Owning It: Blackwood Studios

 
 
 

Jaime Velez, Co-Founder & Owner of
Blackwood Studios, gives us the inside scoop about how he got into music production.

Did you make a decision to turn music production into a business?
Or did that happen on its own because you were creating songs?

I think it just happened on its own. I always knew I needed to make money from it because I didn’t want to do anything else. If I didn’t figure out that part, then I would have had to find a job. Very early on I knew it couldn’t be a hobby. Ever since I started playing the violin.

When was that?

When I was 6. Got really serious with it when I was 8.

How serious?

Private Lessons. The Rice University Cup Program. It was a lot for my parents. It was very, very expensive. Later on, even the instrument itself got expensive. My violin was about $10k. I really wanted to always play and the next step is always inevitable so you just continue and continue. At one point I was in the Houston Orchestra. I had a childhood, but it was mostly practicing.

You said the next step is always inevitable. What does that mean?

You can’t stop yourself from taking on a new opportunity. We’re going to grow, we’re going to get bigger. We’re not going to say ‘No…let’s not open our next facility’ – I guess people do say ‘I’m good with the way things are, let’s keep it like that’ – but that’s never what I’ve believed.

Do you lead the direction of growth in the business now?

I don’t think I have a say in anything I’ve ever done. I think things are destined to happen however they’re supposed to happen. Even if tomorrow I woke up and said ‘I’m going to do this, this, and this’; What is the outcome going to be?  No one ever knows. So leading up to opening another facility, I think when the time comes, it just presents itself. We just are trying to give people what they want. Every step of the way we planned completely different than the way it turned out to be.


But you planned on this being a business; so when did that happen?

This was supposed to be on the 2nd floor of the studio we used to work at. The owner could not see us past being engineers and interns. He couldn’t see us as business partners. It got a little heated and we realized we would make a huge mistake if we stay here so we just left. All we needed a little room somewhere and decided we’re pretty good at what we do and we can compete.

When was all of this?

In 2014, it was hard because we were all 24 and 25 years old. The owners were scared to sign a commercial lease with people so young. So we said to them ‘Where were you at 25? What were your dreams and aspirations?’ That’s honestly what ended up getting them. They came down took pictures with us and said the next time we take a picture with you it will be with all of us and J-Lo.

What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do to get to where you are now?

Really not knowing this would affect my personal life so much. You don’t realize that it’s happening or affecting you while it’s happening. Now I’m very careful with my time and my energy. As we get older we don’t have the same amount of energy, we don’t have the same amount of time as weird as that sounds.

A day is not the same as it was the day before. I value every second because we can be gone in the next one. Kinda like RIGHT NOW!…RIGHT NOW!…RIGHT NOW!
Even harder though, is realizing that this is now the only thing I can do. It has to pay the bills. There is no alternative. I can’t even think about what else I’d be doing with my life.

You seem to be someone who drifts toward young talent. A lot of artists on the rise. Do you do that consciously?

I try to. It’s a completely different energy than being in a room with experienced artists like Bruno Mars or Ariana Grande. They can have a guard up sometimes. I want to capture what people truly want out of life, people who are vulnerable. I love the big check cause it’s good for my business…But is it always good for my soul?

How do you get the best out of someone?

I think it’s being honest. Letting them know that they can’t just play their strengths. Push them with encouraging words to work on and try the stuff they’re not great at. Introduce them to somebody who can maybe make them better. We all need to hear criticism from different people. Have them respect someone and then get through what we’re all trying to do.

Whenever there is a heavy “push” to do something on a song, I usually let the other person have their way. And if it becomes a song that won’t sell, or a missed opportunity, then that’s what needed to happen so you can learn. Or maybe it will sell and I’ll say ‘You were right.” I don’t really compromise; just let them do it and we learn from there.

How long does it take you to work on a song? Who decides when it’s done?

It’s in stages. It’s a collective group of people. It moves fast when everyone is confident and especially when they have a big company behind a project. If we’re doing a song for a soundtrack and Warner Bros is pushing it, you know everybody is really pushing hard for their best work.

Right now I’m working with Tayla Parx producing a new song with Megan Thee Stallion and Normani for the new Harley Quinn film Birds Of Prey. Margot Robbie will be in the music video. The song is called Diamonds. Everybody is giving their absolute best work on this one.


Do you think an artist can change a person’s life? Have any changed or influenced yours?

Absolutely. Eminem influenced me a lot when I was growing up. It was the complete polar opposite of what I was doing every single day. He changed my perspective of everything.

Do you think sound engineering opens doors for musical artists? Or hurts the authenticity of the music itself?

We’re so used to perfection now, I think it helps more than it hurts. It takes more than just that too. People everywhere are watching artists more and more and that’s 24/7. More kids want to hear the story of the artists than ever before too.

What gets you excited about working with someone? Their voice? Their story?

The voice. Always the voice. Also content. Their vibe too. I’ve worked with a lot of song writers that have amazing voices, and because it pays the bills, they choose to work on all types of music. Even though they have a great voice they end up singing something that doesn’t fit their vibe.

How do you get better at what you do?

Right now, it’s studying, because I’ve been going heavy into the vocal production route. It’s going back and listening to a lot of music. Stuff I’ve never listened to before.

A lot of Whitney Houston right now. I’ve been listening to all these different harmonies and arrangements. It’s not listening for pleasure. I’m listening to a very different part of music now. Not the track or the main vocal anymore. What’s right in between all that, the harmonies, the arrangements, the background – and it’s interesting because that’s something I don’t know well. So how I get better is always attacking these things that I don’t know. Whether it’s production, AR’ing, even though nobody’s hiring me for that. It’s my job to try to get the best out of everybody around me.

What stresses you out?
What gets under your skin?

I don’t get stressed. I get frustrated a little bit, when people aren’t prepared, but not stressed. If I have to worry about a specific thing, I worry about it once that day for 30 minutes and that’s it, ‘cause there’s literally nothing I can do about it. Where I get truly zen is cooking at home. Noise canceling headphones on with an audiobook on and chopping up some vegetables. I really decompress.

Where do you get inspiration for cooking?

My dad and my uncle taught me how to cook. My uncle was a dishwasher, then became a cook, then a chef, then opened up his own Italian restaurant.

Are you open to criticism?

I don’t think I would be here if I wasn’t.

Does certain people’s criticism hold more weight?

I’m open to criticism from anyone. I don’t think you have to be an expert. I think it’s just your perspective. Once I can understand your perspective, and you, and who you are, what you believe, I can say ‘Ok you make a valid point.’ I’ll think about it and figure out how to address it.

How do you measure your own success?

It was always a Grammy and that happened early on. So now it’s always what’s next. I just don’t think about success as much anymore.

I do love energy and confidence in the studio. People pushing to be the best, because then it makes me act that way and I feed off that. The experiences I have, I cherish them, doing all this crazy stuff and then it leads to something like this, this interview, these little beautiful nuggets in life. I look at it like ‘How many more people can you touch?’

What do you still want to accomplish in the music world?

I actually wish I could get into an orchestra.
Play a piece on my violin.

 
 
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