#93 Producer/ Engineer Chris Finney

For this episode, I sat down with Producer, Engineer, and Mixer Chris Finney of Sound From Space Studio in New Orleans. In the past, Chris has worked at HOB and Jimmy’s Music Club, as well as owned and worked for several studios including Studio in the Country and The Music Shed. He’s a Grammy winner, and a Disney sound score producer and engineer. He’s worked at WYES television station filming Jazz Fest and Bonaroo, and made an impact filming and producing musician sets during the pandemic. We start by examining the experiences that lead him to a now 35 years in the music business. While he had interest in guitar, keys and drums, and played all of them, car stereos, believe it or not, started him on a pursuit of the elements of sound like clarity and phase. We discuss how a fortuitous turn of events landed him on the road with Cowboy Mouth when he first turned 18 back in ’93. He shares with me a moment when Ellis Marsales gave him a bit of tough love, dissuading his pursuit of musicianship and steering him toward sound engineering.We recognize the role engineering played in the age of shredding. Together, we also recollect the moment when hair metal succumbed to grunge, and the Alt-rock tsunami that followed.He talks about the time Aerosmith dropped in to HOB unexpected and what the performance was like from the mixing board.Chris has worked with artists like BB King, Eric Clapton, NIN, Johnny Guitar Watson, Earl King, Neville Brothers, Allman Bros, Gov’t Mule, Trombone Shorty, and The Revivalists. Navigating this stratosphere, we discuss how not to be starstruck and why such a concept makes sense.We delve into the hot button topic of analog vs digital and how the reluctance to commute was part of what cost him a studio.There’s a diff between being part of a performance and creating content. Chris opens these partitions through stories of large corporations and local mediums. We also look into the delicate line walked between a producer, an engineer, and a band in sessions and on stage. And we mull over how to insert a value proposition into a creative endeavor. It’s ok that money be exchanged in the midst of music. I think you will find that Chris has played this and other hands well.There are going to be a few links in the description for this show. They’ll connect you with chris as well as link you with ways to support this show. It would mean so much if you would hit the subscribe button to help me take these personal moments further.Chris at Sound From Space Studio - https://www.soundfrom.space/Neworleansmusicians.com - Networking and Promoting Bands For FreeElevate your health and well-being. Shop Realmushrooms.com and support this show! Here’s 20% off just for our listeners. https://shop.realmushrooms.com?ref=1494Donate to this show:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=83ZWJWHNRAYNU