- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
Words Of Wisdom From Uber-Mixer Dave Pensado
Over the last two decades Dave Pensado has taken mixing to a new level of artistry, having mixed huge hits for superstars like Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, Shakira, and Michael Jackson, among many others. Well known in the business way before his popular Pensado’s Place web series, Dave is not only on the cutting edge of technology, but has thought long and hard about the more cerebral aspects of mixing as well. This bit of advice is an excerpt from my #1 best-selling Music Business Advice Book, which was a result of Dave’s appearance way back on Inner Circle Podcast #32.
Dave: “For me, no matter how many hits you have or how much success you have, it’s still a service industry for us. It’s not anything else other than client services. I’m no different than a barber. You come to me and ask me for a haircut, I provide the best service I can and give you the best haircut that I can. I send you out the door and you look like a million bucks and you’re happy. I go to a trade show every once in a while and learn all the new haircuts and then try to hip up your look a little bit. It’s a service industry.
Always remember you’re a guest in their creation, so you want to finish their creation and you don’t want to hijack it unless they ask you to (and we get asked that from time to time).
The other advice I would give people is if you watched a YouTube video about how to drive a car around a NASCAR track at 220 MPH, you wouldn’t get into your car and try to do that right after you watched the 30 minute video. You might make it a quarter of the way around, but the first turn, you’re dead. When we provide information about how to do things, we can shorten the time it will take for you to go 200 MPH, but we can’t eliminate it.
You have to have realistic expectations about how you’re going to grow and get skills. Be honest with yourself about your skills. If you’re not making any money, then that’s what you’re worth. Your pay is always going to lag behind your skill set. You can’t “social media” yourself to the top. All those modern day shortcuts, the only thing that works is doing it, doing it, doing it. Starting out on a go-cart, then working your way up.”
You can read more from The Music Business Advice Book and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.
