Recently, BeatStatus resident Engineer/Producer extraordinaire, Matt Griffin, was able to sit down for quite a few questions with one of the busiest and most well known engineers around, Steve Sola, The Mix King. If you don’t know the name, you know his work. Nas, Mobb Deep, and just about anyone you can think of in hiphop are all on his record.
So sit back and enjoy a rare opportunity to get inside the head of a master:
MG: How long have you been in the music business? Tell me your story.
SS: I consider myself being in the music business for 17 years because that’s how long I’ve been doing music full time.
MG: Why Hip Hop and R&B?
SS: I started my musical journey playing guitar, 30 Years ago..(wow long uhh ..lol…) Back then I was into Rock and progressive rock and anything to do with the guitar. If a band had a great guitarist I would listen. Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Blackmore were my heroes.
In the mid 80′ s rock was getting boring so I got into dance music. In the 90’s I got into hip hop because of the rebel mentality and the I don’t give a f*** attitude which I had liked in Rock and roll. R & B is the older sister of Hip Hop. I love them both.
MG: Tell me about your label, Plain Truth Ent.
SS: Im the Ceo of Plain Truth Ent. It started as a personal Publishing company for me. Then I started using it for my engineering and productions. Ex: Steve Sola for Plain Truth Ent. Now Plain Truth Ent. is a Recording,Mixing,Mastering and Production studio in Downtown NYC. Its a small Independent Record label and a digital distribution company. Some of the artists under and /or with joint ventures with PTE are: Imam Thug, Enjoli, Dirtmell,Genesis, and Black Ice. PTE also has Producers with hot music: Creon, Gregory B.,Pavel,Hitz and myself. Some of the artists that PTE is looking to sign are Fashion Da Don, DJ Zodiac Killa and Infinite.
MG: What projects are you currently working on?
SS: These are the albums that I’m fully Executive Producing and Mixing:
I’m also producing and recording most of these albums.
** Plain Truth Ent.Compilation (with various artists) “The Plain Truth”
featuring:Havoc,Prodigy,Cormega,Nyce,Hot Rod, Imam Thug,Nore ,Ron Artest,Ruc,Foul Monday,40 Glocc,C Terrell,Enjoli,Dirtmell,Village Zoo,Im3, Big Noyd,Chinky,Fashion the Don,Black Ice, Genesis and more (All Produced by Steve Sola)
* Imam THUG “Rap Prison” Album
* Plain Truth Ent Compilation fully produced by HAVOC (with various artists) “Wrecking Havoc”
* Dirtmell “TBA” mixtape and album
* Sam Scarfo “TBA” album
* Enjoli “TBA”
* Cormega “TBA” remix album ( all Plain Truth Ent./Producers )
* Genesis “TBA”
* Black Ice “TBA”
Recording,Mixing,Mastering and Producing:
O’Neal McKnight ft. Yoli Cotray – Give Me A Hand [Exclusive] Haiti Relief Effort (Prod. Steve Sola)
O’Neal McKnight ft. Doemain exclusive song for Verizon (Prod. Steve Sola)
O’Neal McKnight ft. Aubrey O’Day front singer of Danity Kane tba (Prod. Steve Sola)
Songs with Tru Wariers,Carl Gershon, Danielle,Mooka Jerz, BMX, Ajay, Script, Salut etc (Prod. SteveSola)
Recording and Mixing:
Im3, Filthy records,Liana, J Dub, P Diamond, So Fresh, Joe A, Malik,Rad, Young A, Tricosta,Daygo boys,Shake hem Down,Fire Beats,Smoove L etc
MG: Who’s your favorite artist to work with?
SS: Right now its O’Neal Mcknight.
MG: Is there an artist that you always wanted to work with?
SS: Jay Z and Eminem. I worked with Biggie and Big Pun after they passed away. I worked with Eminem on the “Re Up ” but not with him directly.
MG: What was the biggest challenge you ever had to overcome with an artist?
SS: Trying to get them to forget about the crappy ruff mix they liked that was way too loud and distorted. And two other artists….Trying to get them to forget about the crappy ruff mix they liked that was way too loud and distorted.
MG: Lol, I understand that one. Tell me a good studio story.
SS: Here’s a story when I was working with Nas on the song “Street Dreams” from the “It Was Written ” album. One night me,Nas and Trackmasters recorded the whole song “Street Dreams”. The next day Nas came in and wanted to re record the 2nd verse. I thought to myself that the original was fine. The third day he wanted to re record the 1st verse. On another day he re recorded the 3rd verses. The hook stayed the same. I thought to myself ” wow perfection” or at least getting close to perfection. If its good but you think you could make it better, try it.
MG: Given the state of the industry, what are some essential survival tips for a producer or engineer just getting out there?
SS: Give up now while you can.There are so many engineers and producers already.. lol. ..
If those sentences would make you give up then this industry is not for you.
But also know that its a 24/7 commitment . Don’t be complaining that your not making it and your still playing video games. Never give up. Try and be the best but know that you will never be the best. There’s no such thing as “the best” in music.
Respect and genuinely like the people you work with and your peers.
MG: Definitely some great words of wisdom there, if you had to pick, what do you enjoy more, producing or engineering?
SS: They are both very satisfying in different ways . I do like the money in producing, but I do like fixing a record that does not sound great and make it great. Producers get a lot more money and fame but sometimes the engineer is really the underdog and does a great amount towards the overall sound of the record.
MG: So how do you avoid “over producing” a song?
SS: Make sure that you could play the song with just a guitar or piano and a voice and its still a good song. Then produce the song a little and listen to what its sounds like. If it really needs more production then add it but don’t add production techniques just for the sake of “producing”. Listen to a song that I co-wrote “Struggle No More” from Daddy’s Little Girls movie.
MG: Name some of your favorite production gear? MPC or the SP, which do you prefer?
SS: I have 2 mpc 3000 and one mpc 2000, 13 guitars, one bass, one lute,one harmonica,one mandolin,egg shaker, about six keyboards lots of outboard etc. and some Virtual instruments . If you can’t make good music with all of that then…I should give up….never…lol
MG: Lol, definitely. Any programming tips?
SS: Just make sure you know the equipment that you are using like the back of your hand. You don’t want to be making a beat/song and can’t figure something technical out. It can break all the momentum and inspiration.
MG: Did you ever thinking about crossing over to different genres?
SS: Yes and Im doing that right now. Mixing and Producing dance music, club music, Pop music. I’m doing that with O’Neal Mcknight. But those are kind of related to Hip Hop and R&B anyway right now.
MG: Now let’s talk about money for a moment…
SS: You want me to mix your record? lol www.themixking.com
MG: Lol…I’m sure plenty of us do, (nice plug too!), but do you think royalties should be paid out when people listen or view songs on free share sites like YouTube?
If somebody is making money from the the web site then YES. Whether its from advertising, subscription or any other ways to bring in revenue. If anybody is using your song they should pay royalties.
Lets say a barber shop, store, car repair shop, hotel lobby,or bar plays your song they should pay royalties. The music makes people feel better,relax or whatever? they should pay royalties. Even if its the small amount. Ascap or other companies should track that.
MG: Will people ever buy albums like they used to?
SS: No. There are so many ways to buy and listen to music nowadays. But people will always want something tangible. Look at books, people still buy them and electronic text media came out a while ago.
MG: True…we’ll see how that shakes out, now let’s move on to engineering:
MG: What do you look for in a “Great” mix?
SS: It should sound good…..really really good. But most importantly it’s that it makes people want to listen to the song over and over. Make the song,artist and producer sound great. The “mix” is secondary.
MG: If something is recorded poorly, can it be saved in the mix down process?
SS: Somethings could be saved like lower levels,certain pops and clicks etc.
I mean, drums could be replaced if we needed better drum sounds, but things like distortion and low resolution cannot be fixed.
Please record at 24 bit, 44.1k. A 16 bit file has 50% less resolution then a 24 bit file.
MG: I hope everyone takes note of that, it’s all about 24 bit now! How important is A/D and D/A conversion?
SS: The recording and final mix will suffer from any weak links. A/D and D/A conversion is not one of the most important but its probably in the top five important things you have to achieve or have to get a good product.
Good mic and pre,good source (singer,musician etc), good speakers, good a/d and d/a,good wires and a good engineer of course.
MG: What’s the most important thing when tracking and mixing vocals?
SS: Clarity in the vocal. Also don’t over compress while tracking and don’t use any EQ.
MG: Digital vs Analog? Where do you stand in the sonic battle?
SS: I was using digital in the final stages of recording and some mixing in 1994 on the Jodeci album ”The Show,The After Party, The Hotel”. Back then it was a battle. My engineer friends would say how can you stand digital and I would reply “I like it”. Now the war has been won, and digital is the winner. Now I say ” I Love Analog”, and I will always love analog even if I dont use it now. Our ears are analog.
MG: Some associates of mine believe that mastering is not essential in today’s music. What do you think about that?
SS: If the mix engineer would do his job correctly then mastering is very important. But if he or she smashes the compressor and makes the mix so hot (loud) then there is less that a good mastering engineer could do. Some EQ would most likely be applied.
MG: If you don’t mind, what are some of your “Go-To” pieces: Meaning Preamps, EQ’s, Compressors, Etc?
SS: U87 mic, Foucusrite producer pack 430 mic pre, 1073, any good working pultec, Neve vr60 (lol), Lexicon 480
MG: And again, how can people contact you for your production or engineering services?
SS: www.Stevesola.com www.themixking.com www.myspace.com/themixking
This concludes our interview. Unless you have anything to add or any last thoughts?
I would like to thank the people that have been listening to the records that I’ve been involved in. (Especially the people that buy records). Without you there would be no music business. All the people that assisted in the process, interns,assistant engineers, anybody that worked in the studio, record companies etc. It takes a lot of people to make a great record/song.
My PTE team: Alonzo, Alberto, Black, Creon, Les, Don Leo, Smirk, Damon, Randy, Goldhands, Raquel, Enjoli, Imam Thug, Genesis, Fashion Da Don, Dirtmel, Drew, Rebel, Taji, Leroy, Joe A, Infinite, Nikki Blue, Arie, Tiffany and Leo.
A special Thank you to Matt Griffin and BeatStatus for this opportunity to be interviewed by you and your blog. Its been a great pleasure. I hope that with this information we will help somebody achieve a better recording and musical experience. Thanx for the great questions, the musical ones, personal ones and the specific engineering ones.
BeatStatus Team: A big THANK YOU to Steve for his participation. It’s also great to get a peek into the mind/studio with someone who’s worked on so many projects we’ve grown up listening to and new music we still discover today! Feel free to repost, just drop a linkback and be sure to keep Steve Sola’s links intact.
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