Orlando Gomez

Not only does learning as an extern give you access to other professionals in the industry, but as Recording Connection student Orlando Gomez found out, it can also get you in the door of a ground-floor opportunity with an up-and-coming studio.

When Orlando enrolled in the Recording Connection, his primary purpose was to get hired—so much so that from the moment he started his externing at Beacon Hill Recording Studio in El Paso, TX, he thought of it as a job.

“I didn’t see it so much as a school,” he says. “When I got into Beacon Hill, I just had to do my best to keep the work there… keep my job…It felt just like any job where you always have to learn something new.”

Beacon Hill, as it turns out, was a fairly new studio in the El Paso area, just trying to build its reputation—but the people working there were certainly not novices. The studio was staffed with engineers who had worked with major players like John Legend, Shakira, Sting and others. By externing there, Orlando was definitely in good company—particularly with his mentor, Alfredo Gonzalez.

“I wanted to be both an engineer and producer,” says Orlando. “The good thing is that Alfredo himself is both of them as well… He specializes in music production and engineering, so it was a really good choice for me to get him as a mentor.”

During his externship/externship, not only did Orlando learn the ins and outs of engineering and producing, but he also got to help out with some session work with key like Latin Christian artists Evan Craft and Marcela Gandara. And because he was “in the door” at the beginning stages, he was there to participate in the landmark moment when Beacon Hill landed its first major label client—namely, hip-hop icon B.o.B.!

“When B.o.B came in, we were all pretty excited,” he says. “We’d only been open for a little more than a year, and B.o.B was our first big artist coming in….But once you are in the session, once you get focused on your work…you forget that you are working with famous people.”

Orlando’s work ethic paid off as well. By treating his externship/externship like a job, he literally worked his way into one. Today, he’s a full-time staff engineer at Beacon Hill, playing an integral role at a growing recording studio with a promising future.

“I love being at Beacon Hill…I love all the people there,” he says. “I just feel we have a good chance of being a really great production company.”

It takes lots of hard work and preparedness to be ready for those big opportunities. And sometimes, those big opportunities don’t seem like much at first. For Recording Connection graduate and now assistant engineer Orlando Gomez, opportunity came a-knocking in the form of a young local artist with lots of talent, material, and a manager in tow.

For just-graduated Recording Connection student Robert Macias, who apprenticed under studio manager/engineer/producer Alfredo Gonzalez, simply showing up and doing the best he could has taken him farther, faster than he ever could have anticipated.

As mentioned in a previous interview, when Orlando started apprenticing with Alfredo at Beacon Hill Recording Studios (El Paso, TX) nearly two years ago, he recognized the opportunity as a great one. His gameplan as an apprentice was, he says, “to do my best to keep working there, to keep my job.” Come graduation, Orlando knew he had achieved his goal when Alfredo offered him a job.

Now Orlando serves as Alfredo’s right hand man. A phone call from a local manager who was looking for a local studio to record in quickly turned into a number of recording sessions with a then-18-year-old singer named Khalid. Despite his age, the young artist had already garnered a loyal following of fans in the El Paso area. With a manager by his side, Khalid was going into the studio to lay down his tracks. Many would go on to appear in the artist’s debut album—American Teen. That studio was none other than Beacon Hill. When asked about his credits, Orlando says, “For ‘Location’ I was Assistant Engineer. Then I also got engineering credits on five more songs. Well, I think another Assistant Engineer credit for American Teen and engineering credits for ‘Coaster’ ‘Angels,’ and ‘Shot Down,’ and also songwriting credits on American Teen.”

And there’s a certain amount of pride Orlando takes in the fact that music’s newest rising star is homegrown:

Khalid is from here, from El Paso…His manager told us he had a very talented kid that he wanted to help record some songs. This was before Khalid was even signed…So they came down here to the studio, and I think they were here for four days the first time they came to the studio. And in those four days that’s when we recorded ‘Location,’ ‘American Teen,’ a few of the important songs from the album. They liked working with us, and we obviously liked working with them as well…”

Ever humble about their successes, Alfredo and Orlando both say they’re “very happy” for the success the album they’ve worked on is seeing. To date, American Teen has earned Gold and Khalid’s single “Location” has brought both Alfredo and Orlando Platinum credits!
And even though Khalid has achieved overnight fame and is nominated for an MTV VMA for Best New Artist, he’s currently in the process of laying down more tracks at Beacon Hill! Orlando says:

And we just had another session with Khalid, so that relationship is one that’s continuing. We ended at like 1:00 a.m. He just came here last night. They wrote a song and recorded it…Every time Khalid succeeds in anything, we’re just happy because we know him and…we’re just happy that this is happening to him.”

When asked the just-graduated Robert Macias, who wraps up his audio education with a Gold album credit under his belt, Recording Connection mentor Alfredo Gonzalez says that Robert’s abilty to just be around and do what needed to be done in session and for the success of the project earned him an assistant engineering credit on the top selling album. He says, “Being humble and able to take direction is crucial, because advice is no good if they don’t implement it. So following advice and having perseverance. I think those are three key things [to have]…So the album goes Gold, and everyone that gets a hand in it gets a plaque.”

Read Khalid nominated for MTV VMA for Best New Artist Billboard article.

El Paso, TX Recording Connection student Orlando Gomez recently did what we hope most of our students can accomplish by learning on-the-job: he leveraged his externship /externship with Beacon Hill Recording Studios into a full-time position as an assistant engineer! How did he do it? To hear him tell it, it began with a simple mindset: treat it like a job, and try to keep it.

“I didn’t see it so much as school,” says Orlando. “When I got into Beacon Hill, I just had to do my best to keep the work there… keep my job. It was more like… it didn’t feel like school. It felt just like any job where you always have to learn something new.”

As a matter of fact, Orlando had this attitude from the moment he first heard of the Recording Connection. As a musician who had already dabbled a bit in producing and engineering, he had one basic goal: land a job in a studio. Beacon Hill was a newer recording studio in El Paso, staffed with experienced engineers who had previously worked with huge artists like Sting and Shakira. It was a perfect combination of experience and ground-floor opportunity, and for Orlando, the Recording Connection represented his chance to get his foot in the door while gaining the training and experience he needed.

Once he enrolled and got started at Beacon Hill, he was placed as an extern with producer/engineer Alfredo Gonzalez, who proved to be a perfect fit for Orlando. “I wanted to be both an engineer and producer,” he says, “and the good thing is that Alfredo himself is both of them as well… He specializes in music production and engineering, so it was a really good choice for me to get him as a mentor.”

Since starting at Beacon Hill, Orlando says he’s gotten to work with both local talent and major artists, including Latin Christian artists Evan Craft and Marcela Gandara, and even hip-hop icon B.o.B.!

“When B.o.B came in, we were all pretty excited,” he says. “We’d only been open for a little more than a year, and B.o.B was our first big artist coming in. So we were all pretty nervous, but once you are in the session, once you get focused on your work…you forget that you are working with famous people or renowned institutions.”

By treating his externship like a job and spending as much time in the studio as much as he could, eventually Orlando’s persistence turned into a full-time entry-level job. “Mainly when I work as a recording engineer, it’s with local bands,” he says. “If we get famous artists, I work as an assistant engineer mainly. And right now, I’m helping Alfredo out with some productions as an assistant producer.”

Now at the beginning point of what promises to be a long and rewarding career, Orlando is grateful for the opportunities he’s received from the Recording Connection—but he’s also reaping the rewards for making the most of those opportunities. “I feel lucky that I got the chance to work with a very talented group of people,” says Orlando. “I love being at Beacon Hill…I love all the people there…I just feel we have a good chance of being a really great production company.”