Jeff Leisawitz is a musician, producer, coach, college songwriting professor, and author. His new book The Magical Impact of Storytelling explores how creatives can connect with their audiences and produce more meaningful work with effective storytelling. It was great to have Jeff back on the Music Production Podcast to discuss how we can use story…

Iftah is the creator of a number of official Ableton Live Packs, including CV Tools, Time and Timbre, Microtuner, and the new Performance Pack for Live 12. Formerly one-half of the duo, Skinnerbox, Iftah has performed around the world. His creative pursuits cover various mediums and styles such as electronic music, field recordings, photography, an…

Gregg Lehrman is the founder and CEO of Output. Output is a music-creation software company created by musicians for musicians. Gregg is an ASCAP award-winning musician and producer who has worked in television and film. Gregg spoke about his work at Output and how he started the company to fulfill his creative needs. He shared lessons he learned w…

Sound Oracle is a music producer and sound designer. He has worked with the heavy hitters in the hip-hop world, and his sounds have been used in Grammy-winning songs by Timbaland, Jay-Z, Drake, and more. His latest packs Golden Era Hip Hop Drums and Trap Drums are featured packs in the new Ableton Live 12 update. Sound Oracle and I had an inspiring…

The Him is a music producer, DJ, and plug-in designer with over 500 million streams on Spotify. He's toured some of the largest festival stages and done remixes for artists like Tiesto, The Chainsmokers, and Miley Cyrus. The Him just released his first plug-in, Sub Ninja, which allows producers to get an accurate understanding of the bass frequenci…

Johan Ransby is an artist, coach, and producer. He shares tips and techniques that help artists finish more music and reach their career goals. His website is loaded with helpful creative tools and his social media accounts contain priceless advice. Johan and I had a great conversation about how he approaches making music and teaching his students.…

Michaela Shiloh and Andre Mullens run the community-based record label HRDRV, which helps artists develop their careers. Their combined decades of experience in the music industry include writing music for top artists like Janet Jackson and Jennifer Lopez and working for Bad Boy Records. Michaela and Andre discuss the importance of camaraderie and …

Carlos Sosa is a musician, producer, composer, and music director. Sosa formed Grooveline Horns, a 1970s funk and R&B influenced brass group. Carlos tours and records with Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Zac Brown Band, and Hanson. Carlos and I spoke in-depth about his music career recording and touring with some of music's largest acts. He s…

Philip Röder is a music producer who runs the Copilco professional mixing and mastering studio in Berlin. Philip's YouTube Channel, Pick Yourself, helps music producers hone their craft and tap into their own personal style. Philip and I had a great conversation about his work and his underpinning philosophies. We went into detail about how he enco…

Tim Smolens is a musician, composer, and recording engineer. He teaches music theory on his YouTube channel and at High Castle Music Conservatory. Tim has toured and plays in the bands ISS and High Castle Teleorkestra. Tim and I had an inspiring conversation about his work and appreciation of music and chord theory. Throughout the episode, Tim demo…

Alexkid is a music producer and plug-in designer. He's been releasing house music for decades and designing Max for Live devices for Ableton and Isotonik Studios. Alex now runs 510k Arts, where he releases his powerful sequencers, including the new VST/AU plug-in Seqund. Alexkid and I spoke about his work, music, and experience designing sequencers…

Alex Akimov is the founder of Simple Social, a music digital marketing agency, and Sound.Me, an AI-powered artist and creator platform. He has worked as an artist manager, promoter, and touring guitarist. Alex explores ways to help artists reach their career goals. On this episode, Alex discusses his experience in the music industry and his current…

Charlie McCarron is a film composer, songwriter, and game designer. He is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for his Troubadeck songwriting cards. Charlie ran the Composer Quest Podcast, where he interviewed songwriters and discussed their creative process. It was great to catch up with Charlie, who was the 2nd guest on this podcast! Charlie …

Thad Cockrell is a musician, songwriter, and producer in Nashville, TN. His new album, THE KID, comes out January 26th and is available on vinyl for $100. Thad appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon after Fallon discovered his song "Swingin'" at a hardware store. In this episode, Thad discusses the evolution of his musical style and the imp…

TJ Dumser is an ambient artist who makes music as Six Missing. His newest album Here For Now combines modular synths, electronic and acoustic instruments, and immersive field recordings. TJ's music explores human resilience and the power of finding the present. TJ and I had a great conversation about his writing process and how he uses music to imm…

Here are 4 tips I've learned that improve creativity! Listen on Apple, Spotify, Google, YouTube Show Notes: Brian Funk Website - https://brianfunk.com Music Production Club - https://brianfunk.com/mpc 5-Minute Music Producer - https://brianfunk.com/book Intro Music Made with 16-Bit Ableton Live Pack - https://brianfunk.com/blog/16-bit Music Product…

Raul Sotomayor is a musician, producer, and DJ from Mexico City. Raul makes Afro-Caribbean electronic music as Tonga Conga. He has a record label and studio named Kaya Records and produces music for a wide range of artists. Raul and I had a great time talking about his work as Tonga Conga and his background as a percussionist and DJ. He shared some…

Andrew Huang is a musician, producer, video maker, and sound explorer. He's known for his YouTube channel which currently has over 2.35 million subscribers. Andrew recently released the Transit plug-in with Baby Audio, the Ghost Pedal with Endorphines, and the iOS Flip sampler. His new book, Make Your Own Rules, details his story as a music industr…

Stavroz is an organic and cinematic electronic music group from Belgium. The award-winning 4-piece combines DJ-style electronic performances with acoustic instruments such as bass, guitar, wind, and brass. In December 2023, they released their Kick Up the Dust EP, combining a variety of styles, moods, energies, and instrumentation. I spoke with Ger…

Brent Hendrich is an award-winning mix engineer with over 20 years of experience in the Nashville music industry. He has worked in just about every stage of the recording process and within a wide variety of musical genres. In recent years, Brent has become a specialist in mixing pop music. Brent and I spoke about his work as a pop music mixing eng…

Will Hatton is a music producer and educator. He runs the popular Inspired By... YouTube Channel and has taught music for over a decade. Will releases music under the name Hush Child. Will and I had a great time talking about a wide range of topics. We discussed his work and success with his YouTube Channel. Will shared some insights about how he c…

Amanda Cawley is an award-winning orchestral composer for film, television, and video games. Amanda's work includes the documentary Visionary Gardeners, the animated series Fireman Sam, and the video game Siegebreaker. Amanda and I spoke about her work creating sonic worlds for film and video games. She shared how she overcomes creative challenges …

Yeuda Ben-Atar, aka Side Brain, is a musician, producer, and Ableton Certified Trainer. Yeuda has taught countless students both online and in person. He first caught my attention around 2010 using his Sega Dreamcast arcade stick and other video game controllers to perform with Ableton Live. Yeuda regularly releases Ableton Live Packs and tutorials…

Chloe Echo is a singer/songwriter, producer, and educator originally from New Zealand and living in Los Angeles. She just released her new EP Past Life. Chloe teaches for Berklee Online. Chloe and I got a chance to reconnect after meeting and writing music together at the Monterey Songwriting Retreat. She spoke about how her past has brought her to…

Imagine it's the first night of a an international tour. You're hired as tech to help with playback and drums, and suddenly the MD and keys player gets sick. You've got to step up and run playback and play keys. COULD YOU DO IT? That's exactly what my student David Dombrowski had to do. You'll hear how it went, and why he had the confidence he coul…

Get Access to my weekly group coaching calls 👇 https://fromstudiotostage.com/subscribe In this episode of "Behind the Space Bar," Will shares tips and tricks for successfully upgrading the operating system (OS) on a computer used for live performances. He emphasizes the importance of waiting for bugs to be fixed and being intentional about the timi…