The Journey into Hip Hop in Winnipeg | You Never Stop Learning

Sometimes it just takes thinking about what you want to do and being really honest with yourself. After all, if you don’t know what you want, it’s hard to get where you want to go.

Darryl Theissen from Winnipeg, Manitoba and had always been into music. Nevertheless, it took a little time for him to think things over and come to the simple truth that would set him on the course to being gainfully employed, making the music he loves every single day. Darryl’s realization sounds hardly mentionable and hardly profound,  “I really wanted to be just involved in music” he says. Nevertheless, that self-defined mission was the crucial first step.

The rest came fairly quickly after that.

Deciding to take his love of music more seriously led him to start researching various schools, ultimately leading him to Recording Connection. Darryl had taken a look at his life and circumstances and recognized the fact that he was out there on his own. Seeing our insider approach appealed to Darryl who says, “I thought this was a good way to break into the industry, in that way… I don’t have a lot of connection to any sort of music scene at all. So I entered the program and saw it was more of a way to get my start.”

Darryl was paired with engineer and producer extraordinaire Len Milne at Bedside Studios in Winnipeg. There, he leaned the ropes and really got his feet wet. Darryl had very little experience so he learned everything from the ground up. He learned in studio the proper way to set up, the best mics to use for specific objectives, gleaning all the basics directly from his mentor.

Aside from learning the ones and zeros of the recording process, Darryl also made some important connections with numerous high profile producers, even picking up specific craft tricks of the trade directly from the pros. “I got to watch a couple different producers do different genres of music. It was interesting because everyone has their own way of going to do things, their own process. That’s when I started thinking, I got to start thinking of what my process is.”

One of these producers that Darryl worked with was Bryce Kaminski of YSMG aka Young Successful Music Group, a hip-hop collective with a quite a few hot acts. When asked whether it’s where he wants to work in music, Darryl says the fit is ideal. “Yeah, I definitely like listening to hip-hop and rap. That’s right in my wheel house. I wouldn’t choose any other genre, to be honest. That would be my go-to one that I love to work on. But I got pretty lucky, so far.”

YSMG rents space at Studio 11 in Winnipeg where Darryl works with them tracking and engineering for their rappers. “It’s definitely a huge learning curve for just getting what the artist likes. I mostly do tracking, so it’s just trying to make the artist happy with how they’re sounding at the moment so they can get the best vocals.”

Working with the Recording Connection enabled Darryl the get the skills and relationships he needed to propel himself into the next phase of his career and he’s open to more growth, more experience doing different things. “[I’m] probably more of an audio engineering guy, but I wouldn’t mind trying my hand in producing. As I grow more as an engineer, just kind of learn more of the craft, I guess. Just…I wouldn’t mind giving it a try…It’s one of those careers, you never stop learning.”

He made the connections, he’s gained work in his favor, and he’s skilled enough to back up what he’s saying. He works hard and has practical hands-on knowledge that the people he’s working with find very valuable. From start to finish, the Recording Connection enabled Darryl to go from someone with an interest in working in music to someone whose gainfully employed, creatively tapped in and open to the journey ahead.