Jeff Kolhede: Making Mixes That Are “Perfectly Imperfect”

Jeff Kolhede is a producer, audio engineer, and artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having participated in multiple Grammy-nominated records, he operates primarily out of 25th Street Recording, the SF Bay Area’s premier recording facility, where he helps emerging and established artists.

Jeff’s composing work for film and advertisements has been featured for leading brands, including the trailer music for the Academy Award-winning film, Moonlight. This led him to co-found Gooroo Music, a bay area music house, where he directs a team of award-winning composers, mix engineers, and sound designers for film and advertisements. Recent work includes Billie Eilish, Youtube, Faherty, and Adobe campaigns.

Alongside his producing and engineering work is Jeff Kolhede’s artist project. His self-recorded Dismantle LP was released on November 24, 2023. The SF Chronicle noted that “The gorgeous ‘Wonder Why’ calls to mind Nick Drake, with Kolhede’s vocals shining atop a layered string arrangement…there’s both retro-minded and contemporary folk moments within Kolhede’s notable first effort.” This same single wonder why was featured on the Spotify official Fresh Finds folk playlist. bandcamp included the full album on their new and notable feature. His influences range from rock, singer-songwriter, indie, soul, and jazz with genres being defied by melodies, introspective lyricism, and his primary instruments; the sax and voice.

Jeff Kolhede remains committed to making a positive, creative, and inclusive impact by way of music and kindness.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Separating processes vs. doing them all at once
• Gainstaging as if you're mixing
• Making mixes that are “perfectly imperfect”
• Allowing yourself to be objective
• Making time for experimentation/skill development
• Keeping things organic
• Chasing gear
• Capturing clean, dry, tight drum sounds
• Using a “crotch mic”
• Techniques for muffling drums
• Achieving in your face, smooth vocals
• Picking mics for a desired sound
• Using clip gain vs. compression

To learn more about Jeff Kolhede, visit: https://www.jeffkolhede.com/

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