Berklee Blogs follows Joshua Kipersztok, a fifth semester EPD major interning at Bear Creek Studio near Seattle. Check back periodically as we post updates on his progress.

We’ve had many artists come through our studio in the past few weeks, all with very different sounds and all with nominally different attitudes. This revolving door of musicians has allowed me to notice the breadth of personalities that can be found coming through a studio. And, sometimes, the artists themselves do not correlate with the music they make.

For instance, only a few days ago, we had an incredibly heavy metal group come in whose music was sonically unforgiving, and loud as can be. In contrast, they were five of the coolest, most down-to-earth guys I have ever met, and when I talked to them before hearing the band I would not have known what kind of music they chose to play; I would’ve guessed indie-folk, or something.

On the other hand, an artist came in who played ultra-sensitive singer-songwriter pop. This would not have bothered me so much, only that this particular individual acted incredibly rude to everyone working around him, that no matter how nice or pretty his songs were, I could not shake the idea of the person who had written them.

These are two extreme-ish examples, but I guess my point is that, as an intern, I have already observed so many different types of people working under the same roof and in the same environment. It is a testament to how diverse our industry is, even on a smaller scale. As an aspiring producer, it is my goal to eventually figure out how to deal with all of these character types coming through the walls of my hypothetical studio.

Ryan told me that “The more different kinds of people you are willing to deal with, the more success you will have in this business.” To paraphrase: different people make different music, and to be a successful producer means to be courageous enough to tackle ALL sorts of musical genres, including the ones that are sung by self-important rock stars of their own universe.

You never know who will be willing to pay for studio time, and how they will act upon arriving at the studio. Sometimes, you just have to bite your tongue and go along with the ride, because the production industry is, in essence, a service industry for musicians. Some are grateful, some….not so much.


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Read Joshua’s Other Posts

Getting Attached

Quality Control


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Bio

Joshua Kipersztok, fifth semester at Berklee, is a student of Electronic Production and Design. His principal instrument is guitar but is currently interning at Bear Creek Studio on the other side of the country near Seattle, Washington. This has been a very exciting experience, as many notable artists have gone to record there (including, but not limited to The Fleet Foxes, Soundgarden, The Strokes, and the Foo Fighters). Joshua hopes to adequately share his experiences interning at this incredible facility through the Berklee Internship blog, and hopefully give the average Berklee student an idea of what it takes to conduct oneself in a musically-based professional environment.

Be sure to check out some of Joshua’s work at http://www.soundcloud.com/rainfall-repo

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