JUSTIN LOMELINO, OAK PARK, IL

Like most things in life, the recording industry gives back what you put into it.

I came up as a bass player in a bunch of local rock bands, even going as far as a self-financed tour of the east coast. From very early on I was interested in recording, doing Sony Acid-based compositions in my basement. While I wasn’t actually playing anything in my songs, I had a blast messing with the audio. In high school I played in a group that put out several different CD’s, and as a band we decided to do each at a different studio. At the time we were just looking to be the weirdest group in the area, and didn’t want a consistent sound. I ended up being exposed to a modern digital workstation at a studio built in what was essentially the storage closet of a lawn care company, and a console and 2″ tape machine at a custom built room full of vintage guitar amps. Seeing what was possible, I was immediately hooked. After a long failed experiment with architecture school, getting a day job, and then trying to turn that job into a career (I was studying to become a pharmacist, believe it or not!) I sold my 401k, cashed in my savings, and used it to buy a small home studio.

I made a lot of mistakes, and a lot of bad recordings.

The problem was, I essentially existed in a vacuum. I had some functional gear, and I read all the books I could find and scoured the internet for whatever scraps of advice were out there. My mixes didn’t improve. I spent a lot of time listening to music on my system, and my recordings on other speakers. I still couldn’t make professional mixes. I was frustrated and about ready to go back to the pharmacy when I discovered the Recording Connection with a random Google search.

In a few months, I was living in another city. I spent my days at a studio built into a warehouse downtown, hanging with an engineer who lived at the studio, recording and teaching all day, every day. Meeting real artists, and sitting in on sessions that later became albums. Tweaking a mix on one of the consoles that Pink Floyd mixed “The Wall” on.

Doing exactly what I wanted to be doing with my life.

Recording Connection will give you the basic and advanced skills of this trade. It will give you a foot in the door with a real studio, full of people who make a living doing what you want to do (which is not easy today!). It will give you a chance to meet the people who make the music you love, through every step of the process. It will give you a chance to prove your value to a very small, very tight-knit group of professionals in an industry that is outright hostile to most newcomers. Remember, at its heart, making records is a service industry. Be of service.

Work hard. Remain positive. Learn how to talk to engineers, producers, and musicians. Look for opportunities as they present themselves, and you could very well be running a studio after your course is over.

Today, I work as a freelance engineer, with opportunities to book sessions at several studios in the area, including the one I studied at whenever I would like. I am a business partner with my instructor, running a business we built together during my time with the Recording Connection. We record in just about any basement or garage we can fit into, as well as on stage and in local studios. I spend my day surrounded by gear, thinking about recording and ways to improve.

And my mixes? A lot better.

All I can say to you is that this program is truly what you make of it. Reach as high as you dare. The Recording Connection has the potential to take you all the way.”

Justin Lomelino
Guerrilla Audio Recording
Oak Park, IL