Mark Christensen

Mark B. Christensen, studio owner and chief engineer of Engine Room Audio in New York City, has one of the most formidable resumes in the industry, with clients that include Lady Gaga, The Killers, Trey Songz, 50 Cent, The Ting Tings and a score of other famous artists from across a vast range of musical genres. Christensen’s knowledge and expertise have helped make Engine Room Audio one of the busiest recording studios in the world.

But that’s not all. Christensen also happens to be one of the Recording Connection’s most celebrated mentors. This week during a 3-hour meeting with Brian Kraft, Consultant of Recording Radio Film Connection, the expert mentor shared news about the remarkable success his apprentices and graduates have been having once they’ve completed their audio engineering and music production programs.

A big believer in promoting from within, a number of Mark’s apprentices have gone on to fill assistant engineering and even full-time positions at Engine Room Audio. When former apprentice, Nacor Zuluaga started in 2012, he spoke no English. Today, thanks to Christensen’s expertise and the Recording Connection’s hands-on learning approach, Nakor is now a full-time engineer at the very same studio where he trained (and learned English!). Speaking of Nakor, Christensen says, “He is the best assistant I have ever had.” That’s saying a whole lot considering those words are coming from one of the music industry’s most sought-after and adept chief engineers.

Kudos to Mark B. Christensen, Nacor, and everyone at Engine Room Audio for proving why the mentor-apprentice approach is the best way to get started in the recording industry!

Frequented by an array of top-notch hip-hop, rock and indie recording artists, Engine Room Audio is excited to be putting the finishing touches on their two latest projects–one by 50 Cent, the other by Trey Songz.

Located in lower Manhattan, Recording Connection apprentices can get hands-on, in-the-studio instruction in one of the most pristine, well-equipped studios in the New York City area. With lots of projects in the works, mentor and studio owner Mark Christensen has lots for can-do apprentices to tackle and there’s lots of great industry connections to make while learning the ropes.

Want to enroll with Recording Connection in the New York City area? Then be sure to ask about apprenticeship openings with Engine Room Audio! Get in while you can!

Like many successful audio engineers, Mark Christensen (New York, NY) started out as touring musician. He was in multiple bands in the 1990’s, got signed, and opened for some of the biggest names in rock during the 90s. Today, he runs Engine Room Audio where he masters tracks for 50 Cent, Fergie, The Killers, OK Go, Dr Dre, Trey Songz, and more.

Mark decided to become a Recording Connection mentor (more than a decade ago) despite the fact that he’s literally always in the studio working on tracks by some of todays biggest artists:

Someone from the Recording Connection asked me if I would be interested in this kind of program…I like teaching, and the idea of having students who were in the studio environment and working with us here seemed like a good idea. So I tried it with a few students, and I was really happy with the results. I felt like they learn an awful lot being in a real studio environment. It’s a much more kind of concrete, hands-on sort of experience than trying to learn audio engineering from a textbook. So it’s become actually kind of a big part of what we do here. I teach every day, I have a couple of students that I teach. And so we have a number of students here all the time.”

Mark’s impressive 11,000 square foot studio, Engine Room Audio, enables students to meet the various studio engineers, artists, broadcasters, and sound pros within the same facility. Mark has hired on multiple former apprentices at Engine.

There was a guy that was our operations manager here up until a year ago, one of my first Recording Connection students ever. He went through the whole program, did very, very well, did some engineering here as a freelance engineer. Then ultimately ended up becoming a full time employee as the operations manager (Nacor Zuluaga, link to story down below). So yeah, we’re constantly on the lookout for good people…We definitely have referred people to other employment opportunities. There was a Recording Connection student who ended up becoming a full-time assistant to a famous DJ who will remain nameless…This DJ guy is a friend of our office manager, studio manager, and he called asking if we had anybody who was qualified…so we were able to recommend this person.”

When asked what’s the one thing prospective students should know about the industry, Mark doesn’t mince words:

I think what it comes down to is, you make your own luck. You want to make sure that you are as prepared as you can possibly be for when that moment happens. You need to be sort of present and aware in all of your communications with all of the music industry people that you come into contact with. And, you need to be ready for when that moment calls…You know that story of how Jimmy Iovine was an intern and ended up mixing part of John Lennon’s album. Those stories are real. That stuff actually happens. The best thing you can do for yourself is just to make sure that you’re very prepared and have your technical skills together so that when those moments arise, you can really show that you can shine.”

How Nacor Zuluaga received seven Gold awards as Mark Christensen’s assistant.

Saying Recording Connection mentor Mark Christensen is a music industry veteran would be an understatement. From playing in successful bands and sharing the stage with major artists in the 90s, Mark always nurtured a love for the production side and eventually set up his own recording company, Engine Room Audio, in the heart of Manhattan. Today, Engine Room occupies the entire 22nd floor of a building in Manhattan’s prestigious financial district, recording and mastering projects for major pop and urban artists. A multi-Grammy winning engineer himself, Mark works with such clients as Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, The Killers and OK Go, and recently mastered Fergie’s hot new single “M.I.L.F.$.”

RRFC writer Jeff McQ recently had the opportunity to visit Engine Room Audio in New York and interview Mark in person. Mark naturally had many great insights to share about what he looks for in a student and how they can make the most of the program, as well as how students can best prepare for an industry career. Enjoy!

RRFC: So I’m curious to know your back story—you how you got into this industry and got to where you are.

Mark Christensen: From a very young age, 13 or something, I was always in bands. I grew up in Boulder, Colorado…I think I was probably the first person in Colorado to buy a cassette 4-track when those came out. I was really into recording from a very early age. I actually thought that I invented the patch bay. I had this idea of like, “If I had this little, I can plug the pieces of gear into each other,” and actually built one. And then I didn’t realize until later, “Oh, this is something that somebody else had already thought of.” So in my basement, I was having a little recording setup. I was just really into that.

I was in a band in New York that was signed, and we toured opening for Radiohead way back in the mid ’90s…But during the course of that, because I always had studios, I had built a really good studio in my loft apartment here in Manhattan…So this company, believe it or not, started in my apartment, and one of our services was doing these super high quality cassettes. We got a reputation really quick and a lot of labels were using us to make their promotional copies…I built a little mastering lab next to my little recording rig in my loft apartment because I had so many clients that we were doing cassette copies for, and they wanted me to make their stuff “sound better.”…So I started to do mastering in that little environment…I got a little tired of the band thing…and decided that being on sort of the more production side of things was more what I was interested in. And that’s when we moved the business out of my apartment and we built our first kind of real facility.”

RRFC: So what made you want to be a mentor?

Mark: Someone from the Recording Connection…asked me if I would be interested in this kind of program…I like teaching, and the idea of having students who were in the studio environment and working with us here seemed like a good idea. So I tried it with a few students, and I was really happy with the results. I felt like they learn an awful lot being in a real studio environment. It’s a much more kind of concrete, hands-on sort of experience than trying to learn audio engineering from a textbook. So it’s become actually kind of a big part of what we do here. I teach every day, I have a couple of students that I teach. And so we have a number of students here all the time.

RRFC: What sorts of hands-on learning opportunities do apprentices receive here?

Mark: As you’ve seen, it’s a pretty big facility, 11,000 square feet here, and there’s lot of studios here. And we do a huge variety of things. We do mastering for a lot of big, popular, urban pop artists, but we also produce 15 different podcasts here, we do jazz records, we do recordings for a lot of the television networks. One of the things that students get is exposure to a huge variety of things. During the duration of their course, they’re going to end up seeing many different kinds of music recorded. And also we’re a facility that has that has an A-list mastering lab, as well as an A-list tracking room, and that also gives them the opportunity to get a look at all those various parts of the recording process.

RRFC: So when a student comes in to interview with you, what’s that spark you’re looking for that tells you, “This is somebody I can teach?”

Mark: One of the things I look for, is to make sure that they sort of have this in their blood, so to speak. So that’s one thing. The other thing, too, though, is the ability to kind of behave in a mature way…I look for people that can behave in the session as though they are already part of the production team. We’re looking for people that can behave like assistants. They have to be professional enough to not act like fans if their favorite artist walks through the front door, they can’t be asking for autographs, they can’t be asking for pictures. They have to just basically behave as though they are a part of the production team, which is what they are…What it comes down to is, “Can you be here and behave as though you’re part of the production environment?”

RRFC: Have there been students that you’ve hired or that you’ve recommended because of their skills? What do you do for some of your better students to help them find their place once they’re done?

Mark: I’ve actually hired a couple of Recording Connection students. There was a guy that was our operations manager here up until a year ago, who was one of my first Recording Connection students ever. He went through the whole program, did very, very well, did some engineering here as a freelance engineer, but then ultimately ended up becoming a full time employee as the operations manager. So yeah, we’re constantly on the lookout for good people…We definitely have referred people to other employment opportunities. There was a Recording Connection student that ended up becoming a full-time assistant to a famous DJ who will remain nameless…This DJ guy is a friend of our office manager, studio manager, and called asking if we had anybody who was qualified…so we were able to recommend this person.

RRFC: I talked with one of your current Recording Connection students, Darren Fewins. How is he doing, and what is he doing that impresses you?

Mark: He’s doing really well…In this business, you’re going to get out what you put in, and he is one of those guys who comes to every session we offer him…It’s normally two days a week when you are here, scheduled stuff, in terms of your lesson and your observation day. But we send out emails to all our students about the additional attendance or the sessions that are happening that are not necessarily on their calendar, that they’re still allowed to come to, and he comes to all of them. He’s very pro-active….I find that the people who put the energy in to it are the ones who tend get the most out of it, too.

RRFC: What do you think is the most important thing a student needs to know in order to break into the industry?

Mark: I think what it comes down to is, you make your own luck. You want to make sure that you are as prepared as you can possibly be for when that moment happens. You need to be sort of present and aware in all of your communications with all of the music industry people that you come into contact with. And you need to be ready for when that moment calls…You know that story of how Jimmy Iovine was an intern and ended up mixing part of John Lennon album. Those stories are actually real; that stuff actually happens. The best thing you can do for yourself is just to make sure that you’re very prepared and have your technical skills together so that when those moments arise, you can really show that you can shine.