it up? Any other questions for Michael?
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, I think it would be interesting if Michael could tell us about, for example, three things that uh you know producers slash artists can easily do to uh be more sustainable. Although you mentioned some of those, but I think the three most important or easier things.
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, for artists, um looking at the own band merge um is may probably the biggest thing you can do um to see that this is more sustainable. And um for producers having renewable energy is the first step you can do. Um change your energy provider. Um there are a lot of renewable energy providers out there. Um and the third thing, I don't know, the secondhand stuff probably. It's easy to do. Um and it's cheaper, it's uh a very good reason to do it. Um if if you want to invest in your sustainability, that's um that's a good investment.
SPEAKER_00And like how how can you make more sustainable merch? Like, what does that involve and what does that mean?
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, for example, you have um like t-shirts um uh with um organic cotton, um stuff like that. And um there are a lot of providers with organic cotton t-shirts out there. Um and you can also look at the printing service you use. So do they have vegan colors they use? Do they have um non-toxic colors they use? Um some services do uh compensate for CO2. Um yeah, you can Google it. Um there's a lot of stuff out there, especially uh when it when it's on t-shirts. Um you can watch it too. Maybe a good thing is um the um how's it called? Um No Music on a Dead Planet Instagram account. Um I do a lot of stuff for artists there. Great.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Thank you for that. Um Michael, any final words you want to say um to the audience? Something we forgot about, something we need to mention, where we should send people to, or really anything?
SPEAKER_03Um uh I don't know. I want to say thank you for your time and for inviting me. Um this was fun, very fun. Uh and seeing you guys again was was so nice. Uh and um same that everything's good um with you guys. And yeah, it was very fun to to talk to you about all this stuff, and also very much I'm very thankful for the interest in the sustainability thing. Uh that's very important to me.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate the thing, uh, everything you do and the effort you put into this. There's something we can all take away from this and learn and do our thing as well, our part. Um, yeah, and then also th thanks for you know trusting us with your your journey, the music you're working on, all that, um, for being part of the syndicate, the program for quite a while and all that. That was really nice working with you. Um, I'm really proud and impressed by the progress you made and and proud of the the work you've done. And I will continue to follow your journey. And uh I yeah, I I'm excited for you, and I'm excited that I got to work with you. And I thank you for your time as well and for sharing all that with the audience. There were some unique perspectives and interesting things in there. Um, and so yeah. Thanks.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Cool, and then uh uh Manel, you wanted to say something, please. Oh, I was going to ask you like what about the most important question on the podcast?
SPEAKER_01Oh, damn, you're absolutely right. I completely forgot it. We didn't do the rapid fire round today. Yeah, I yeah, you're totally right. Man, I I how how did I skip that? Um, yeah, we keep the stats on one thing. Um I mean, I did kind of a rapid fire thing with Michael already. That's probably why I didn't include it in the in the podcast. Because when we met at Studiosene, oh yeah, we asked him a couple of you know, the favorite studio snack, favorite pizza gear, something like that. We have that already in content form. Um but there's one thing that I ask everybody, thank you, Manel, for reminding me. Um, we keep the stats on this. So, pizza or burger?
SPEAKER_03Pizza.
SPEAKER_01Damn. Everybody's that everybody says that. Very interesting. Yeah, interesting, interesting. Okay, we'll see.
SPEAKER_03That was an easy one.
SPEAKER_01Lots of pizza people in this is the audio world. I am I like I'm an I want to say it, and that's part of the reason why I'm asking this to everybody. Like, I'm a burger guy. I mean, I love I love good pizza, but I'm really a burger guy. But like everybody we ask has pizza immediately. So I don't know. All right, cool. All right. Um then thank you for watching and listening, of course. Uh, don't want to forget that uh would be possible without you. If you enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with someone you think it could be helpful for and uh leave us a rating and review if you can on your podcast platform, and then I'll see you next week. And I'll see you too, Manil. Thank you for your time as well. And uh yeah, bye bye, everyone. Goodbye.