Episode 317

Eric Stenman: Having an “always mixing” approach to production

Eric Stenman is an LA-based producer, mixer, and engineer whose four-decade credit list runs from Deftones, Thrice, and Weezer to Daniel Caesar's Grammy-nominated Freudian and every AWOLNATION album since 2011's Megalithic Symphony. A decade running Red Bull Studios in Los Angeles gave way to overseeing AWOLNATION's own Malibu studio, where Stenman has helped engineer some of alternative rock's biggest, guitar-built (and famously bass-guitar-free) low end. Most recently, he's stepped from behind the board into the band itself, co-founding the metallic-hardcore project The Barbarians of California with longtime collaborator Aaron Bruno.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

Why "I'll fix it in the mix" usually means more work later, not less
How Eric commits to compression and tone while tracking, instead of capturing it flat and safe
What changes once you start picturing the finished mix while you're recording
Why more experience means fewer decisions get pushed down the road
How this mindset shift cuts down on retracking and rebuilding sounds from scratch
How treating a song as a whole (instead of piece by piece) keeps a mix from falling apart
Why he avoids soloing individual tracks during a mix
How stepping away from a mix for a week changes what you hear when you come back
How he decides a mix is done, even when a client keeps sending notes
How Eric fills low end without ever touching a real bass guitar
What "translating" actually means across car speakers, earbuds, and Bluetooth speakers

To learn more about Eric Stenman, visit: https://ericstenman.com/

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