Independent City (Come Alive)

Casey Golden is a Recording Connection mentor who owns GoodLook Studios in Minneapolis, MN. With an already impressive career as a rapper, musician, and engineer, he recently accomplished a life-long dream of working with Nas. I sat down with Casey to chat about his career, this recent accomplishment, and the program.

How did you get into music?

I have been recording music for around 30 years at this point. At first, it was for myself, when I was 13 in my aunt’s apartment in New York. She was a musician that wrote jingles in the 80s. I got really into music at a young age, and pursued it as a rapper, in a former life. I signed a deal with the Black Eyed Peas, and did a lot of work with them in the late 90s and early 2000s.

How did you transition into engineering?

After my record deal didn’t do what record deals do in your dreams, I took a step back and reassessed what really was drawing me to music. I realized it was the creation process. I didn’t wanna schmooze people anymore. I wrote a record that found its way to Mike Karen and his camp… Ceelo, and Janel Monae. I started getting validation from it, and I realized I could work more behind the scenes. That was 14 years ago, and from there I opened Good Look Studios and have been making music on this side of it ever since.

Can you tell us more about GoodLook?

GoodLook is a full service commercial studio in Northeast Minneapolis. It is in the old Grainbelt brewery and was a studio called A440 before. I lucked into the space! I have been building it word-of-mouth for the last decade plus. I used to be part of the Minneapolis rap scene, and my stuff always sounded good, so people trusted me with their production quality. Even when I was recording out of my basement, my stuff sounded better than a lot of “studios” in town. I was lucky to know a bunch of great engineers who were generous with giving me knowledge that helped me in my growth.  GoodLook is now one of the foremost studios in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis is a great city for musicians, right?

Most people know about Prince, but Minneapolis has a really strong independent ethos in general. I moved here in ‘96 and convinced some friends to join me. It was wide open to be a rapper. At the time, as a white kid rapping in Pennsylvania, I would get death threats at any given show or party (thanks Vanilla Ice),  but Minneapolis was more accepting of developing artists of all backgrounds. It was also a DIY mecca solidified by the fact that there are no Major labels in town.  Prince really embodied the vibe,  It’s an ethos about taking back ownership of art and music. It’s a vibrant scene; you can always go see a great funk show or amazing acoustic set. From 1st Avenue to little hole-in-wall clubs with amazing musicians. It’s a great place for musicians to get their start. Think about Lizzo, she was able to hone her craft here, because the city gives musicians the support they need and room to grow. Independent studios, independent radio all help foster the beginning stages of a musician’s career.

“It’s an ethos about taking back ownership of art and music.”

Do you have a specific genre you like to work in?

About 85% of what I do is rap and hip-hop related, just because I know it the best. I’m probably still a better rapper than 90% of people in the world who rap, haha, so it’s really easy for me to help with it.  I really love when I get the chance to work on a country, pop, or soul record, because it forces me to think about music in new ways and stokes my creativity. I love learning new things and pushing myself outside of the box I normally work in. It helps me grow as a producer and engineer.

I understand you just had a bit of a career milestone, can you tell us about it?

Yeah. When I think about it, Nas is the reason I own a studio. The reason I got into rapping was Nas’ Illmatic. He was the guy! When that record dropped in 1993, I went from being a kid who rapped with his buddies for fun to being like, “holy crap, this is amazing poetry and storytelling.” I was recently able to work with 50 Cent when he came through the Cities, for a track called Office Hours. I put the record into ProTools, and I heard Nas start rapping.

How did you find Recording Connection?

Long story short, I had a client who was working with a studio in town that had been providing Recording Connection services. I heard that they were going out of business, and that they had a student who needed to be taken on. I stepped up and took him under my wing. That was my first, it worked out really well, and I decided to keep it rolling.

What draws you towards being a mentor?

There’s this quote that’s always coming up on my instagram feed: “Tell me what kind of basketball player you are, and I’ll know what kind of person you are.” I was always a point guard. I want to drop ten assists and help others get buckets!  I like helping other people understand things and hopefully have an impact on the things they do in the future. I’ve had some great musicians to look up to; Dylan Dresdow, who’s a Grammy-winning engineer, always took the time to share knowledge with me when I was a nobody. I’ve been lucky. Now that I’m in a position to pay it forward, I do.

What do you think are the benefits to a mentorship style of education?

Anytime you can get some hands-on experience in a studio, it is beneficial. You can immerse yourself more than reading it in a book. There are lots of things that happen in a studio that you wouldn’t pick up on in a classroom; how to speak to clients, interpersonal relationships. Communication skills can make or break a career.

What qualities do you look for in a mentee?

Anybody who wants to learn, I’m going to teach. But the ones who get the most value out of it are the ones who are naturally inquisitive and take initiative.

Do you have any advice for someone entering the program?

Involve yourself and run with this opportunity. A million people want to be part of this industry, are you ready to out-work them? $14,000 is a lot of money to spend. You aren’t going to spend it and ‘boom’ be an engineer or musician. This can be an incredibly valuable program, but you have to treat the information and the opportunities you are given with respect. You have to really go after it. Recording Connection offers a really really good starting point, but the results are up to you. Take it seriously and take advantage.