them. As an audio engineer, it caught me off guard, because usually in the software that I work in I’ ll just label the tracks“ Vocal one,”“ Vocal two,” and so on. Al wanted it in a very particular way— not because he didn’ t trust me or anything like that … It’ s just that he needed to be able to reference it when he was mixing it. At the time, I thought“ Oh, wow! This is the most organized vocal session that I’ ve ever worked on.”
Sherman: I think most audio engineers and producers start off as musicians. Did you?
Warwick: I became a drummer when I was 10 years old. My brother was a DJ, as well as a guitarist. He would come back after a DJ gig and I’ d want to listen to, like, Nirvana or Metallica really loud on his DJ equipment in the basement and play some drums along with it. He’ d come in really late, so he wouldn’ t be able to set it back up. The way I got into the technical side of things was trying to set up his PA system through trial and error. I would take different cables and try to figure out which one went where through guesswork until I figured out how to get the PA system working. It was all for my own benefit— I just wanted to listen to the music. My dadwas also a HAM radio operator. I liked all the knobs and switches and developed a natural curiosity. I would always ask him,“ What does this frequency selector do?” or“ How do I get to this different channel?” I think the technical side came naturally. Being a drummer also really made me want to be on the musical side of technology.
Sherman: Tell me more about how you got involved in music in your middle school, high school, and college years.
Warwick: Right when I got to junior high school, a new music teacher was hired by the name of Steve Trombley. It was his first year, and he took over the music program at the junior high and high schools. He was a great mentor to me from sixth grade until the moment I graduated. I also had my own punk rock band. At the same time that I was playing in the punk band, my music teacher opened my mind up to different types of music by giving me great recommendations. He helped get me into jazz, and I was really fortunate that the
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