Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Brooker.
Hi Christopher, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story as a musician and audio engineer started at the age of 4 when my grandma first began giving me piano lessons. I eventually started playing guitar at 9 and then bass at 12. I took an electronics class in middle school and then built my own custom guitar effects pedals in highschool. From there I began getting into electronic music production and eventually moved out to Portland, OR for college. I studied music and audio engineering, and began my solo musical explorations after years of being in bands and other projects. I fell in love with synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers, as well as found sounds like ambient recordings of various locations and old home made cassette tapes lost to time at local thrift stores. This exploration became my solo moniker Where Are We. As time went on I became more and more interested in physics and found the overlap between synthesis and physics to be tactile and fascinating. In 2010 I moved back to Atlanta and started doing sound at various local venues. At the same time I continued building Where Are We and started doing film scores. This new exploration of music and sound in general gave me an entirely new appreciation for dynamics and the relationship between auditory and visual mediums. I began to marry these things in the form of live a/v performances and then eventually began working with artist Hanna Newman. With her foresight and vision, we used projection mapping, sound, and sculpture to create surreal environments that play on the line between consciousness and the unconscious, often tapping into underlying feelings of esoteric nostalgia. While all of this fueled my creative side, my career as an audio engineer flourished as I began working for Zero Mile (owners of Terminal West, The Eastern, Variety Playhouse, and The Georgia Theatre) a few years ago. I’ve worked with some of the biggest inspirations of my life and often find myself in a surreal place of realizing it in real time. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Alright, 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?
As with everything in life, it has not been smooth. Trying to make a living full time as an audio engineer is really tough, there is no consistency and the music industry is over worked, under paid, and constantly under funded. 12 hour days are the norm and you can kiss your weekends goodbye. There are also bad actors who do nasty things and because much of the work is under the table or not under the protection of employer/employee laws, there is all kinds of shady things that happen. That being said, I truly feel like a lot of the people I work with are like family. There’s so many amazing human beings that prop up this industry and help keep the magic alive. It is truly a labor of love!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My creative life and my professional life luckily overlap quite a bit. As an audio engineer, I am constantly working with other musicians and get to be inspired on a daily basis. My specialty is live sound, but I also do studio mixing and mastering work out of my home studio. I have a particular interest in analog and outboard gear which definitely stems from my love/hate relationship with computers and a preference for the physical world. I’m proud of the studio and career that I’ve built over the last 15 years and am looking forward to the next 15 to come.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Stick with it! Nothing good in life comes easy and finding the magic in the process is the key to being successful and happy. I wish I had more confidence in my abilities when I was younger, but I think that it just part of life. You’re always better than you feel you are.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.wherearewe.info
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wwwherearewe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wherearewe.info
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wherearewewherearewe
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/wwwherearewe
- Other: https://wherearewe.bandcamp.com/
