Bobby Owsinski's Inner Circle Podcast

My guest on this episode is Evan Price, who’s an artist manager, educator, branding specialist and CEO of Artist Collective. At age 14, Evan started his first promotion company, and eventually went on to managing rappers and 9-piece bands in Chicago. He launched Artist Collective out of the dorm room of Columbia College Chicago while obtaining his Bachelors Degree in Music Business. Since then he has helped launch 100+ music brands, transforming artists and musicians into "artistpreneurs". During the interview, we talked about thinking about marketing a release in advance, motivating artists to think more about business, getting artists to understand their branding, overcoming limiting beliefs, and much more. I spoke with Evan via Zoom from his office in Chicago. On the intro I’ll take a look at the power of a song placement in a TV show, and getting reimbursed to record in Iceland. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86660560, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest on this episode is Eric Boulanger, who’s the founder of The Bakery mastering studio as well as a professional studio violinist. A protege of legendary mastering engineer Doug Sax, Eric has mastered GRAMMY-winning or nominated projects for a variety of popular and legendary artists. Not only that, he’s a studio violinist with performances and recordings that range from orchestral and chamber music, Broadway musicals, contemporary pop music, and film/television scores. In part 2 of my interview with Eric, we’ll talk about his unusual mastering studio, installing a familiar piece of equipment, the reason for the vinyl renaissance, why he chose the gear in his studio, and much more. I spoke with Eric via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at a band that made 6 figures from their AI-generated album, and the Cakewalk Sonar DAW is being reintroduced. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86600808, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest on this episode is Eric Boulanger, who’s the founder of The Bakery mastering studio as well as a professional studio violinist. A protege of legendary mastering engineer Doug Sax, Eric has mastered GRAMMY-winning or nominated projects for Green Day, Hozier, Selena Gomez, Colbie Caillat, OneRepublic, Imagine Dragons, Neil Young, The Plain White T’s, Chris Botti, and many more. A classically trained violinist since the age of three with over two decades of professional experience, Eric has trained at such renowned institutions as The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Tanglewood. His performances and recordings range from orchestral and chamber music, Broadway musicals, contemporary pop music, and film/television scores. In part 1 of the interview we spoke about playing in the string section on Family Guy sessions, working as an intern at Capitol Studios with Al Schmitt, rebuilding the vinyl cutting room at Mastering Lab, having the legendary Doug Sax as a mentor, and much more. I spoke with Eric via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at the class-action lawsuit filed against DistriKid over music takedown notices, and Sonible acquired by Audiotonix, and the Blue Microphone brand being sunsetted. In the upcoming part 2 of my interview with Eric, we’ll talk about his unusual mastering studio, installing a familiar piece of equipment, the reason for the vinyl renaissance, why he chose the gear in his studio, and much more. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86526804, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is David Packouz, who may have the most interesting back story of just about any guest I’ve had on this podcast. David is the CEO of Singular Sound and creator of the innovative Beat Buddy drum machine pedal, which gives guitar players easy control of drum loops and songs when they play live. But there’s a lot more to his story. Prior to starting Singular Sound, David worked as an major weapons contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, which is a story in itself. In fact, his journey into arms dealing was the subject of the 2016 film War Dogs where his character was played by Miles Teller. After that adventure filled with international intrigue, David pivoted back to music and started Singular Sound thanks to an extremely successful crowdfunding campaign . Besides the Beat Biddy, Singular also makes looper pedals and controllers, all with the performing musician in mind. During the interview we spoke about navigating the dark world of arms dealing and how international politics plays a part (it's a great story), the key behind his super-successful crowdfunding campaign, why Beat Buddy has become the ultimate drummer in a pedal, and much more. I spoke with David via Zoom from his office in Miami. On the intro I’ll take a look at how physical product might lead to the major label’s downfall, and why music producers fear being replaced by AI. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86468070, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Ryan Schwabe who’s a two-time Grammy nominated, platinum certified mixing and mastering engineer. In 2020, he was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Baauer’s "Planet’s Mad," and in 2023 he was nominated for Best Sound Engineered Album, Non-Classical for mixing and mastering Baynk’s "Adolescence." Ryan is a former professor of recording arts and music production at Drexel University's Music Industry Program. He’s also owner of the music production and engineering company Xcoustic Sound, the music technology company Schwabe Digital, and co-owner of the digital record label Rare MP3s. And he's also the developer of the new Gold Clip mixing and mastering plugin. During the interview we spoke about learning the art of mastering, his philosophy on mixing, not being tied to certain mixing techniques, developing his own plugin, and much more. I spoke with Ryan via Zoom from his studio in Philadelphia. On the intro I’ll take a look at how labels may become outdated due to localization, and Avid is reportedly up for sale. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86404695, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Tony Simerman, who as a kid would go to work with his Dad, who was the manager of The Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C. There he’d hang out backstage where he was lucky enough to see every major hard rock and metal show in the 70s and 80s, and make many musical friends over the years. Fast forward to 2023, and Tony’s company KnuckleBonz has been recognized worldwide for the past two decades as the leading creators of high-end and hand-crafted collectibles that feature iconic moments in rock history as well as music legends. KnuckleBonz creates licensed memorabilia for Pink Floyd, Queen, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, KISS, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, and Guns N’ Roses – just to name a few. The company’s commitment to fine craftsmanship is showcased in the artistry and detail of each hand-crafted limited edition statue created for collectors of licensed properties. Think of it as rock meets art. During the interview we spoke about growing up backstage during rock concerts, his background in 3D animation, the problem with distributing custom beverages, 3D vinyl, and much more. I spoke with Tony via Zoom from his office in California. By the way, use the BOICpc8kbz coupon code for a 10% discount from Knucklebonz for the next 2 weeks! On the intro I’ll take a look at how payola is still with us and a look at software and plugin subscriptions. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86345967, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Josh Rogosin, who stumbled into NPR headquarters in 1999 on his way to mixing shows at The Shakespeare Theatre in downtown DC. Since then, he has been at the controls for all of NPR's flagship newsmagazines and gathered sound in far flung places like Togo, Cambodia and Greece for the Radio Expeditions series. Josh has engineered at both NPR West and NPR NY, and spent two years as Technical Director at Marketplace Productions in Los Angeles. He’s also served as Senior Broadcast Engineer for New York Public Radio and Studio 360, and was an originating producer and sound designer for NPR's Ask Me Another. In his current role, Josh is the Technical Director for NPR Music and has recorded and mixed over 500 Tiny Desk Concerts. During the interview we spoke about learning audio for the theater, recording Congressional hearings, using audio to tell stories, behind the scenes at Tiny Desk Concerts, working with U2 and David Crosby, 3and much more. I spoke with Josh via Zoom from his office in Washington. On the intro I’ll take a look at labels with covert Spotify accounts, and bacteria that play drums. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86290111, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is Temima Shames, who’s the CEO of Next Step Talent, a full service talent management and digital brand agency that’s home to more than 20 music artists, influencers and actors. While in college, Temema worked for Atlantic Records, and Visionary Music Group before jumping into her own management company. Since then her clients have achieved 5B+ YouTube views, a #7 debut Spotify Album, highlights in Youtube’s Black Creator Class of 2023, TikTok’s biggest POV star, and one of NYFW’s creators with the highest brand return of 2023. Not only that, songs, records, and projects Temima has been a part of have garnered 25 million streams and viral campaigns with more than 2 million recreates on TikTok. Her company has also partnered with top brands including YouTube, Meta, Disney Music Group, BOSS, Neutrogena, HBO, Netflix, Target, Universal Music Group, and NYX Cosmetics. During the interview we spoke about how she got started managing social influencers, the strategy behind short form and long form content, branding as story-telling, artist mental health, experiential marketing, and much more. I spoke with Temima via Zoom from her office in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at music platforms taking steps against AI-generated songs, and a study about vocal levels in different genres. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86235468, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is composer and producer Dren McDonald who has done everything from experimental indie rock to video game music to string quartet chamber music to film and VR animation soundtracks. He has worked with game studios and publishers such as Valve Corporation, Ubisoft, Glu Mobile, DeNA/Hasbro, Romero Games, Zynga, Tapulous, and others, and he’s been nominated for awards for his soundtrack, music and sound design work 16 times and has won 5 times. Dren also created music and audio designs for AR and VR experiences at Facebook, and taught at University of California, Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has released several original game soundtrack releases on Nerdtracks Recordings, as well as instrumental recordings for Appearing Records. During the interview we spoke about how he got into video games, directing voice overs for games, how sound design is different for games than film, working on AR audio for Facebook, his new album built around hundreds of guitar tracks, and much more. Find out more about Dren and his new album at DrenMcDonald.com. I spoke with Dren via Zoom from his studio in the Bay area. On the intro I’ll take a look at the 5 things that musicians should know about the brain, and an AI for music primer. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86177374, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };

My guest this week is musician Doug Legacy, who’s one of the founding members of the the Zydeco Party Band, which won an Emmy for being the house band for The Late Mr. Pete Show. The band also provide music for Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, and The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, and Sean Hayes. Doug has also worked as a steel drummer for Rod Stewart, played accordion for Paul McCartney, played piano for Delbert McClinton, and sang background vocals for Brian Wilson and Todd Rundgren. He has puppeteered background characters on Muppets Tonight and his band were featured as the house band for the show as well, and he’s played a pirate at Disneyland playing sea shanties on accordion and penny whistles. During the interview we spoke about who makes the best steel drums, the difference between German and Italian accordions, playing a pirate at Disneyland, playing with Paul McCartney and singing with Todd Rundgren, and much more. I spoke with Doug via Zoom from his studio in Los Angeles. On the intro I’ll take a look at the latest streaming scam, and vacuum tubes being manufactured in the US. var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 86084651, backgroundColor: 'white', font: undefined, fontColor: undefined, speakerFontColor: undefined, height: '600px', showEditButton: false, showSpeakers: true, showTimestamps: true };