Robert Wester // Sound Engineer
We often say that in the music community there’s an important role for everyone, a sound engineer being one of them.
I have been coming to shows in the area since around 2011 and performed for the first time in 2012 with my first project Auslander as a lead guitarist. Starting off my only intentions were to make music with my friends, but as the music progressed I found interest in things like stage lighting, sound, and production and began making my own side investments into learning how shows are put together and the mechanics of a good production. I began working for local venues building stages and setting up equipment for larger touring acts and eventually landed a solid position at Dos Amigos from 2016 to 2020 when the company sold the venue to it's current ownership. I have booked a number of shows during that time to give some of the lesser known local artists a chance to get their name out there, but since the pandemic in 2020, a lot of my time has gone into learning studio production and audio mixing/mastering along side cgi and video graphics production. Music and art are my entire life and I couldn't see myself doing anything else with my time.
It's very eye opening to see how things are put together behind the scenes. There are many things that go into putting a show together that people who are just attending the event don't realize. There is a large amount of work behind it and a lot of time management that I feel goes under-appreciated. Especially when booking out of town shows or tours things can get difficult to manage and sometimes things don't exactly go as planned, but that's something that comes with the job. In my years of working for larger touring acts I've come to realize that things happen to even the most professional acts in the business and like the saying goes, "The Show Must Go On". It is a very real statement when it comes to working shows.
Working with bigger artists can be a ton of fun, but I definitely prefer working with smaller or local acts. I feel I relate alot more with musicians that are in the beginning stages rather than those who have already made a name for themselves. And sometimes the bigger artists that get the most support may not be as great to work with in person as you may believe at first. There's something about smaller artists getting together to push for things to happen that makes doing these things an overall good time. Getting together and working together to push for bigger things is what makes things happen at the end of the day and being a part of that is a benefit all in itself.
There is alot more that goes into sound production than I feel producers get credit for. It took many years of trial and error using a DAW (digital audio workspace) to make my first 'somewhat decent' mix and I'm still learning new things every day. I think something alot of people outside of production don't quite understand about sound design is that there isn't a one size fits all solution to a mix. Individual instrument or vocal tones vary in so many ways, and different producers eq and mix things differently. If you send the raw tracks of your favorite song to two different producers you are going to receive two different mixes. When you go see your favorite band live they may not sound the same the next time you see them, and that goes back to how many different variations are at play when mixing both in a studio and for a live performance.
Looking into a crowd of faces and seeing people out and having a good time is what it's all about. Many people struggle with their daily lives and sometimes shows are the only things that people have to escape from that for a moment. I had a very hard life growing up and going to shows began as a way to get away from my problems and just have a good time. Growing up it has become so much more than that for me.
