I Want To Be A Music Producer Now.

That job looks way more fun sometimes, ha.

"Robeks After Dark" 3/28/08

So these fine people are a few of the workers at my local Robeks smoothie store. The great thing is, not only are they just the people who make my smoothie almost every day, but they've come to be great friends too. They're great people, and they definitely exemplify what it means to love what you do. My hats off to you guys =). Hopefully one or two of you will read this.

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In regards to the title of todays post, I finally got the chance to see up close all the cool kinds of work music producers do. My best friend Jon (we've been best friends since 7th grade) asked me to come over to his studio and help me out with some sampling. So I come over with my guitar, and all I did was play a few chords for him, nothing too big.

A few minutes later, after he's recorded and cleaned up my samples for him, he loads them up, and just plays with them and throws a drum track behind them. Then he plays a piano track to help back my guitar chords. A bit of computer help, some mixing, some stirring, and some baking, and BAM! Suddenly I'm listening to this crazy hip hop beat with MY guitar chords laying the groundwork. Words can't even explain how cool it was to see him at work. When he finishes the track, I'll have to ask if I can get a copy for you guys to check out. He made it all look so effortless too.

Pretty cool stuff, I tell ya. Producers are just as musical and creative as recording artists and bands, although I never thought previously.

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So my weekend pretty much starts for me tomorrow, and I've got a whole lot of great stuff lined up. Here's a pretty rough outline of my goings on in the next few days:

1. Thursday - I've got work, but I get off early, then myself and a few friends are gonna party it up at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood with none other than Kina Grannis and Schuyler Fisk. If you read my blog, you probably know who Kina is by now. Schuyler, on the other hand, just happens to be a wonderful surprise in the lineup for me. I actually first heard of Schuyler (pronounced "Skyler") when she played the female lead in "Orange County" with Colin Hanks and Jack Black. The movie holds a special place in my heart because 1) its about The OC (although very stereotypically), and 2) the movie was filmed at my high school. Anyways, back to the point, I didn't know she was a singer too, and now that I've got the chance to explore her music, I'm pretty excited to see her too. I wanna ask her if she remembers my school (if you've been there, its hard to forget it).
2. Friday - Disneyland again! Okay, so I go there all the time, but this time I've got a couple cousins along for the ride. So its gonna be me, my sister, and Rachel and Grace. And hopefully, Grace will be getting her first season pass on this day. Super score. Oh, how could I forget? Tori, CJ, and Jed will all be there too, so I'm sure we'll have lots of fun.
3. Saturday - BAMBOOZLE LEFT!! Yay! It's finally here. It's like a music festival and a carnival, all rolled into one! Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, All American Rejects, New Found Glory, Daphne Loves Derby, RX Bandits, Reel Big Fish, The Starting Line, and more! The above bands are the ones I want to see the most though. And whenever there's a lull in the day, we can go on the carnival rides =). Yay for Kelvin, Rhea, Zahara, Samantha, and Amanda as my buddies for this day.
4. Sunday - After church, I'm gonna go take photos of CJ's debut practice. Yeah, technically its work, but I love what I do. So this can be fun too, right?

Quite a bit packed in this weekend, but I know overall it'll be great.

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Oh, I just remembered, I got myself a booking for a graduation photo session at the end of the month, so I figured I might as well put it out there now... if you're having a prom soon, or are graduating this year, and you'd like someone to do a cool photo session for you, call me!!!! Haha, sometimes I'm more excited about the booking than the actual session itself.

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Okay, I was looking for a Youtube video to try and show you guys just how innovative and creative music producers are, and I think I finally found the right one. Here's a video of Ryan Leslie, a producer who does a lot of work for Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment label, as well as his own independent label. Man, this guy is awesome. Not only are the tracks he lays down so sick, just look at how much fun he's having!!!