Steve Marcantonio (Taylor Swift, John Lennon, Kiss)
During his 40 years in the industry, Steve Marcantonio has worked with artists of the caliber of Taylor Swift, John Lennon, Steven Tyler, Kiss, Heart, Ronnie Dunn, Keith Urban, and Reba McEntire. He won his Grammy in 2015 for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for his work on Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me. He also worked on Red by Taylor Swift, which was nominated in 2013 for Album of the Year.
Having mixed and produced so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about making music every day?
I still love creating sounds for mixes. I often tell students that it was the sound coming from an AM radio that got my interest in recording. I'm always listening to the song and making sure that the sounds are right for each specific title. I don't get paid for my thoughts. I get paid for my art. And that's recording and mixing.
Tell us about your current studio setup.
I turned my son's old room into my ‘studio’. The walk-in closet is a perfect booth for acoustic guitars, vocals and amps. The room is treated with Auralex. I have the most basic setup. I own 2 API 512V preamps and 2 API 527 compressors. I'm running Pro Tools Ultimate 2021.7 on MacMini with Catalina OS.
I have an HD Omni and an old Avid 196 I/O. I also have a Thermionic Culture Fat Bustard. It is the best-sounding summing mixer out there with 4 stereo and 4 mono returns. Tubes. EQ. Harmonic distortion. I come out of the Bustard into a Neve 33609 stereo compressor. Then back into two tracks in Pro Tools.
How does the mixing and production work come to you these days and do you have suggestions for young mixers looking to get the word out about what they can do?
I still have a bit of a reputation and I'm still actively recording on Music Row. I suggest to those looking to break in to do as much as they can and get it out on social media. Find artists to work with or maybe you can make your own record and definitely make videos.
One other thing: don't worry so much about the money in the beginning. I'm still doing favors after all these years!
What's one piece of advice you can pass on to aspiring mixers and producers looking to get better at their craft?
Just like anything else, in order to get better, you need to practice. If I'm not at home mixing, I'm playing around with new plugins. I listen to what's new and hip and try to see what it is they're doing. And if you really want to get better, send your mixes into SongChecks where you can get professional advice!