Meet Jarrett Grimes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jarrett Grimes.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I developed a passion for the arts at a very young age. My first love was visual art, and I would draw and paint all the time. Taking trips to the hobby store for art supplies was a common occurrence in my childhood. As I got a little older, I began finding other ways to express myself. Around the age of nine or so I made my first recording by routing an old beat up pair of headphones to the mic input of my boom box and tracking rap vocals over my grandmother’s classical music CD.

After I moved to Atlanta from South Jersey where I grew up, I joined an experimental rap group known as The Lunch Break; sharing the stage with acts like Jerimiah, Dilated Peoples, and Scotty ATL. During my time with the group, I found my love for audio; mixing many of the bands releases and serving as the groups primary point of contact for live sound on the road. After we signed a deal with Interscope Records, we broke up due to creative differences. Instead of focusing on a solo rap career, I followed my passion and began recording, mixing, and executive producing projects for local acts. After graduating from SAE Institute in 2017, I became a staff engineer at Salem Psalms Studios; collaborating with various industry professionals alongside veteran mix engineer Amond Jackson and honing my craft even further.

Now, as a professional audio engineer, I have the opportunity to use my unique experiences to aid other artist on their creative journey.  Many great engineers start out as producers, but I believe my background as a recording artist gives me a unique perspective. It’s much easier to become passionate about a client’s vision when you’ve been in their shoes.  For example, my understanding of rhyme scheme, cadence, and flow gives me the ability to approach compression on rap vocals in a way that contours and accentuates those specific qualities rather than just using compression as a tool to control dynamics. Overall, I believe my background has made me a lot more detailed and discerning then I would be otherwise.

Has it been a smooth road?
I’ve faced many challenges along the path of my creative journey but I have come to view them as necessary ingredients for success. Without the motivation, insight and self-reflection that comes with failure, it is likely that I would have never made the adjustments that made progress possible. Obviously, being in the entertainment industry requires you to make many sacrifices and my story is no different. When I was starting out I lost jobs, friends, and even my inner peace at times but it was all for my highest good.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As an audio engineer, I serve the creative community with proficiency in pro audio. That creative community includes recording artists, producers, musicians, bloggers, filmmakers, audio-book authors, and many other content creators that use high fidelity sound in their work. Generally, my day consists of one of two basic processes: Tracking, which is a term used to describe recording musical performances or voice-overs in acoustically treated environments; and Mixing, which is essentially utilizing various hardware and software to edit and fit various pieces of recorded or digitally composed material together in a way that is sonically cohesive, meaningful, and more appealing. In situations where I am intimately involved with the mix and production of a project, I am often asked to take on a more active role in the creative process. In these cases, I am typically credited as an executive producer or songwriter. I also occasionally work in live sound production as well.

I have been very fortunate to have been able to do work for many people that I admire. Some of my more notable projects have earned me credits with hip-hop legends such as Method Man, Freddie Gibbs, and Connway. I’ve also been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work as a part of a live production crew for acts like Beyonce’ and Adelle. Even though I am eternally grateful for those experiences, I am still equally as proud of the work I’ve done for local acts and friends. Some of my best work has come from collaborations with artist who are virtually unknown.  Generally, I just focus on doing my part in making great content, regardless of how big or small the project is.  I love taking a good idea, removing the unnecessary aspects that weigh it down, accentuating the qualities that make it great, and revealing something truly special.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The world of pro audio technology is advancing very rapidly so it is in a constant state of change. When you also consider the fact that the way we consume music as a culture is rapidly advancing as well, it is clear that the landscape for a recording engineer or a mixing engineer will be very different in the next 10 years. For instance, there is software already available on the market today that uses powerful algorithms to automatically perform complex tasks in real-time that used to require tedious automation and years of experience. A good example of this would be the Oeksound’s Soothe or Sound Theory’s Gullfoss “automatic” equalization software. One could only imagine what will exist in 2029.

There is also a big push to automate entire disciplines, with companies like LANDR looking to take over Mastering. Professional gear is also becoming more and more accessible, so there will continue to be an increase of self-taught engineers starting up home studios and relying on major studios less and less. Technology will continue to develop to make mundane processes more efficient, but I believe professionalism, adaptability, creativity, vision, and expertise will continue to be the qualities that set the standard for excellence in this business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://soundcloud.com/audiogrimes
• Instagram: @audiogrimes

Image Credit:
Gavin Delisser

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