Stephen Cole is a music producer, mixing engineer, musician, and the owner of What Studio based in Liverpool, England, UK! In our conversation Stephen and I go deep on the following: Being a self-taught product of the bedroom recording boom Building up a palette of sounds and recognizing the context of a sound Building a studio in a church Getting great drum sounds and relying on the room It’s all fake, pick your fake The importance of quick decision making Transparent communication with artists Having separate spaces for recording and mixing Tracking a band in a room with headphones on How video affects a performance Living a creative life And so much more! You can learn more about Stephen at https://www.whatstudio.info/ You can follow Stephen on Social Media IG - https://www.instagram.com/itsstecole/ ***Thanks to our sponsors!*** Carl Bahner's resources for studio professionals - https://www.carlbahner.com/resources Progressions with Travis Ference - https://www.progressionspodcast.com/listen ***Join the Secret Sonics Discord community here(!) - discord.gg/UP97b72W6t ***BRAND NEW!*** SECRET SONICS PATREON - patreon.com/benwallickmusic Sauce Segment: https://youtu.be/Qe5JgG9K0n0 References: Joel Hamilton - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Hamilton POSTMUSIC - https://www.youtube.com/@POSTMUSICLiverpool a.P.A.t.T. band - https://www.youtube.com/@apatt Fracture - https://glitchmachines.com/products/fracture/ Tim Ferris on Colin and Samir - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROymrQKsxSM Consider rating and reviewing our show on Apple Podcasts and sharing this or any of your favorite episodes with a friend or two. Thank you to Zvi Rodan, Mendy Portnoy, and Yakir Hyman for contributing to the podcast theme music! Thanks to Gavi Kutliroff for editing this episode! You can find out more about Secret Sonics and subscribe on your favorite podcast app by visiting www.secretsonics.co Have a great week, stay safe, and dig in! -Ben