Fast forward about thirty years and Gerry has mixed most of the great bands passing through the Midwest. He is probably best known for mixing young blues rock artist Jonny Lang, rockers Soul Asylum, and local favorites Slip Twister. His central Minnesota recording studio has produced over 150 fine art concert CDs in the last three years.
How long have you been doing sound?
I have always been an independent engineer. I’ve done sound for over 400 acts in the last 17 years. For the last decade, I’ve worked with Jonny Lang, a talented blues/rock performer. I also own and operate a recording studio that specializes in audiophile-quality live stereo recordings. I’ve been mixing and recording large symphonic groups from all over the world.
How did you get into this line of work? Was it an intentional career path or a lucky accident?
I studied music from a very young age and also a degree in classical voice. When I started to perform, I noticed that many there were technical problems or the sound was bad a lot of the time. I took it upon myself to learn how to set up the gear and diagnose problems.
At the same time, I worked in a bar that had different bands playing every night of the week. I talked the owners into having me mix every band even if they had a sound guy with them. Think about it: a 20-year old, telling some guy who had been on the road for years that he couldn’t mix his own band! Since bands playing the bar circuit break up and splinter into thousands of bands eventually, my name popped up and I was in business
What did you know about electronics at the beginning? What about music?
My father was an avid ham radio operator and just had a huge pile of electronic gear in the basement. I know what I need to know about circuitry.
Music has always been around me. I am still a composer/writer/performer. I was influenced at a very young age by electronic music that was coming out of Germany, England and the Netherlands. I really don’t even listen to guitar-driven music that much and I find it strange to have been successfully mixing one of the hottest guitarists in the world for a decade. I love mixing any kind of music. The more diverse, the better.
First paying gig?
It was as a 15-year old musician. We opened up the show with “Toys in the Attic” by Aerosmith. I’d never heard the original version and as I stood at my bass rig, I noticed that there was a stage pole holding up the roof directly in front of me. Getting paid that night was equally as interesting, me in my narrow leather tie and red pants, navigating my way into a dark, beer case-stacked office, trying to extract $150 bucks from the intoxicated owner.
First opportunity to mix as a paid professional?
Mixing at the bar. I could get in at the age of 19 because I was working. The first artist I mixed for was Peter Case from the Plimsouls and it was an acoustic show. I fixed some feedback squeaks from the monitors and he thanked me up and down for the rest of the night.
What’s one of the strangest experiences you’ve had as a sound tech?
Jonny Lang was playing a local park near the zoo in Waikiki. Thousands of people showed up unexpectedly and I had a tiny little Turbosound rig. I have danced on the edge of clipping before and didn’t expect to have a problem. Just then, several police officers approached me and told us to turn way down.
When the cops were finally happy with the sound levels, I couldn’t hear the band and the crowd was mad as hell. Just then, a biker guy came over and asked me what the officers said. I told him. He looked at me with a confident smile. A few minutes later I noticed that a large group of bikers had converged around him and they were all talking on their cell phones. A minute later every officer in the park was running toward his police car or motorcycles and speeding off.
The biker came over to me and said “there are 5000 of us staying within 5 miles of this park and every fire alarm in every hotel just went off!” I pushed the faders into the red and thought, “I love that guy!”
Can you give us five aspects of your job that are essential to doing it well?
| 1. | Mix music for impact. You must set up a mix so that listeners are caught by the intensity or lured by lyrics that are meaningful and intelligible. |
| 2. | Learn the gear so you can use it to protect and showcase the music and not ruin it. Gear can really suck the life out of both the sounds and the intention of the music when used improperly. |
| 3. | Communicate clearly. Good communication skills become important when you have to deal with conducting crews of stagehands and also when you are talking on the phone doing production advances. |
| 4. | Be sensitive and responsible while you’re creating the sound the artist requires. You have to be a class act. |
| 5. | Be patient. You’re going to spend a lot of time waiting. |
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into this line of work?
Spend more than one hundred hours messing around with something and you will know it quite well. Pick your discipline and spend the time learning it. But please don’t ask me questions about the mixing board over the barricade in the middle of the first song!
What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m producing three full-length recordings in the studio that we’ve just completed. I am also studying mastering and doing some audio experimentation, like I always have. I am enjoying working on my own compositions. Of course, if the right band calls and wants me to join them on a world tour, I’ll be off.
We thank Gerry for his time and insights, with a friendly reminder to respect the law and watch out for the rebels. Shure Notes readers can e-mail Gerry Stinson at GSClockwork@aol.com
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