I arrived in San Francisco to interview a hub of amazing women, and I interviewed Dana Jae on June 23, 2008 at 10am. Formerly known as Dana J. Labrecque, she has sinced changed her name formally to Dana Jae.
Dana picked me up in her white Jeep and we cruised over to a very hip little cafe/coffee shop in the Oakland/Berkeley area. I was staying in the Berkeley neighborhood and she lives in Oakland, so this little place was in the "East Bay" area. I didn't know what that meant until I asked my friend. She told me that I WAS in the East Bay. Oh.
So before meeting Dana I knew that we were going to have a blast, as she seemed to be energetic (as am I, normally) and we both attribute our source of energy to a coffee addiction. Fabulous. So we got our fix at this cafe, and it didn't take me long to realize that Dana was a celebrity at this place. She got her entire coffee drink AND a slice of broccoli quiche for free. That is rockstar power! Apparently she is known there, as she has run sound for them for a while.
Dana has taken the road less traveled for females, forging her way in the live sound category of the audio world. She records too, does sound for film, etc., but her main thing is getting a sweet live mix in whichever venue she finds herself. It was obvious through talking with her that she is no ordinary soundwoman. She takes her craft seriously and doesn't go on autopilot during a gig. She revels in adjusting for each space she finds herself in, each song that comes her way. Certainly she is a true professional who takes pride in her work.
In addition, Dana teaches at City College of San Francisco and encourages her students to come watch her while she is on the job, mentoring them while she works. She seems to really encourage the next generation to find jobs within the live sound field, and loves encouraging females into the industry. The live sound field seems to be the most scarce for female presence, at least through my own observation.
One of Dana's shortcomings (no pun) in the field is her height. At a height of 5'1'', she sometimes cannot reach the boards that she encounters regularly. She has found ways to compensate, and she gets asked to come back to places again and again. I have no doubt that she is one of the best in the business!
For more info on my interview with Dana, you know what to do......
This is a blog to mark my research journey for a book I am writing, entitled "Audio Chicks".
On the left column you will find blogs on each interview, with the most recent one first.
On the right you will find info about the author - a full background and commentary.
***** NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART *****
Please feel free to subscribe to this blog. Enjoy!
Jill in the Studio
This is a post-production studio at NYU (aka Studio B) - a place I called "home" while I was there.
The Author: Jill Courtney (formerly Armstrong and Kares)
I am a woman who holds a lot of jobs within the music field. First, I am a business owner and recording engineer through my own indie company, JCreative Multimedia, formerly known as Sharkbait Studios, which I owned and ran with my now ex-husband. This is my job currently, but I also teach, write, and sing.
Recently I ran Quad Studios Nashville on Music Row in Nashville, TN.
Recently I ran Quad Studios Nashville on Music Row in Nashville, TN.
I also taught full time for Lamar State College-Port Arthur, where I functioned as the Coordinator of Commercial Music and Voice for the school. Previously and currently Nashville-based with my company, I was employed by Belmont University as an adjunct professor of commercial voice, and was employed by The Arts Institute of Tennessee-Nashville as an adjunct professor of audio recording. I also taught analog and digital recording, voice, and was the director of the jazz vocal ensemble at Tennessee State University.
Currently, I am traveling all over the US in search of answers for a book I am writing. This book is the focus of this blog, and is entitled "Audio Chicks," subtitle pending. It is about females who are in the audio industry (or were back in the day!). Said females can shed some light on how the industry was, is, and maybe how it will be. This has been and will continue to be a slow process.
The book has several purposes:
1. Selfishly, I want to meet people like me who entered the industry and are thriving within it.
2. I searched and searched for another text dealing with females within the audio recording field and came up empty, so I decided there needed to be one out there.
3. I see so very few females entering the programs with which I am affiliated (and also vicariously through my ex-husband's experience with MTSU, SAE and Lamar), that I want to try to put this possibility out there for the future females who may be interested in pursuing the field.
4. I want to see how the industry has changed as women begin to trickle into this particular segment of the workforce. Current statistics (which are very hard to gather) place female presence in the industry at 2-5%. I am hoping to make that 7-10% in my lifetime. I wanna change the world! HA!
5. I want to examine the trials that women face within this male-dominated field, but also look at the benefits associated with being a minority - there are both, in my experience. I want to see if others agree.
6. We are living in a time when the original women who entered the field are still alive and working! Their stories, even in a small 3-hour interview sort of way, should be documented. If I could profile each and every one of them in a 30-minute documentary-style video production, I would. But I can only start small right now.
7. I also want to interview a few men who work with women to see how it may differ from their perspective (hoping that they can be honest with me, a woman!).
8. Because I also married a recording engineer (Gregory Kares), I have the vicarious experience that he lived in comparison to my own. There is a difference in how we attain jobs, get salaried, work with clients, etc., and I feel that I can gain a balanced look at the differences by using his career as a reference point. I certainly have a unique insider's perspective, so I feel I might be able to get to the heart of the matter. Aren't I lucky?
In addition to the personal interviews, I plan to survey all the schools who have audio programs in the nation. I will be asking for statistics on enrollment, separated by gender, for the last 5 years - to see how the trends are. I will also be asking each school if they help diversification by giving financial aid to minority (female) applicants.
I also want to see if there are specific scholarships available for this specific cause, and if I find them, to get the word out.
Certainly, my life would have been more informed (not sure if it would have been easier) with a reference such as this when I began on my road to audio recording.
My educational background:
* Manitou Springs Elementary School and Junior High - Manitou Springs, CO
I was in a touring choral group throughout my childhood (road gigs were normal!), called the Colorado Springs Childrens' Chorale, let by the infamous Bob Crowder, I took piano lessons from age 6-14, and picked up the trumpet to be in the band in 6th grade. I wanted to play the drums but Mom and Dad said no, no, no! Dumb move, Mom and Dad. :)
* Manitou Springs High School - H.S. Diploma - 1993
Went to audio camp one summer during this time - thanks Gramma Ruthie, RIP! I also was in a rock band throughout high school - called Valhalla, and was also in musicals and choirs and such - went to All-State twice as a vocalist (led by Weston Noble, who I absolutely fell in love with - he wanted me at Luther hard core!), got a scholarship to musical theatre choral camp, learned to play guitar via guitar class with Stevie Astley, played trumpet and piano for the high school jazz band (and occasionally served as the jazz vocalist) - took jazz piano privately from Steve Barta, and also played trumpet for the high school band under Dr. Brian Hopwood. I also was in all the musicals offered during my tenure at the school, and also some straight-up theatre. Most notable, I guess, I once had the lead role of Dolly in "Hello, Dolly!" I participated in jazz choir all four years, and learned how to make really amazing jazz hands during choralography moments. I think I won some MVP award for choir or something. I dunno. That was a long-assed time ago.
* St. Olaf College - BA (Music Ed. k-12) - 1997 - Northfield, MN
I got my music degree from this place, though I honestly have no idea how. I took St. Olaf's one music tech class offered (with the amazing Peter Hamlin) and began to record some of my singer-songwriter songs at this time. I started recording using a dual cassette deck karaoke machine that my aunt Sharon had kindly given to me for a Christmas present, and just kept rotating the tapes to layer the "tracks," all the while using a microphone that resembled a "My First Sony" brand, until I remembered that I had a sweet EV microphone that I used in live performances. The results of these recordings are hilarious and most definitely short of professional. Otherwise, I mainly had others record me as a performer, and wrote some cool arsty-folk songs with a guy named Carl Skildum. I was also in several short-lived bands during this time - mainly rock-centered, and I also did some musicals and some forced classical concerts as a don't-really-wannabe opera/classical singer. I studied voice under Dr. Robert Scholz and Mary Martz, and guitar was my declared secondary instrument. I barely tested out of piano. I studied conducting with Dr. Robert Scholz and Dr. Anton Armstrong (director of St. Olaf Choir).
* The American Musical and Dramatic Academy - Professional Degree in Musical Theatre Performance - 1998 - New York, NY
This was a 2-year professional program very centered on performance only. I was also writing songs on the side, and was always a bit annoyed with singing (and portraying) other people's lyrics when I had something of my own to say. I loved acting though. I was also in several short-lived collaborations and bands of various rock-based styles at this time, but I did write a few great songs with a guy named Jonathan Lopes - more pop-rock stuff. I studied with some of the best musical theatre teachers in the business, and my primary applied vocal coach was a freakin' diva named Jacklyn Schneider. She commanded respect upon birth, I have no doubt. My peers at school always marveled at how high I could belt. I didn't know what they were talking about. That was my rock voice, dude.
* New York University - MM - Music Technology - 2005 - New York, NY
My first class was September 10, 2001. Yeah. Those years were difficult in so many ways. I also worked full time while in school full time. No idea how I did that. My degree program had an "Audio for Multimedia" concentration, with a studio recording foundation. I minored in Music Business and took as many video editing classes on the side as I could. During this time I sang with two not-as-short-lived bands in my spare time. The first was a band then called the Kosmic-nots, but now called Lucky 13 or Cherry Bomb - still in Brooklyn and rockin' it out, centered on classic and modern alt-rock and 80s female rock - total party band. The second was a funk/soul-based band called Mama Feelgood - we did a lot of Aretha-Jill Scott-Mary J.-James Brown-styled music. What a blast - we had a logo, a demo, a website and everything....all designed/produced by yours truly! I also studied with a great vocal teacher named Jennifer (last name?) through NYU. My ex-husband was the bass player in the last two bands mentioned.
I am now an audio engineer and video producer who records others, and am also devoting much time to creating my own songs and teaching/mentoring up-and-coming artists.
Currently, I am traveling all over the US in search of answers for a book I am writing. This book is the focus of this blog, and is entitled "Audio Chicks," subtitle pending. It is about females who are in the audio industry (or were back in the day!). Said females can shed some light on how the industry was, is, and maybe how it will be. This has been and will continue to be a slow process.
The book has several purposes:
1. Selfishly, I want to meet people like me who entered the industry and are thriving within it.
2. I searched and searched for another text dealing with females within the audio recording field and came up empty, so I decided there needed to be one out there.
3. I see so very few females entering the programs with which I am affiliated (and also vicariously through my ex-husband's experience with MTSU, SAE and Lamar), that I want to try to put this possibility out there for the future females who may be interested in pursuing the field.
4. I want to see how the industry has changed as women begin to trickle into this particular segment of the workforce. Current statistics (which are very hard to gather) place female presence in the industry at 2-5%. I am hoping to make that 7-10% in my lifetime. I wanna change the world! HA!
5. I want to examine the trials that women face within this male-dominated field, but also look at the benefits associated with being a minority - there are both, in my experience. I want to see if others agree.
6. We are living in a time when the original women who entered the field are still alive and working! Their stories, even in a small 3-hour interview sort of way, should be documented. If I could profile each and every one of them in a 30-minute documentary-style video production, I would. But I can only start small right now.
7. I also want to interview a few men who work with women to see how it may differ from their perspective (hoping that they can be honest with me, a woman!).
8. Because I also married a recording engineer (Gregory Kares), I have the vicarious experience that he lived in comparison to my own. There is a difference in how we attain jobs, get salaried, work with clients, etc., and I feel that I can gain a balanced look at the differences by using his career as a reference point. I certainly have a unique insider's perspective, so I feel I might be able to get to the heart of the matter. Aren't I lucky?
In addition to the personal interviews, I plan to survey all the schools who have audio programs in the nation. I will be asking for statistics on enrollment, separated by gender, for the last 5 years - to see how the trends are. I will also be asking each school if they help diversification by giving financial aid to minority (female) applicants.
I also want to see if there are specific scholarships available for this specific cause, and if I find them, to get the word out.
Certainly, my life would have been more informed (not sure if it would have been easier) with a reference such as this when I began on my road to audio recording.
My educational background:
* Manitou Springs Elementary School and Junior High - Manitou Springs, CO
I was in a touring choral group throughout my childhood (road gigs were normal!), called the Colorado Springs Childrens' Chorale, let by the infamous Bob Crowder, I took piano lessons from age 6-14, and picked up the trumpet to be in the band in 6th grade. I wanted to play the drums but Mom and Dad said no, no, no! Dumb move, Mom and Dad. :)
* Manitou Springs High School - H.S. Diploma - 1993
Went to audio camp one summer during this time - thanks Gramma Ruthie, RIP! I also was in a rock band throughout high school - called Valhalla, and was also in musicals and choirs and such - went to All-State twice as a vocalist (led by Weston Noble, who I absolutely fell in love with - he wanted me at Luther hard core!), got a scholarship to musical theatre choral camp, learned to play guitar via guitar class with Stevie Astley, played trumpet and piano for the high school jazz band (and occasionally served as the jazz vocalist) - took jazz piano privately from Steve Barta, and also played trumpet for the high school band under Dr. Brian Hopwood. I also was in all the musicals offered during my tenure at the school, and also some straight-up theatre. Most notable, I guess, I once had the lead role of Dolly in "Hello, Dolly!" I participated in jazz choir all four years, and learned how to make really amazing jazz hands during choralography moments. I think I won some MVP award for choir or something. I dunno. That was a long-assed time ago.
* St. Olaf College - BA (Music Ed. k-12) - 1997 - Northfield, MN
I got my music degree from this place, though I honestly have no idea how. I took St. Olaf's one music tech class offered (with the amazing Peter Hamlin) and began to record some of my singer-songwriter songs at this time. I started recording using a dual cassette deck karaoke machine that my aunt Sharon had kindly given to me for a Christmas present, and just kept rotating the tapes to layer the "tracks," all the while using a microphone that resembled a "My First Sony" brand, until I remembered that I had a sweet EV microphone that I used in live performances. The results of these recordings are hilarious and most definitely short of professional. Otherwise, I mainly had others record me as a performer, and wrote some cool arsty-folk songs with a guy named Carl Skildum. I was also in several short-lived bands during this time - mainly rock-centered, and I also did some musicals and some forced classical concerts as a don't-really-wannabe opera/classical singer. I studied voice under Dr. Robert Scholz and Mary Martz, and guitar was my declared secondary instrument. I barely tested out of piano. I studied conducting with Dr. Robert Scholz and Dr. Anton Armstrong (director of St. Olaf Choir).
* The American Musical and Dramatic Academy - Professional Degree in Musical Theatre Performance - 1998 - New York, NY
This was a 2-year professional program very centered on performance only. I was also writing songs on the side, and was always a bit annoyed with singing (and portraying) other people's lyrics when I had something of my own to say. I loved acting though. I was also in several short-lived collaborations and bands of various rock-based styles at this time, but I did write a few great songs with a guy named Jonathan Lopes - more pop-rock stuff. I studied with some of the best musical theatre teachers in the business, and my primary applied vocal coach was a freakin' diva named Jacklyn Schneider. She commanded respect upon birth, I have no doubt. My peers at school always marveled at how high I could belt. I didn't know what they were talking about. That was my rock voice, dude.
* New York University - MM - Music Technology - 2005 - New York, NY
My first class was September 10, 2001. Yeah. Those years were difficult in so many ways. I also worked full time while in school full time. No idea how I did that. My degree program had an "Audio for Multimedia" concentration, with a studio recording foundation. I minored in Music Business and took as many video editing classes on the side as I could. During this time I sang with two not-as-short-lived bands in my spare time. The first was a band then called the Kosmic-nots, but now called Lucky 13 or Cherry Bomb - still in Brooklyn and rockin' it out, centered on classic and modern alt-rock and 80s female rock - total party band. The second was a funk/soul-based band called Mama Feelgood - we did a lot of Aretha-Jill Scott-Mary J.-James Brown-styled music. What a blast - we had a logo, a demo, a website and everything....all designed/produced by yours truly! I also studied with a great vocal teacher named Jennifer (last name?) through NYU. My ex-husband was the bass player in the last two bands mentioned.
In addition, during this time I began what was known as Sharkbait Studios with my ex-husband in 2002/2003. Sharkbait began as a recital recording service, grew to include multi-camera video, and to record in giant concert halls and cathedrals in NYC, and then added studio and rehearsal space once the business was moved to Nashville in 2005.
My first album of songs, "Eyelash Wishes" was completed for my master's thesis project. It is on file at the NYU library. I wrote, performed, recorded and mixed this album all by myself (ok, I hired the bass player (ex-husband) to play over my MIDI and hired a drummer (Steve Gasser) to make the drum sounds to replace my hideous MIDI attempts at drums, and these songs still have yet to be re-recorded and mixed. I want to leave them in their original state. Mainly because I'm too lazy and like how they turned out as a flippin' amateur. Most people like the first track that I recorded while drunk to overcome technological phobias. It is called, "The Shower Song." It is ridiculous.
My first album of songs, "Eyelash Wishes" was completed for my master's thesis project. It is on file at the NYU library. I wrote, performed, recorded and mixed this album all by myself (ok, I hired the bass player (ex-husband) to play over my MIDI and hired a drummer (Steve Gasser) to make the drum sounds to replace my hideous MIDI attempts at drums, and these songs still have yet to be re-recorded and mixed. I want to leave them in their original state. Mainly because I'm too lazy and like how they turned out as a flippin' amateur. Most people like the first track that I recorded while drunk to overcome technological phobias. It is called, "The Shower Song." It is ridiculous.
I am now an audio engineer and video producer who records others, and am also devoting much time to creating my own songs and teaching/mentoring up-and-coming artists.
My songs and audio works (except for various early and embarrassing recordings that remain in the private vault) are found in full on www.jillcourtney.com
To Contact Jill Courtney
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Jill Courtney
An Audio Chick in Action
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