Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Bryson.
Kyle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My love for music started at a young age as it does for a lot of people. My family would often listen to albums after dinner just to enjoy and it had a great influence over the years. I am the oldest of four boys, and we’ve all picked up instruments somewhere along the way. My mother loves music and my father is a key player. They often encouraged our interest and pursuit of playing instruments. Around fifth grade, I took on piano lessons with one of my brothers. I had an interest in playing guitar, but my father suggested I take piano to set a good foundation first. When six grade came around, it was time to decide if I wanted to try out for band or orchestra. After piano lessons, I knew I had to learn more. I soon fell In love with the alto saxophone and played in concert & jazz band from middle school through high school. During that time, I took up guitar lessons for a short while and continued to teach myself and learn any way I could.
I eventually formed a band called Collision Theory with a few friends and this is where the recording bug was born. I borrowed a tape deck from my father and a four channel mixer that we used for our PA system, jerry-rigged them together so we could record demos and hear ourselves for feedback. Terrible quality, but at the time it was gold. I wanted to be able to make it sound better, and I really didn’t have the equipment or knowledge to make that happen. Several years passed and my love for music and recording grew. Shortly after starting college, I was asked by a friend to join a band, New Dawn Fades. The guys in the band were great, the music was great, and I knew we needed to record it. We started looking into how much it was going to cost us to really put the time in and record an album the right way – we couldn’t afford it. Instead, we decided that we could just buy some equipment to do it ourselves. I took to the internet doing research and buying up the essentials to make it happen. I laugh about it now, but that was a lot to take on and at the time, I really had no idea what I was doing. I had a few textbooks and a lot of suggestions from the internet, but no one to tell me what I was doing right or wrong in the process.
It was around this time my family moved into a house with an unfinished basement. After my band broke up, I came to the realization that the hardships of playing in a band professionally and the reality of relying on other people in the industry may limit my success. I decided that the best way to pursue my love of music was to be the guy on the other side of the glass. The empty space was perfect to build a recording space. After a lot of planning, we started to build a professional-level recording studio. Many hours and explicit attention to detail was put into building the space. After three and a half years, SoundGasm Studios, LLC was born. Over the time it took to build the studio, I completed college all the while teaching myself as much as I could about how to be a recording & mixing engineer on the side. Over that time, I found mentors that allowed me to assist on projects and get some real experience under my belt. I found the hands-on approach helped me immensely while training my ear in ways books cannot teach in writing.
As soon as the studio was finished, I started taking on clients, and a few of my mentors starting recording out of SoundGasm. Over the next few years, I honed my skills and took on any project I thought would be fun or interesting. I was eventually hired to teach audio engineering and electronics at SAE Institute of Atlanta. I spent over two years giving back the knowledge I had learned along the way.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the biggest hurdle to overcome was experience. One of the most overlooked things in the audio world is that anyone can buy the best equipment or software, but that doesn’t mean you know how to use it properly. A master level audio engineer can place a $50 microphone in the right spot and make it sound like a million bucks. On the flip side, someone with no experience could have a $20,000 microphone and set it up wrong making it sound like dirt. You have to learn to use your ears, and in a society where we put a lot of emphasis on the visual feedback, it is difficult. Training yourself to listen with your ears and not with your eyes takes time. Learning to not second guess choices you make is a huge hurdle to leap that only comes with experience. Another obstacle that most people don’t think about when they take this on is building and equipping a studio is a very expensive and extremely time-consuming endeavor, not to mention maintaining it.
SoundGasm Studios – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
SoundGasm Studios is a one-stop shop for all your production, recording, mixing, & mastering needs. We specialize in getting the best take and not just pushing projects along. We like to connect with our artists to make the vision they have come to life. I find that when you get invested in the project like the artist has, the end result is so much more authentic. There are a lot of people out there trying to make their art come to life and we’re excited to be a part of that process. I’d also say the mentality of “I want to be famous” has influenced a lot of people, and we’re not trying to chase that rabbit. We just want to make good music and have a good time. Having a good vibe is everything and always makes the best tunes.
Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so – who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
So many people deserve credit. I am just standing on the shoulders of giants. My family deserves a ton of credit– I cannot begin to express how I couldn’t have done it without them. Building the studio took help from everyone, and my father was the key. He built sound stages, night clubs, & studios back in the 80’s. His knowledge plus some new school materials is how the studio came to life. My three brothers and mother put in time every day to help make my dream a reality. Every single one of them encouraged and helped me to pursue audio engineering as a career.
Tim Jones has been a true friend and one of my mentors since 2012. His technical knowledge and experience put me on the right track very early on. Without his guidance, I wouldn’t be the engineer I am today. I also have to give credit to Paul Lipscomb, my mastering engineer, for seeing the potential in me as an engineer and including me in projects that challenged me. Paul’s ears are some of the best in the industry and he proves that to me every time I hear something he’s worked on.
I’ve had a great cheerleading section in my life as well. My Grandma has always believed in me, and has done nothing but encourage me since I was a kid. My mom deserves an award for putting up with countless the hours of driving me to & from practice, shows, and lessons, and me playing my guitar way too loud as a teenager. All of my friends deserve a mention because they have always given me more love than I know what to do with. They are like family– just as encouraging and twice as sarcastic. Finally, I have to give credit to Amy for loving me and encouraging me to live my dream, even if it means late nights and less time spent eating cheese together.
Pricing:
- $35/hr – Standard
- $125 – 4 Hour blocks
- $250 – 8 Hour blocks
- $500 – Single Package for Solo Vocalists – Includes all tracking time, Edits, Tuning/Time Correction, Mixing and Mastering.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.soundgasm.com/
- Phone: 4046303749
- Email: info@soundgasm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundgasmstudios/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoundgasmStudios/
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
