Today we’d like to introduce you to Connor Ray.
Hi Connor, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always loved the process of making records. From my first time recording in a friend’s basement to now, the entire journey has been so appealing. I was always engaged in the process and intrigued at how engineers take the sound artists have in our heads and are able to bring it out of the monitors. Seeing the techniques, they used and asking why they used them was a big part in me starting my own journey. I would essentially produce my band’s record but didn’t have the technical knowledge to record them until later on.
Naturally, I eventually began attempting to record music on my own, with varying degrees of success. The first big push was when my band Of The Vine was discussing our next record, “Left Alone,” in 2019. We wanted it to be massive but also didn’t have the budget to spend weeks in a studio. Taking the time to perfect every texture was extremely important to us. Between myself, our guitarist Sam, and our drummer Cameron we were able to scrounge up the gear needed to record ourselves. There was a lot of trial and error in that process and I can’t express enough how much I learned during our time. To this day, I’m incredibly proud of that album and it got us signed to a label and pressed on vinyl. My friends heard what we were working on and asked if I would help them make their records as well. Thus, Sobek Sound was born. At that point, I still worked out of a bonus room of a house we were renting in Marietta. I soon realized this was something I am incredibly passionate about and want to pursue as a career.
I recorded a few records cramped in that one room until we purchased a home in Atlanta. A big factor in purchasing this home was the ability to expand the studio into a larger area giving it the designated space needed to take on larger projects. I continue to make more records, upgrade equipment, increase my knowledge, and am feeling incredibly happy with the progress made.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not having a lot of equipment and working out of a makeshift room in Marietta were definitely obstacles I had to overcome. Through that, I learned that having the ear for sounds and taking your time was infinitely more important than having thousands of dollars worth of mics and compressors. Beyond that, finding a home that had a space, I could turn into a proper studio proved to be a massive challenge. We looked at dozens of homes and left most of them, realizing that there was no way I could have anything resembling a professional environment there. Eventually, we found the space that I’m at now and it has everything that I was looking for.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a musician through and through. I have always played in bands and toured for my entire adult life. I am an Audio Engineer at my studio, Sobek Sound and am currently active in the bands Malevich, Of The Vine, Ladybird and Hallowed. I also do contracted music work for other artist.
I am most proud of the recent Of The Vine record “Left Alone.” It has been a springboard for my recording journey and opened up so many opportunities for us. Having a more analog studio and being 100% dedicated to the artist’s vision are what set me apart. I have talked to too many bands who have had bad recording experiences because the engineer couldn’t see or didn’t agree with the vision. At the end of the day, it does matter if I personally like the record. As long as the artist is stoked about what they hear, then my job is done. For me personally, I have always loved working in a more analog fashion. I love using microphones, analog consoles and outboard gear to get as close to a finished sound on the way in as I can. I also have the ability to record a full band live without having to sacrifice anything because of a lack of channels, microphones or space. Those kinds of things are usually not available at a studio of my size and I’m proud to be able to offer that to artist. I still have all the power and control of digital recording but can introduce some analog warmth into the process.
What’s next?
This year I have a lot of cool projects coming up that I can’t wait to get started on. I am going to put my all into those and continue to grow my current studio space. Eventually, I want Sobek Sound to reach a point where I need to purchase a separate building to continue growing. I’d love to have a fully decked-out studio that runs multiple sessions at once and has multiple engineers working at it.
I have an insane love of analog equipment and would love to be able to design and build my own pre-amps, compressors, EQs and other fun goodies. Thankfully I have friends who are better with electronics than I am so hopefully, this is something that I can really pursue.
Pricing:
- $120 full day (8-9 hours)
- $75 half day (up to 4 hours)
Contact Info:
- Email: Sobeksound@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobeksound
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sobeksound
