Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Mills.
Jeff, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started as a piano player, then euphonium in concert band and drum set in high school jazz band. I went to the University of Southern Mississippi on a euphonium scholarship. Realizing the career limitations on the euphonium, I elected to change my major and purse a degree in business while staying active in performance ensembles at the college and community of Hattiesburg and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
My last year of college, some fellow musicians from the music program formed a band called King Konga which ended up with a nine-year run. The lead singer (Dan Hannon) would later move to Atlanta to become a highly acclaimed Atlanta music producer. Though the band was successful, I left after the first 4.5 years to pursue a full-time playing career in New Orleans.
I took a job playing five nights a week at the Famous Door on Bourbon Street. The demands and expectations of Bourbon St. rival even the most challenging music performance programs in the country. Through the sheer hours of playing and working with some of the best musicians in a city that is known for its music, I was able to make a name for myself as a top-tier drummer in the city. I would later get calls to work with some major New Orleans touring acts such as Papa Grows Funk, Bonerama and Grammy Award Winner Chris Thomas King (O Brother Where Art Thou). After 12 years, I still hold the Chris Thomas King trio drum chair and have traveled the world and recorded four albums together.
In 2014, I reconnected with my now wife Melissa who had a career job in Atlanta. I realized there could be many great opportunities in Atlanta so a relocation seemed promising. I work as a pro drummer for many Atlanta-based bands including the Bradley Cole Smith Band, Charlie Wooton, Dyn-no-mite Organ trio and David Fish and Bent Hooks. In 2016, I decided to tap into my real-world knowledge of recording and playing and open a studio. This past summer we relocated to Johns Creek where three sixty sessions is now an over 1200-sq foot recording studio with a large tracking room, large control room and multiple isolation rooms. I have done singles, EP’s, album projects and even some soundtracking for indie movies. Some of the bands/artists are Kate Barnette (American Idol Top 20 2019) The Sagas, Casual Cadenza, Student Driver, Landt, Carrington Kelso and Clockwork Pioneer. Recently, the Bradley Cole Smith Band recorded the soundtrack for Jimmy Carter: The First Rock and Roll President, an upcoming documentary being released in January at the Sundance Film Festival.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Being on the road is always challenging. Many young musicians aspire to it and then it happens and it’s not for them. There are many unseen and unglamorous hours flying, being in a bus/van, etc. A challenging time for me was back in 2010 when I went back to get my Masters in Music Education. I accepted a full assistantship in Dr. John Wooton’s percussion program which required me to teach 20 hours a week at the university, keep up with my coursework, and maintain my professional playing schedule! At the time, I was touring with Bonerama and Chris Thomas King so it was a juggling act to say the least. Time management was key so I would download my assignments so I could work on the plane, in the van, etc.
I would also cite my first year in New Orleans as tough and eye opening! I was taking over the drum chair from an amazing New Orleans drummer, Raymond Weber (Harry Connick Jr., Dumpstphunk). I really had to step up my playing to keep up with the New Orleans standard. Bad drumming down there can cost a band a coveted paying gig on Bourbon. I’ve even been called in to relieve drummers in the middle of a gig because they weren’t up to the standard yet. T’s a drummer’s town so the bar is high. I think that time period was the turning point for me as a player and professional musician.
Now I am thankful for those trials and tribulations. I bring that knowledge and experience to the young bands and artists who work with me in the studio, helping them reach musical places they didn’t know they had in them. Through my experiences, I can mentor and encourage them and help them navigate their growing careers.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Three Sixty Sessions Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Let’s face it, in the current technology age anyone can record at home with a computer and a two-channel interface, but there are limitations like space, isolating multiple instruments, and having enough mics and preamps for recording instruments like drums to name a few. Our studio is set up to provide the comfort of a home studio with the sound quality of a major recording space. We have the space to do full-band recordings and a room/equipment that gets great pro-level drum and instrument sounds without the price tag of a major recording facility. We can start a project from scratch or musicians can start a project on their end and finish up what they can’t do here. It saves time/money and gives them an opportunity to take their work to the next level. We also offer an extensive list of qualified studio musicians that can accommodate any style of music.
Three sixty sessions is also a relaxing space where artists don’t feel pressing time constraints that can result in rushed work which is unfulfilling. We work until it’s the way they want it. I don’t like to impose my will on a project. It’s the artist’s statement, so I will advise within the scope of their goals and vision.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have many bands currently working and finishing elaborate album projects as well as some indie TV episodes sound-tracking. It’s always great to have work but we want to keep adding new clientele to the roster. The good thing is we have a lot of repeat customers working on second and third projects so we think future clients will soon learn that we have a real relaxed workspace with pro set-up that can put out top quality work without breaking the bank.
I’m also working on filming more drum instruction content for my YouTube channel so it can continue to grow. With that will come another branch of the three sixty brand called three sixty session drummer. The hope is to grow the YouTube channel and start an online drum teaching school that is full of lessons and teaching resources.
Pricing:
- Music Instrument/Vocal Tracking $50-75 an hour
- Song Mixing $100-200 per song (based on number of tracks and quality desired (i.e Demo/Album quality)
- Film/TV Scoring $50 a finished minute for custom themes and arrangements
- Professional audio/video recording $100 for music student application- college, scholarship, competition
Contact Info:
- Website: www.threesixtysessions.com
- Phone: 504-615-8725
- Email: jmojom@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threesixtysession/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Threesixtysessionsstudio-112459293540483/about/?ref=page_internal
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/threesixtydrum
Image Credit:
Profile photo courtesy of Drew Stawin
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