Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 106

GUITAR
CONNECTING WITH THE ARTIST: A PRODUCER’S PERSPECTIVE | Chris Rocha
Producing music is one of my biggest passions.
I’ve had the opportunity to produce so many
artists over the years in the Spanish Christian
industry. There are so many things I have
learned that I could share but one of the most
important things I’ve learned is learning how
to connect with the artist and bring life to their
music according to their style.
The first thing I do when I take on a client is find
out where they’re at musically. I’ve made the
mistake of projecting on them whatever musical
trend I was into at the time. This obviously
created more work for me in the long run as
I later would have to redo the song because it
wasn’t connecting with them and not what they
wanted. It is good to learn your client and what
their expectations are before you even begin
the work on the project. This is something I had
to learn the hard way!
With that being said, as good producers it’s also
our job to help guide the artists to an overall
great sound. What I have done to remedy this
is to find common ground and meet them in
the middle. I will take their style and preferences
and merge it together with what’ll hit the market
best at that time and create great music.
As a producer, it is important to be aware of
new music that’s coming out and music that
people love. I always try to be attentive to a
good variety of music. It can be very easy to
stay in a rut and continue to go with what works.
My encouragement to you is to be attentive to
music around you and don’t be afraid to branch
out and try something new.
It is also very important to rely and feed off
of your team of musicians that are on your
production team. I’m fully aware that I’m not
the coolest and hippest guitar player around
so I learn a lot from those around me and vice
versa. As a guitar player, it’s also important to
keep an open eye on other guitar players and
learn from them as well. Think out of the box
and push your boundaries. If you continue that
you’ll always have a sound that’s evolving and
relevant. An added bonus is that you’ll always
get called back to play or produce from the
same artist that were more than satisfied with
your sound.
Us guitar players/ producers must always try
harder to better our productions. Whether it’s
your guitar tone or your production quality, it’s
important for your next thing to be better than
the last. Sometimes it’ll take changing a pedal
or upgrading a plugin to get you closer to what
you’re looking for. Either way let’s not forget
that connecting with the artist and getting them
that epic sound is what’s important.
Chris Rocha
Lives in Houston, TX, and is the guitarist and
producer for Miel San Marcos
106 September 2020
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