I have a distaste for bad music. I’m sure you do too.
I don’t know about you, but I for one don’t want to waste my life making mediocre music that will be forgotten tomorrow.
I’m trying to make history.
It’s not the easiest path— It might even make me sound arrogant—frankly I often doubt if I’ll ever get there..
—but— if you’re willing to try to make musical history with me, I’m sure we’ll have one hell of a time.
I Believe that Together, we can reach beyond our current musical boundaries to explore new artistic ground & create recordings that are memorable, original and distinctly your own, so that you can stick out, get heard, and take your career further than you ever dreamed.
If you’re done with demos, and ready to try something big—I’d love to talk with you and see if I can be of help.
-Ryan Poole
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles.. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
about me
From: San Diego, CA
Lives in: Nashville, TN
Education:
Bachelor’s in Audio Production, AICA 2011.
Studied under David Cole
(Bob Seger, Steve Miller Band,*Nsync)Pro-Tools Expert Certification
If I Could produce anybody:
Beach Boys (60’s era)
Jimmy Eat World
The Beatles
Ricky Nelson
how i came to be a Producer
Like most people, my love for music started when I was very young. I have very early memories of singing “achy breaky heart” in my mom’s car, and playing Van Halen’s “Eruption” & The Beach Boys “Surfin’ Safari” on my dad’s record player. As a kid I would fall asleep listening to 50’s & 60’s pop on the oldies station, and later 80’s new wave (falling asleep to “Friday I’m in love” is the best).
“Honor Wounds”. I’m the 10th Grader on the right
In Middle school I started listening to Grunge, Alternative & eventually Punk. I started playing drums & guitar when I was 10, but got really serious about music in High School when I joined a pop-punk/emo band called Honor Wounds. (you can still find us on My Space, btw).
Drumming in 12th Grade
My Grandma eventually forgave me
In the pursuit of rock-stardom, school took a backseat and I let my grades tank (which really pissed my grandma off). I was a man obsessed, and I completely threw myself into “making my band big”.
In those High School years, I developed a huge love for “The Studio” and the recording process (probably because it involved a lot of skateboarding downtown and sneaking clove Cigarettes, but I digress).
A few years later when the band fell apart I decided to become a recording engineer.
In 2006, I got my Pro Tools Expert Certification at Studio West in San Diego, but after a year or so of interning at the studio (and becoming a veritable Pro-Tools ninja), I realized I would need more training if I wanted to make professional sounding records. That’s when I decided to go to The Art Institute and get my degree.
David Cole and I eating Pancakes
I was lucky enough to be mentored in college by some really great pro’s including Joe Godfrey & David Cole, and when I graduated David introduced me to Sharon Corbitt. Sharon (being the coolest-and-all) ended up getting me a job at House of Blues Studios.
At HOB, I brushed elbows with famous artists & producers alike, such as Don Henley, T Bone Burnett, Stan Lynch (Tom Petty’s drummer), The Band Perry, Ryan Hewitt, Keb Mo’, Amy Grant, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Pretty much the whole cast of ABC’s “Nashville” and many more.
..And when I say “Brushed Elbows”, what I mean is, I did food runs for them, took their trash to the dumpster, restocked the fridge, bought T-Bone ‘Mesa Sunrise Cereal’ from Whole Foods, and cleaned up the studio after they left.
House of Blues Studios - Nashville
It was glorious.
After 6 months or so, I realized that as awesome as being around these ‘greats’ was it wasn’t going to make me a producer anytime soon.
The turning point for me was rather dramatic.
I put all my chips in one basket (is that a real metaphor?) and decided to help my friend Shane raise $10,000 to make a record for his band “Wyld”. I literally had no other work lined up to pay my rent, etc and was completely dependent on his Kickstarter to survive. Things got harrowing fast. The Kickstarter was off to a crap-tastic start, and with only 15 days left (1/2 way) we were only 10% funded.
Yikes!
To make matters worse, finances got tight, and I got way behind on everything. I started selling my blood for gas money & groceries. And that’s when I had my worst idea ever, get a “Title Loan”. Simply give away the title of your car to the headhunter-mobsters at Advanced Title and they’ll give you $2000!!!! (and about $2000 in fees).
Anyway, I used that money to pay bills and then used the last $500 for gas to drive back to CA (where the band was located) to get ‘hands-on’ with the Kickstarter and do everything we could to make it work out.
Wyld “Taste & Sing” Cd Release show
Long-story-short, it worked.
We miraculously pulled through, and were able to make the record. (It’s called “Taste & Sing” and you can hear it in my discography section). That first higher-budget record paid me enough to get me by for a few months and make it to the next job, which lead to the next one, and the next one….
Since then, I haven’t looked back (or sold blood or risked my car) and somehow I keep getting to make great records with great people. In a lot of ways that’s due to my brilliant manager Leah Lowrance, who joined me shortly after Wyld.
A lot has changed since then, but my basic goal has remained the same.
I meet an artist who has a dream, and I make it my mission to start dreaming that dream too. We go on an adventure together—that is to say—the adventure of creativity, the adventure of pushing through our boundaries, of breaking our self-imposed limitations, of figuring out how to stay friends when we disagree, and turning every set-back into a springboard for future success.
Recording Harmonies in ‘Binaural’ for Dawson Hollow
I’m really interested in helping people perform & create beyond their current ability. I like good stories, and a story has to have an arc. If you and I are the same people at the end of the record that we were at the beginning, I don’t think we really reached deep enough or pushed ourselves enough.
Editing Audio at Blacks Beach, CA
“My process” is an ever-evolving set of exercises, whimsical ideas, philosophies, hair-brained schemes, musical experiments, and ‘band whispering’ coupled with an all consuming work ethic. Sometimes it feels like I’m an adventure guide, and other times it’s more like I’m a coach or personal trainer.
It’s not for everybody, and I respect that, but if you’re interested in going beyond what you can do on your own—I’m interested in working with you.
Genre doesn’t matter to me—talent, creativity, determination, and above all else, ‘heart’ are the qualities I look for in an artist. If you’re reading this and your heart starts to pound just a little faster, if you feel in-tune with my “fish or cut bait”, “piss or get off the pot”, “ascend everest”, “come hell or high water”, style of thinking about music production, then I think that might be a good sign that you’re someone who I’d love to make a record with.
Send me an e-mail,and let’s chat.
Ryanepoole@gmail.com