Editing. Mixing. Engineering. While they might not be the most glamorous part of the music industry, they're just as essential to crafting your favorite song as singing and songwriting. Audio production requires a mix of patience and passion and for more than two decades, audio engineer Chris Garges has brought that level of professionalism to each of his recording experiences, whether it's with R.E.M. producer Don Dixon or legendary entertainer Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith.
"Instead of going and getting another job like a responsible human being would’ve done, I went over to Studio East and hung out every day for like two months until they hired me.”– Chris Hazel, audio engineer/music producer
Interview Highlights:
On recording his first EP with his high school band Relayer:
I remember just sort of thinking that live performance is so fun and that working in the studio is probably going to be really boring, but we had a really great engineer named David Floyd who was really nice about explaining things. I just got totally sucked in.
I liked that we worked on this thing for a while, and at the end of it we had something.
On making sound-alikes to popular songs for a production studio in Charlotte:
It was the audio engineering equivalent of learning an instrument and learning a bunch of cover songs. It’s like the more stuff you learn, the more your sort of ability increases and your knowledge of different types of music increases.
On the Charlotte music scene:
There’s always been great stuff here. It’s strange because the city can be somewhat segmented at times, and sometimes it’s difficult to locate things that you like.
I think, outside of Charlotte, sometimes the city has a reputation for not having a lot going on. I understand that, because one thing that I think is weird is that you have to dig to find stuff. I think a lot of people aren’t here long enough to do that, or they don’t know how to get started doing that.
On improving the Charlotte music scene:
Just making it easier for people to see what’s happening and where would be a step in the right direction, because I think we don’t totally have a grip on that right now.
On being listed by numerous people saying he was their favorite person to work within the Charlotte music scene:
I’ll say I work with a lot of really nice people.
Music featured in this #WFAEAmplifier chat:
John Denver with Starland Vocal Band - "Baby You Look Good to Me Tonight"
John Williams - "Cantina Band"
Relayer - "Between the Lines"
Don Reno & Arthur Smith - "Dueling Banjos"
The Spongetones - "She Goes with Everybody"
Leisure McCorkle - "Warehouse"
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