Today we’d like to introduce you to Reese Clutter
Hi Reese, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I had an early introduction to music in my life, whether it was what my dad had playing in the car or my mom had throughout the house on cleaning days, there was always an abundance and wide breadth of genre. This lead to an admiration for music and the feeling of a need to participate in any way possible.
I eventually gravitated towards playing the guitar, and was lucky enough to form a band with some of my closest friends in high school. Through the process of playing shows around town, and figuring out the quirks of self recording and producing our one and only album, I learned that audio engineering and producing music for bands is something I would very much enjoy doing for the rest of my life.
Being from the more rural parts of Northeast Ohio and not having any real ties to the music industry, a traditional education was the only way I felt I would have been able to get a foot in the door. I ended up learning a lot at school, I took pride in a lot of what I was able to accomplish; including heading the production department of the student radio station, ACRN, for three years. Post graduation it was now time to start to find my way into it all. My then girlfriend, now fiancee, and I decided to move to the DC area, where it seemed promise was held for both of our chosen fields.
A lot has happened since the three years and some change since I relocated to the area. I have been able to secure a solid position at an up-and-coming, recent Wammy Award recipient, recording studio; 38NorthStudio. There, I run my own productions, help on larger projects that require multiple sets of hands, and partly manage our educational program, StudioEDU. Along with this, I also spend my off days from the studio working at several concert venues in DC proper, running sound for local shows and national tours.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The first hurdle was navigating a music scene that I was a complete outsider to, that was also recovering from the pandemic when I moved to the area. It was a slow start and I put in a lot of work creating connections from scratch and getting to know a lot of the players in the scene, big and small.
And the biggest hurdle, I feel, of music production is having the trust of your client that you can be a vessel for the vision of their art. Gaining that trust is a multi step process that starts with first proving in some way that you can see the vision, that to them usually only exists at that time in the abstract. And the big question is, how do you go about proving that?
Luckily, I am still very early on in my career. I have lot more time to figure out the best answer to that question and also have a lot more hurdles to encounter, figure out, and overcome.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At the end of the day, I would say I’m an Audio Engineer who has multiple specialties and a knack for helping bands create their music. Like previously stated, outside of the studio I also operate as a live sound engineer. Cross pollination of fields in the audio world has been the most fruitful thing for me. What I learn in the studio I can take and improve the live productions I work on, and similarly, what I learn while running the boards for live productions are valuable pieces of information that I can take into the studio to improve my upfront capture of instruments.
One of the things that I am most proud of is simply the fact that if early high school me, saw the current me and what I was doing, he would think it’s pretty cool. Aside from this, there have been multiple releases with bands/acts such as Cherub Tree, Mary Timony, and Light Beams, that I have gotten to have my name on that I am incredibly lucky to have been apart of. This upcoming year should see some more releases from some of these bands and more acts that I am currently working with.
In a music industry that has had the doors blown wide off with the introduction of home recording and the incredible accessibility to new music and artist that has come with that, the one thing I can say that sets me apart from others is my extreme enthusiasm I will bring to every project. I see what is being created as much a product of my work as much as it is yours. When it hits the shelves, it is also a piece of me and what experience I have brought to the table, so why would I not be excited and give it every ounce of passion I can summon while we are working together.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
You need to be ready to play the long game in this industry. It’s a nice image that I, and I think a lot of people, paint in our heads of this immediate success and knowledge you gain when you first enter the space as a working professional. There needs to be an acceptance of patience and knowing that there is so much more to know and you will never stop learning and growing in your abilities. As previously stated, I am very lucky to be this early in my career. I have a lot of tools and great people to learn from at my immediate disposal and look forward to gaining all the abilities that come with years of knowledge.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://38northstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reeseclutter
Image Credits
Brandy Holder
Max Fillion
Carter Louthian
