Sara Ramsay:
Thank you for joining me today. We are here with Jeff Zip, who is a Canadian slash American record producer, audio engineer and musician. He has owned and operated Light Machine Records, a Vancouver, BC based boutique studio where he has recorded, produced and mixed music for many independent and signed artists, as well as recording music for TV shows, such as the ABC Disney, Big Sky Amazing Race USA. Once graduated from high school, Jeff started playing guitar for bands in Vancouver, one of which was signed to 604 Records. Through the connection at the record label he began playing for a large number of their signed artists and touring across Canada. Soon he began doing recording sessions at studios such as Mushroom, Little Mountain Studios and The Armory, where he fell in love with the studio recording process and he went at the illustrious age of 24, where he would hone his craft until finally opening Light Machine Records in 2018. Jeff has now worked on music that has amounted to millions of streams worldwide and earned his first platinum certified single for sales of Danny and Lizzie, Dancing in the Sky. In 2023, Wesley Attu's song, Where Do We Go From Here, was used by Netflix, Outer Banks, season three, and mixed at Light Machine Records. Jeff has worked in over 25 countries around the world, recording music and sound mixing for TV shows and films. Some recent highlighted TV film credits include the Disney Plus Percy Jackson
Jeff Zipp:
Thank you.
Sara Ramsay:
BTS, CBS's The Amazing Race USA, ABC's Big Sky, Entertainment One's Border Security America's Frontline, and Netflix's Outer Banks. That's actually weird to say of Netflix's Outer Banks, but you know what I'm getting at. Thanks for joining
Jeff Zipp:
Thanks
Sara Ramsay:
me today,
Jeff Zipp:
for having
Sara Ramsay:
Jeff.
Jeff Zipp:
me. It's nice chatting with you.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, you too. It's before we hit go, we were saying it's been a minute since we've seen each other.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, it's gotta be around 2016, probably, right?
Sara Ramsay:
You
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
think
Jeff Zipp:
think
Sara Ramsay:
it's
Jeff Zipp:
so.
Sara Ramsay:
that long?
Jeff Zipp:
That is senior in person,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
probably, yeah. I think we've chatted
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah,
Jeff Zipp:
a little bit on
Sara Ramsay:
maybe.
Jeff Zipp:
text messages and social media, but that's about it. Yeah, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I appreciate your time here. So do you want to tell us your story briefly for listeners who might be having their first introduction to you today? A bit about who you are and your journey in the biz, how you got
Jeff Zipp:
Sure,
Sara Ramsay:
where you
Jeff Zipp:
yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
are today.
Jeff Zipp:
I guess through and through I'm a music producer engineer and mixer and I spent about half my time Here in the recording studio recording bands like he had mentioned And then the other half I spent on the road working on TV shows doing audio and recording music for them And basically my journey has just been Me trying everything that I possibly can to not have to go back to building houses in the rain I got my red seal for carpentry back when I was in my early 20s and I realized very quickly that it wasn't my thing. I was always really drawn to music and
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
so it's just been out of me being stubborn that I've just kind of held on to this music thing. Every year it just gets a little bit easier.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. Well, and again, just before we hit record, we were talking about the fact that, you know, you've had a lot of like pretty cool opportunities over the last few years and how that has come out of just saying yes and being willing to do things that were maybe a little bit outside of the whatever, but those end up being some of the greatest experiences,
Jeff Zipp:
Absolutely,
Sara Ramsay:
right?
Jeff Zipp:
yeah. And like we were chatting before we hit record, I was mentioning that, you know, it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to contact people or send my resumes out to work in studios or maybe assistant engineer for a band or do live audio sort of things, no matter how many resumes I sent out, I never really seemed to get any replies back. So I realized that I kind of just path and I realized that with building my own thing and just creating a job for myself there was, I wouldn't have to rely on other people saying, hey you should do this for us or hey you know you're talented
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
enough can you work with us on this. Yeah and then you know just as you start to get better at your craft more opportunities come your way for sure.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, absolutely. So here on the vocal lab, we aim to shine a light into the industry through the lens of what I know now that I wish I'd known then. So with that in mind, if you were starting all over again. Do you want to talk about what you do differently and what you do the same.
Jeff Zipp:
Right. That's a tough question, because I don't know if I would do anything necessarily differently. There are definitely things
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
that were speed bumps along the way. But I think that those sort of speed bumps kind of just ended up making me who I am. So I don't think I would change anything. But that being said, when I was quite young, I would have been just coming out of high school. band and we kind of wanted to be you know the the Stooges or Ziggy Stardust or you know Exile on Main Street,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
Rolling Stones era you know and and we got approached by a record producer and he had a lot of you know bigger credits and whatever and you know and he really promised us kind of the world and at this time I think we were ready to record you know we had spent a few years of of rehearsing and playing as many shows as possible like he would have had to have done was just hit record and we would have probably been happy. It might not have been
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
like a great record but we would have been at least happy. But unfortunately we didn't really do our due diligence and look into this person to make sure that he was even creatively in line with what we wanted to be and we learned very quickly that
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
he was a very heavy-handed producer and it was very much my way or the highway which I think you know is
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
that that's the reality of the way that some people produce records. We just it's not that I'm not faulting him for
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
it. It just wasn't what we had initially thought we were kind of signing on for. And and, you know,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
it went from us really feeling like we had something special to every bit of joy being kind of taken away from the whole thing.
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And that was kind of my first big, big, big lesson. I realized very quickly that in order for you to Before you ever let anyone creatively into your sort of world or your camp, you need to make sure that you're 100% aligned with what they are bringing to the table. And
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
the reason that I say I wouldn't do anything differently is because out of that is what created the necessity for me to learn how to record music. And it really
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
taught me that, you know, if that was our experience, I'm sure there was a very similar thing or felt the same way. So kind of moving forward, I always wanted to provide a space you know, where people can come in and be vulnerable. And you know, my job is to tell their story rather than me imprinting my sound on their story. Right? So I mean, yeah, I guess that's a long
Sara Ramsay:
I love
Jeff Zipp:
winded
Sara Ramsay:
that.
Jeff Zipp:
way of saying, yes, you know, that was an unfortunate circumstance, but I don't think I would ever change anything because that was a damn good lesson to learn.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, it's a really important lesson to learn. And like you say, out of that grew a whole different avenue of learning for you that has turned into like a really big part of
Jeff Zipp:
Mm-hmm.
Sara Ramsay:
your career, right? That learning to record audio and engineering and producing and all of that grew out of that experience. And who knows one way or the other, whether you would have ended up there. anyway or not, but it has certainly impacted the direction of your
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
career.
Jeff Zipp:
right, yeah. Kind of a funny sort of story is that through that band is how I actually met the band that was signed to 604 because we were playing at the same show. So in reality, that producer actually created that show as well, so in reality I probably wouldn't have met the 604 band if it hadn't have
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
been for that producer. It's weird how things kind of just connect in a strange, bizarre way, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah
Sara Ramsay:
yeah, it's true. It's true. So, I mean, in this industry, there's lots of different levels of education, right around music. Well, and I, my guess is the technical knowledge around the recording process as well. musicians and engineers and some of both of those things happened through more of a mentorship kind of situation. What did your education look like in that respect? How has that impacted your work
Jeff Zipp:
Well,
Sara Ramsay:
in the
Jeff Zipp:
I would definitely
Sara Ramsay:
interim?
Jeff Zipp:
say I took the hardest route possible. I don't come from a family where there's ever been people that have ever been professionally involved in music, so there was really no blueprint
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
of what I should do or how I should go about achieving a certain goal. So like I said earlier, I got my ticket in carpentry because I really believed that having fallback plan was like the most important thing, which looking back
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
on it, you know, I was spending eight hours to ten hours a day, five or six days a week working on my backup plan when in reality I should have been working on what I was really, really passionate about, you know. So,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
so yes, not coming from a music family, I also didn't really ever, it was never really on my radar, the possibility of even going to a music or an audio engineering school. I didn't really know what that was. I didn't really understand what a producer was. I didn't... I just... it all seemed like it was an unrealistic goal. So I... yeah, so basically what I would do is I would build a house or, you know, work in a construction thing and then I would rush home and I would hop on Pro Tools and I would learn how to or like read about microphones or you know do whatever I could to
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
just pick up whatever information I could to just get better at it. It kind of went on like that for many years and then it got to the point where maybe I would get a job or you know working on a song for a small sort of project. They'll give you a hundred bucks. Great so I'll take a week off of
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
work you Hopefully, the $100 will survive me for that week and then I'll really focus in on the music stuff. It kind of just snowballed to, okay, well now I'm maybe getting a project that can maybe pay me a little bit more or maybe I've saved up a little bit of money from doing carpentry. So I'm just going to take a little bit more time off from work and spend more time on music.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
periods where all of a sudden
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
now I look back and oh my gosh I haven't done anything outside of music or audio in a really really long time but it was just a small incremental thing and yeah
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching!
Jeff Zipp:
it's it's amazing what you can find online with like mix with the masters or even on YouTube like free videos of people talking about how a microphone works why a ribbon microphone is different than want to sound
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
a certain way, well, this is what the Beatles did. So maybe you can replicate results. But with plugins, obviously, I didn't have all of these big, fancy tools at my disposal right off bat. But there were plugins that I could play with and see if I could make things sound the way I thought they should sound. And so it really was just me
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
kind of bumping around in the dark and hoping that something kind of worked in the future. but there was definitely no formal
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
education. I was lucky that there were people that would let me sit in on recording sessions, like our mutual friend
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
Dave Ogilvie, you know, he'd be at the warehouse
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and he'd, you know, allow a few people to maybe come by and watch him work or I got to work with your brother when he was working with one of the bands that I had, you know, that I was playing for at the time and I got to watch him and how fast he was and how everything that he seemed to think about he could translate into the computer or onto the console. And that sort of thing, I wasn't necessarily learning the technical aspect of things, but I was definitely learning the amount of passion and love that needs to go into every project. Because when you go into a big recording session and you see a really impressive producer or musician or whatever work, you just see their eyes light up. And it's not a job.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
It's this incredible amount of passion that's all just kind of coming out all at the same time and and I mean that was a good lesson to learn for sure. So I guess that was my sort
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
of That was my my training I guess
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, well, and I think that would fall into that sort of, you know, mentorship, even if it wasn't like an official mentorship where that's a really, um, uh, specific thing that I think, um, We don't look at so much in musician development, maybe, because that's usually either structured formal lessons, or you're doing it by ear and by playing with your friends and like learning on the fly. But I think for the parts of the industry that are more on the technical side, like things like recording audio or I had Emma Higgins do an interview and she was talking about the process of learning filmmaking and, you know, working towards that end of things. And those pieces where mentorships, official or unofficial, where you get to hang with people that are better than you and watch them work and learn how they're doing what they're doing. process in the industry that shouldn't go, you know, un... Oh, I can't find the word that I want.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, I know
Sara Ramsay:
Unnoticed,
Jeff Zipp:
what you mean. Yeah, yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
unacknowledged.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah. Ha ha ha.
Sara Ramsay:
There it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, to that end, without... So, I was trying to make sure people understand. I am not asking, because I ask this question fairly frequently. names, you can answer it however you like, but the point isn't like, I want you to drop names. I am asking you what have been the most important relationships in your career? What kinds of relationships have been really pivotal in the course of your career? And that can be personal
Jeff Zipp:
Right,
Sara Ramsay:
or professional.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah. I think first and foremost, the most important relationship that I've had in my career has been my wife because, I mean, when I met
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
her, I was so incredibly broke and I was working so many hours and I don't think that I would have wanted to hang out with myself back then, you know? Like I was
Sara Ramsay:
hahahaha
Jeff Zipp:
a disaster. I mean, I had a lot of high hopes
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching!
Jeff Zipp:
and dreams and there was definitely a lot of aspiration there, but I mean, the reality was I was a tough hang for sure.
Sara Ramsay:
Mmm.
Jeff Zipp:
But she has been beside me this entire time when I told her that I wanted to take out a big loan to put together a little project recording studio here in Vancouver, she was all for it.
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And I think that that is a very uncommon thing. I think that, you know, like having someone that can look at you and be like, yeah, you know, you're spending more than what you would normally make in a year on basically a dream.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And it's going to probably
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
negatively affect us for the next couple of years. And she was like, you owe it to yourself to do it. You need to do it. And I feel
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
so lucky to have her on my side. You
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
know? that things maybe have gotten a little bit easier, I'm still on the road half the year. And she
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
is right there with me saying, you know, yeah, you need to do this. You clearly are so happy when you're on the road and, you know, making, you know, your realizing your dreams really, you know. And I feel very lucky about that. There's never been any pressure of her saying
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you of fall into line with the way, with the status quo is or what, you know, what the nine to five sort of work life would be. So I feel very lucky.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. I mean, I want to second that, that having a partner who is your biggest fan and your biggest supporter and is going to go to the ends of the earth to like fight for you and your dreams, that is irreplaceable. And I think when you're chasing big dreams, whatever they are, if you are in a relationship, kind of needs to be for for all the pieces
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
to work personally and professionally
Jeff Zipp:
Thank you.
Sara Ramsay:
and it's just it is really and truly
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
irreplaceable.
Jeff Zipp:
and it's tough,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you know, it's not an easy road to take for either myself nor my wife,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you know. So
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah, I feel very, very lucky about that. Regarding some other people that are, other people that I've been, I've found have been some of the best relationships, are actually a lot of the same people that I kind of started doing music with in my 20s, you know, Because
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
when we were younger, we would kind of joke about, like, imagine making it. Imagine, you know, like, only doing music. Like, what a crazy wild adventure that must be. And now, you know, I'm, you know, we're all 10 years older now or 15 years older now. And
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
we're all, or, you know, at least the people that have stuck with it, we're doing it at a professional capacity. And those are the people that I'm learning from. you know, good friend Spencer at the Armory. We knew each other from the early 2010s
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
when he was a runner and I was just getting hired for some little things here and there and now he's the head engineer there and we do a ton of records together and anytime he's got a question he can
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
call me, I can call him. When we're in the studio we can talk about, oh, you know, we just came up or, you know, I've recently came across this new sort of technique. What do you think about that? And we can talk about it.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I Those have been probably the best relationships that I've had and to watch everyone kind of grow together at the same pace has been really exciting and really
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
fun.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, yeah, that's um. That's a really cool thing when you get to all develop in your own ways, but as a, as a
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
peer group, instead of outgrowing
Jeff Zipp:
Mm-hmm.
Sara Ramsay:
your peer group, um, uh, or growing apart from your
Jeff Zipp:
Absolutely.
Sara Ramsay:
peer group, um, that that's
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
a pretty special thing. Do you want to talk about the transition from being a live performer or being a performer in a band to, um, working in music for film and television? Most people don't just like fall into that line of work. Do you want to start about,
Jeff Zipp:
Sure.
Sara Ramsay:
do you want to talk a little bit about how you started to work in that
Jeff Zipp:
Sure,
Sara Ramsay:
part of
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
the business?
Jeff Zipp:
I mean, from being a live performer, to be completely honest, I've always had like crazy anxiety of being on the stage. Like, I never really
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
had fun doing it. It was always exhausting. I felt sick afterwards. Like, it just, I mean, it was what I thought I needed to do to be, you know, a rock star. So that's why I was willing to do it,
Sara Ramsay:
Right?
Jeff Zipp:
you know, but it wasn't enjoyable for me. So from there transitioning into the recording studio side of things, I thought, wow, this is We're in a room, it's a safe space, I can make mistakes, no one's ever going to hear it, we can just edit it out later.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
Which is really why I fell in love with the recording studio instantly. And then from there, after just kind of being in the studio and learning the ins and outs, from there into film was a really strange jump and it kind of came out of nowhere. It was totally unplanned. someone that I believe that we both know, Roger Monk, who is an incredible engineer.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
For the viewers that may not know who he is, he's done, I think, the orchestra for Platoon. He did the orchestra for Michael Buble. He's got a Grammy. He is an absolute heavyweight, A-class music genius,
Sara Ramsay:
He's
Jeff Zipp:
right? Iconic.
Sara Ramsay:
iconic.
Jeff Zipp:
Him and I had chatted a little bit because he's got his studio which isn't too far away from where I live. One of the people that work at his studio
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
also master a lot of the records that I produce. And I got a call from them one day saying, hey, there's a TV show that's looking for someone to record some music for them. Would you be interested in doing it? And I thought, yeah, sure. I had done a little bit of that before on a TV show called Big Sky. But I didn't really know what it entailed
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
and I didn't bother asking what the show was. show up here, we're going to record some music, I'm going to deliver it and that's going to be it. And at I think eight o'clock at night, I get a call from this like Australian phone number, or it might have been, I can't remember where it was, but it was someone saying, hey, I'm so and so, we're looking to hire someone to record music around the world for the Amazing Race. Like, race. I'm like, yeah, bullshit. Like, it's not gonna
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah!
Jeff Zipp:
happen. There's no way you know. And then they're like, well, our head of department will give you a shout in not too long and you guys can chat about some specifics. All right, sure. And meanwhile, I'm like, shaking, you know, I'm just like, Oh, God, I hope
Sara Ramsay:
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Jeff Zipp:
I get this. This is cool. And then the the head engineer the head of department for the audio, Jim, he calls and he's like, Hey, Jeff, I Yeah, I got your name from Roger Monk. He actually hired me in the studio as an assistant or an intern or something like that years and years ago back, I think it was Little Mountain Sound. From
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah,
Jeff Zipp:
there,
Sara Ramsay:
yeah, it would have been.
Jeff Zipp:
he went over to working in film, mostly doing like dialogue, location audio and whatnot. And he's like, and if Roger
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
Monk says that you would be good for the job, we trust his opinion through and through. say and I was like well I still don't really understand like what we're doing he's like basically the the pitch is that we're gonna fly you around the world and you're gonna record music in the weirdest places and it's gonna be in very unideal locations so you're gonna have to come up with how you want to build a kit that is completely self-sustainable and fly around the world and record these things we're gonna set you up with translators and a driver you're gonna the crew
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and whenever you're not doing music you can just help us out in other ways if you know if once you learn kind of how all this stuff works and I'm like sure. So I and basically he said so clear your schedule our I think he called him our travel guru is going to contact you and you're going to be flying down to LA in about six days. how long he's like, you should plan to be gone for about 30 to 35 days. And I'm like, holy smokes. So so I've got six days basically just to rearrange the next month, you know, all of my all of my
Sara Ramsay:
your
Jeff Zipp:
clients
Sara Ramsay:
whole life.
Jeff Zipp:
and you know, and
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I was very lucky to have some very, very understanding clients or, you know, I said, can we just push it forward a month? And and
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
schedule and I got to kind of go with it and I really didn't believe it was happening until I got on that flight. Like it really didn't make sense
Sara Ramsay:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Jeff Zipp:
to me. Like it just seemed so ridiculous. But yeah, I got down there and I built myself a little like a little kit for remote locations and just kind of got thrown into it. There was no one else that was doing it so I didn't really get a chance to talk to anyone about how it should be done. It was a matter of just kind of figuring it out. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
You just made it up.
Jeff Zipp:
from the head of department him saying well you should consider this you should try
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
this but it was a lot of like open-ended like you should look into this that might be what
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you're looking for but make the decision yourself so it
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
was really cool
Sara Ramsay:
So were you like sourcing the music, was it like local cultural music that you were recording?
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
Is that
Jeff Zipp:
yeah. So at
Sara Ramsay:
the
Jeff Zipp:
a
Sara Ramsay:
deal?
Jeff Zipp:
lot of the different competitions and whatnot in the shows, they'll have local musicians. And the
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
tricky thing is, is that when contestants are running in, there's a bunch of noise, there's, you know, camera people running around everywhere.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
It is an absolute zoo. And so the audio of the bands never really cut through very nicely. So they decided that they were going to create
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
this job to kind of pre-record all of the bands that you would see on television.
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
into the show afterwards to give a high fidelity stereo recording of what the bands do. So they basically shoot me a message at about 6 a.m. in the morning when I'm on the road and they'll say, hey, you're gonna go meet with this band and you've got X amount of hours to pre-record with them, your driver will be your translator and have at her. And then I show up and I'm like, so how many songs are we doing? the producers like what exactly are we looking to achieve here and a lot of the times the band knows a lot more about it than I do and then
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
I asked them to play for me we set up the microphones we'll do a number of takes I'll play it back for them I'll kind of mix it real time at least like a rough mix for them real time play it back make sure they're happy with it and then pack everything up go back to the hotel room mix it and then hop on a flight the next day sometimes Mm.
Sara Ramsay:
So that's really like, feet to the fire.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Hey?
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. And, and I mean, the one thing that I know about the studio process, not being any kind of engineer myself, I mean, I can like edit in Pro Tools, but don't ask
Jeff Zipp:
Right.
Sara Ramsay:
me to use a plugin. I can just like literally edit and that's it. I can't set stuff up. I can't, nothing. I have been in studios my whole life and my family has always owned a studio. And so what I have seen firsthand over and over and over again is that in the recording process, if something can go wrong,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
it will. And that like a good 50%, if not more of quote unquote studio time is detective
Jeff Zipp:
Oh yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
time, trying to figure out why something is not working. And I think people who don't spend any time in studios have no concept of that about the recording process. But if you're recording and all you have is like your grab and go kit that you have put together, you have a very limited amount of, um, gear with which
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
to
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
work, to troubleshoot or replace. trade out or whatever. So that is like terrifying and must have really been also super creative actually. Like you must've had to come up with some really creative
Jeff Zipp:
I appreciate
Sara Ramsay:
solutions.
Jeff Zipp:
you saying that. Yeah, no, it's uh, I mean you would look at it and it doesn't look very creative It just looks like a mess of wires and antennas and you know and buttons and knobs But I but you're absolutely right when you say that when you're in studio a lot of the time is detective work it's it's a lot of troubleshooting and making things
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
work and and one of the big stresses that I Really try to kind of live by is that when I'm building the kit before any season to make sure everything works in and out and have backups and have replacements and something will break and something will go wrong.
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching. Bye.
Jeff Zipp:
And sometimes you're in, you know, sometimes you're in the Middle East and if you need a microphone, chances are you're not going to be able to find it because, you know, I'm in and out in two days sometimes, sometimes three days. So
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
sourcing something that quickly
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
is only possible in LA. That's the only... This is the only places that you can basically find things that fast, especially very specialized things like this, right? So
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah, so it's really a matter of making sure everything is 100% bulletproof and then also really trying to make everything flight friendly. Because as we all know, music equipment,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
it's heavy and it's breakable and it's kind of not easy to carry around. So just building things like, for instance, I can basically, I have it on a strap so I can carry it around my chest as like a carry-on onto planes. You know? And then
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
I've got a Pelican
Sara Ramsay:
It's...
Jeff Zipp:
case, I've got a couple of Pelican cases and one holds, you know, a dozen microphones and then the other one holds like backup batteries and stuff like that. Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
but you're right. Everything that
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
can go wrong certainly will go wrong and it's gonna be somewhere where you have no access to any of these things.
Sara Ramsay:
You
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
just got
Jeff Zipp:
right,
Sara Ramsay:
a MacGyver
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
shit at that point, right? But you're, you also, like, I'm just actually quite in awe of that job because you got to do something that you love to do and is really creative. And you got to, and, and get to, cause I know this is sort of an ongoing gig. You get to see. Like the world. You've been and like the amazing race doesn't go to just your normal places. They go to some really
Jeff Zipp:
Yes.
Sara Ramsay:
exotic Off the beaten track
Jeff Zipp:
Absolutely,
Sara Ramsay:
kind of places,
Jeff Zipp:
which really
Sara Ramsay:
right?
Jeff Zipp:
allows me to first-hand experience some of the craziest music that I would have never been exposed
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah!
Jeff Zipp:
to otherwise, right? Like working with some drumline type bands, there's these wild rhythms that I just still can't wrap my head around. And these instruments that I think it's a lute, but it's something else. Or I think it's just called a harp, it's something else and asking the people about like, you know, where, like learning about the instruments and really coming to appreciate all of this music that we just don't have access to or are mostly not exposed to here in like North America. It's been an absolute pleasure.
Sara Ramsay:
Do you find that your production at home in the studio? And I guess, I mean, we should probably talk about your production process first before I ask this question, because some producers are totally hands-off in terms of anything that crosses the line over into the writing realm, and some producers are more involved in that realm. Do you find that all of the music that you've been exposed to around the world, does any of that come back with you and impact the way you approach production or writing
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
back
Jeff Zipp:
really
Sara Ramsay:
at home?
Jeff Zipp:
think it does. I think that one of the ways that I look at the field recording sort of stuff is that you can't make anything sound too pretty. Like you can't take an outside recording
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
and make it sound like it's a studio recording.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
It's more about really leaning into some of the, leaning into the deficiencies or, you know, leading into the...
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
trying to find the errors and making them more obvious. And
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
so like when I'm on the road, it forced me to realize that, well, I'm trying to make these studio recordings, it's impossible when you're outside because there's maybe people walking by or are going to allow an outdoor market. So just throw up a microphone, a stereo mic, and let it be in the
Sara Ramsay:
I'm out.
Jeff Zipp:
audio
Sara Ramsay:
Bye.
Jeff Zipp:
because it sounds real. And
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I think that what that taught me was that when I'm here in the studio, sometimes the things that sound a little bit off-kilter, things that sound a little bit fucked up or wrong are actually the thing that resonates with people the most or actually the things that are the coolest. You know, you
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
can listen to the most polished, you know, brilliantly written song, but if it doesn't have any teeth to me, it just, it doesn't have that same heart. in the same way that's something that's a little bit fucked up might. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, yeah, the imperfections can be the thing that make
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
it the most
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
relatable,
Jeff Zipp:
And so that
Sara Ramsay:
right?
Jeff Zipp:
was
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
one of the things that I really learned from being on that show.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. Um, I just hit my microphone. That's going to be
Jeff Zipp:
I'm
Sara Ramsay:
a big
Jeff Zipp:
gonna go.
Sara Ramsay:
old pop. Um, um, are there any other notable differences, uh, on the production side when you are recording for pop artists versus recording for film
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
and TV?
Jeff Zipp:
I would say the closest thing that I ever did to recording studio-type recordings for film and TV would be Big Sky. And one of the things that I learned quickly with that show, basically what they were doing is it was a very music-heavy show. All four or six
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
of the actors and actresses would need to pre-record all the vocals because they were all stacked harmonies. And then they would
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
basically have a playback operator on set, lip sync to it. So we would do all the prerecords here and something that I learned really quickly was how much preparation went into these big TV shows, especially when it comes to vocals. I wasn't producing, but I was the engineer on it and the producer would show up with a... He would have hired a professional singer to already sing all the parts harmonies, and then he would also take all of the vocal melody parts, he would piano roll them in so they would have pitch cues basically of everything. And then on top of that, I think he had other options as well and basically that way when the artists would, or when the actors would come in, he could play them all of these different options and they could pick what was going to be
Sara Ramsay:
Hmph.
Jeff Zipp:
best for them. And I thought, wow, that is spectacular because most of the time it's pretty fly by the seat It's very like time crunch. No one's gonna
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
be sitting in there drawing in notes on a piano roll being like here's you know your harmony It but yeah They they put in so much extra work into it and it was inspiring to me and I learned a lot of tricks from that for sure
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, that's really interesting. I know I've done a bit of work with,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
like as a vocal coach, for a couple of Disney projects where, like I worked on for the production for Freaky Friday and for
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Descendants 3 and worked with some of the actors before they recorded their parts. And it was interesting because you're working with actors who aren't most singers, they are first and foremost actors. So exactly what you're talking about, where sometimes the language or the cues or what they need really honestly does look different than people who are coming to it, spending their life immersed in music and have that as a second language.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
And being the more options you
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
can
Jeff Zipp:
and the
Sara Ramsay:
give,
Jeff Zipp:
last...
Sara Ramsay:
the better. And the clearer you can ask
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
for what
Jeff Zipp:
and
Sara Ramsay:
you
Jeff Zipp:
the last
Sara Ramsay:
need,
Jeff Zipp:
thing
Sara Ramsay:
the
Jeff Zipp:
you'd
Sara Ramsay:
better.
Jeff Zipp:
ever want to do is to have an artist or an actor show up to the studio and they feel like they can't meet the job requirements. So you don't want an actor
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
that's, you know, in a TV show showing up and feeling like they're underperforming because you're not giving them the right tools.
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
Because that's all it is, really. It's not that they're a bad singer or whatever.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
It's just there's just different techniques that resonate with them better. And
Sara Ramsay:
Absolutely,
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
absolutely. And it's the job of, you know, me as the coach, you as the producer, the musical director, prepping the tracks. It's like all of those people, ultimately it's all of our jobs to get the actor to the best performance, give them what they need to have the best performance
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
at
Jeff Zipp:
right.
Sara Ramsay:
the end of the day and to provide
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
those
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
tools.
Jeff Zipp:
And I mean,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
like, you know, you just learn more and more tricks along the way that really, you know, that help people
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and maybe one technique will only work with one client that you'll ever work with ever again. But that
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
is an incredibly good technique to have, you know,
Sara Ramsay:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So talking about working in the studio, everybody's studio routine
Jeff Zipp:
Thanks for watching!
Sara Ramsay:
looks a bit different. Some people are really specific about what order they record things in or, you know, I know some people want to set deck the studio a certain way because it makes and I'm I'm not laughing at that or discounting that, when you go in and do your vocals, go ahead and put the fairy lights up and put the scarves up on the wall and do the things. No producer is ever going to bat an eye. If that's the thing that makes you comfortable in the booth and gets the great performance out of you, do it.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Anyway, my question is, do you want to talk a little bit about your process in the studio when
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
you're producing a
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
record?
Jeff Zipp:
think that definitely touching on the, or making sure that people feel so comfortable, and because you need to feel so comfortable to be vulnerable, right? So in order to, like when
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you're in this, or when I first meet an artist, we'll usually kind of just hang out here in the studio and we'll just listen to records, and we'll just find things that we maybe have common ground on. to
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
the table that I've never heard of. Maybe I'll find something that has a similar sort of feel or makes me feel a similar sort of way as when I'm listening to their references. And I think that references are the most important thing for me to make sure that we're kind of all aiming for the same goal. If we, if all of us have a different goal of what the song is supposed to sound like, it's never gonna end up close to anyone's, like what they had initially intended it to be. sound like. So references are absolute key. I then from there I would say I really like when artists send me like an iPhone demo. I like when people
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
produce things a little bit and send them over to kind of get an idea of what maybe the rhythm of the song is or like what the main instruments are but an iPhone recording is so honest and it's a good
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
or if it's just an okay song with good production, you know? Like it's...
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
That in iPhone recording is a big one for me. And then I would say from there, we kind of just hang out here in the studio, we pick tempos, we pick keys, you know? All that sort of the not so glamorous side of crafting a song.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And we'll
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
just try to push it. Like I found for a long time, a lot of my songs I thought were like, or not my songs, but songs that I'd worked for for other people. I always thought that they were really good and I was very excited about them and then maybe I would listen to them a month later and be like, that's a little bit slow, or maybe that's a little bit too fast. So
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
what I really like to do is I like to kind of push the song to the point where it kind of breaks. Like you push it so fast
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
that it is now unrecognizable and then you make attention and then you know yeah
Sara Ramsay:
It's a
Jeff Zipp:
but
Sara Ramsay:
dirge.
Jeff Zipp:
then you kind of see where the where the limits of the song is and then you can focus in on it and sometimes you know you
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
speed it up and it's like oh that's a little bit weird and it takes a little while to get used to it so what I do is I'll just make it even faster and I'll make it faster we'll get used to it
Sara Ramsay:
Mm.
Jeff Zipp:
being faster and then when we bring it back to the original tempo it just drags so we can you know we can add
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
on another few BPM to kind of spice it up a little bit or whatever
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
I wouldn't necessarily say that I do a ton of decoration here at the studio, although that is a good trick. I do know that Mike Fraser touched on that in your earlier podcast,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
which is great. I'll probably use that from now on.
Sara Ramsay:
I mean, for what it's worth, I also think that's a thing that isn't always, it doesn't always have to live in the
Jeff Zipp:
Mm-hmm.
Sara Ramsay:
producer's lab or the engineer's lab. I think that's a thing that can be, um, up to the artist, um, to, but it can be opened up to
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
them, you know, if there's stuff that, that, uh, is going to make you comfortable,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, absolutely.
Sara Ramsay:
let's do it.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah. I think
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
that because this space is a very small, non-intimidating little recording space, that it's easy to get people into feeling comfortable. I think that when you're a brand new artist
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and you show up to a big commercial space, it is terrifying. I've had that feeling before. I know that feeling.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And I'm always impressed when new artists go into studios on a stage or in the rehearsal space. That's always a really impressive thing. But I know that definitely making sure people are comfortable enough to be vulnerable is key. And however you get there, it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you get there.
Sara Ramsay:
You know, I think it's a funny thing, specifically as a singer. I mean, that's what I can speak to. But the first time I recorded an original project of mine, I mean, I was I don't know, I was about 19 years old. And I was in college. I was up at Cap University in the jazz program. And I like pulled in favors from a bunch of friends. I was super lucky because we had a recording studio at home. I had access to that, but everybody was doing it as a favor. So from the engineer to all the players, to everybody. And the track sounded fucking awesome. And I was so excited when it came time for me to go into the studio. And I'm, I'm laying this out because I want to say our, our family owned the studio. It was literally in my backyard. It was at our house. time in the studio and when I went into that studio to sing my vocals, I was super, super nervous and I listen to those tracks now and I can hear the nerves in my voice to this day. And that's just, it's
Jeff Zipp:
Thanks for watching!
Sara Ramsay:
just the reality, especially if you're a young, and I don't mean age, I mean
Jeff Zipp:
Thanks for watching!
Sara Ramsay:
process at least until you get more comfortable and more experienced doing it. So those things that set you at ease matter so much
Jeff Zipp:
Thank you.
Sara Ramsay:
because they affect the final performance
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
so
Jeff Zipp:
absolutely,
Sara Ramsay:
much.
Jeff Zipp:
absolutely.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. So there, that's
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
my
Jeff Zipp:
great.
Sara Ramsay:
big story. But I think it's an important one to know that like, yeah, I had all the reasons to
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
not be nervous.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah. Right.
Sara Ramsay:
And yet I was, you
Jeff Zipp:
Oh,
Sara Ramsay:
know,
Jeff Zipp:
I mean,
Sara Ramsay:
I can still
Jeff Zipp:
I go
Sara Ramsay:
hear
Jeff Zipp:
into studios
Sara Ramsay:
it.
Jeff Zipp:
all the time and I still get a little bit of nervousness, you know? Because it's just, it's
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah!
Jeff Zipp:
a different space. It doesn't matter how many times you've even been in there. If you're in there with a new band or a new engineer or whatever, there's always a little bit of,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
you know, you got to shake off the nerves a little bit.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, totally. Do you wanna talk about, like when you are producing, how you approach the concept of storytelling in projects with artists when you're, you know, producing a record or whatever, because it's that nebulous piece of connecting to the audience,
Jeff Zipp:
Right.
Sara Ramsay:
So, yeah, just interested
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
in your process
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
there.
Jeff Zipp:
don't do a ton of actual writing. I'm like, you know, I'm not a lyricist,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
but I have had the pleasure of being in a lot of writing sort of sessions and, you know, help kind of develop it from a production's side, kind of as the songs
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
are being written. And I think that when it comes to connecting with an audience, I think it's something that you kind of Right away. It's it doesn't take a professional musician to know that something's really resonating with them, you know, so For me if I'm if I'm in the room and I Realize wow This is something that I just want to put on when I'm driving or just listen to in my free time Then we're probably in the right direction
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
I'll try not to let any of the technical sort of things get in the way of really the song itself. I don't need to add a bunch of crazy interesting chords or unexpected notes to make it interesting. At the end of the day, it's a good song. It's gonna be a good song no matter how you treat it. So I think that just kind of trusting your gut and saying, yes, this is a really good song. Let's make sure that we treat it with respect and not with our ego, just make it something that it isn't because it's fancy or because it's kind of interesting or cutting edge at the moment, you know? That's,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I'm not super heavy handed when it comes to the production of stuff or the writing of stuff. I love to make this, I like to make suggestions, but I also like to tell the artists that I'm gonna make a hundred suggestions and we're lucky if a few of them really stick, you know? I really just want to throw
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
ideas out there to kind of break you out of whatever it is that maybe you find repetitive. There's these really cool
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
cards. You might have seen them before. They're called oblique strategies. It was this deck of cards that Brian Eno made back in the 70s or something like that. And basically what it was, I think it's called 100 Plus Dilemmas. What is it? Yeah. And basically the idea was that if you ever feel like you're kind of getting wrapped up into the same routine you open up the deck you pull one of the cards out and you read it and it'll say things like Now imagine if it's underwater and it really like it doesn't necessarily need to Mean anything, you know But it's just
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
to kind of snap you out of whatever that is that's making something feel maybe a bit too
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
in a song. So that's kind
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
of how I view my job is to hopefully give out more useful suggestions than imagine if you're underwater and upside down. But you know, but you know just to try to make people see it a little bit differently and see what we can accomplish. But
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I don't really care if they don't take any of my ideas. I don't really have any ego attached to that. I just want to see if you know if that can be something that would improve any anything. You know?
Sara Ramsay:
I think it's, I mean, I do similar things with students where, you know, I'll get them to sing whatever song they're singing as though they
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
are another artist, not because we're aiming for mimicry, but just because I'm trying to break a pattern of something. And the way I always view it is this, this is not intended to be the final destination. to find a new destination. And what you're describing sounds very much like the same thing to me, where you're just giving different stepping stones to get them to find a new destination
Jeff Zipp:
Absolutely and
Sara Ramsay:
potentially.
Jeff Zipp:
with every question or suggestion that I make I'm learning more about the artist too You know if they if they say no
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
it does I don't like that idea because it reminds me of this and well Noted that artist does not like the way that this song or this artist made them feel So we can you know, that's off
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
the table now great, you know now I now I understand it better It really comes down to that that first experience With that heavy-handed producer not taking into consideration anything that we wanted to sound like that is the farthest from what I would ever want to impose on someone else. It's just, here's some suggestions, here's some ideas, let's make it comfortable, let's enjoy our time, because at the end of the day we're making music. Like, let's not be too serious about it, let's have fun,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and let's make a good song.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Wearing your producer's hat, what do you think is important for new artists to know about the process? So meaning like, what should they do on their end ahead of working with somebody like you in order to make that a really successful experience? So, what do you think about the process? What should they do on their end ahead of working with somebody like you in order to make that a really successful experience?
Jeff Zipp:
have a listen to some of the stuff that I've done. See if you like it, because you might not. Like maybe it's not going to, that sound isn't going to resonate with you. I try to not be too heavy handed with like imprinting a certain sound on people, but there might be similarities there. There might be, maybe my music sounds a
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
little bit more rootsy or Americana than someone else's, maybe a pop producer. Do your research. Try to figure it out if that sound But you can see yourself as being, or at least a roadmap of maybe this is kind of a direction that we can take a song.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
The last thing you want to do, like I said earlier, is bring someone into your creative world that you aren't completely aligned with. And meet a bunch of producers, chat
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
with a bunch of people, talk to other songwriters and singers and see, oh, did you work with this person? experience like don't just jump into it just because you know I've got a couple of buttons and knobs and microphones and stuff like that doesn't mean that this and me is going to be right for your sound. I hope it is and I would love to make lots
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and lots of more records with as many people as humanly possible but just for your own sake. When you start looking into other producers you'll also maybe learn a little bit about different sounds or oh well I wonder how dad or whatever it might be. So
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
that's the big one for me.
Sara Ramsay:
And I mean, that's a thing. This is another question that I tend to ask, like all the producers and, um, that I've had on, I've asked that vein of question. And I think that's been everybody's
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
answer. It pretty much the same is that make sure you listen to other stuff that I've done ahead of time, because if you don't like it, we shouldn't
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
work
Jeff Zipp:
right.
Sara Ramsay:
together. Don't hire me if you don't like what I've done. Also, the comment has been like, it's amazing that that actually does happen, because they had a friend. So to your point about like, talk to other musicians who've worked with you, yes, but I've had other producers say like, you know, they had a friend who hired you, so they just hired you, but without listening
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
to anything you've done. yourself because if it's not your style, if it's not your jam, um, somebody else out there is, and you're going to be happier with the experience and
Jeff Zipp:
Absolutely,
Sara Ramsay:
happier
Jeff Zipp:
and
Sara Ramsay:
with
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
the
Jeff Zipp:
think
Sara Ramsay:
results.
Jeff Zipp:
that as you start, you know, as you start meeting more producers that have been, you know, doing it for long enough, people will be very upfront with you. If they think that you're gonna be,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
or that the two people, you yourself as the producer and the artist, I'll be very upfront if I think that the working relationship will be beneficial to them. Because, like, myself any good for taking on a project that I don't think that I can achieve what the artist wants to do and it's definitely not doing them any good either. I think
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
that probably
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
just comes with time and experience. I probably would have just taken every job and any job that was happening to me ten years ago but now I know kind of what my sound is, I know what I can do for other people and for their project.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Jumping back, I should have asked you this one when we were talking about the Amazing Race stuff, but I just got a little out of order with my questions. But talking about the realities of life on the road, you know, working on the road with the show, about the impact of life on the road body and your creativity and just the realities of recording. You've been to all these exotic locales, but you want to talk about
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
the realities about making music
Jeff Zipp:
The
Sara Ramsay:
for
Jeff Zipp:
reality
Sara Ramsay:
the show on the
Jeff Zipp:
is
Sara Ramsay:
road?
Jeff Zipp:
that it is incredibly difficult. Not just from a technical
Sara Ramsay:
Hehe.
Jeff Zipp:
aspect, but like you said, it's tough on the body too, because the way that it works for us at least is we land in a new country. Over the last three or four seasons, we didn't even know where we were going, because we were, because of COVID,
Sara Ramsay:
Really?
Jeff Zipp:
we had to all charter the
Sara Ramsay:
Oh
Jeff Zipp:
same
Sara Ramsay:
yeah!
Jeff Zipp:
jet. So it wasn't like the original Amazing Race Everyone's on the jet. Just kind of stay in our own bubble, right? So,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah, so basically we land, we find out where we are, and
Sara Ramsay:
Ha!
Jeff Zipp:
you know, we set our clocks forward or backwards or wherever, right? And then basically we hit the ground and we start working.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
guy that does the camera work that's similar to kind of like, because I do the specialized audio stuff, he does the specialized camera stuff. So he does all the time lapses, the
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
really cool like money, like beautiful shots for like the opening of the show and whatnot. So
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
if I don't have any music to work to do in the morning, I'll go with him, we'll set up some cameras, we'll do some time lapses, we will work until, well, we're probably going to have to stay out until well past sunset. I'd go to sleep, we would wake up at 530 in the morning, we'd go get a COVID test, I'd go out and I'd start working with a band.
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching!
Jeff Zipp:
I'd finish recording them, I'll go back to the hotel, I'll mix into the wee hours of the evening, I'll deliver it that night, and then next morning we show up at the airport and we fly to the next place.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
Sometimes it's longer, sometimes we've had like three or four days in a location, but really fast. And with
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
the OEM, you also don't take a day off. You don't have a single day off. So it's just every
Sara Ramsay:
Nah.
Jeff Zipp:
single day and then, you know, compiling the tiredness of the previous day and then also the time zone changes and also being on an airplane where
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I'm not, I can't sleep on airplanes. So I just kind of sit there in shock and just like wait till land,
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
you know? very conscious of trying to like just be healthy like because you're running on fumes by the end of
Sara Ramsay:
Mmm.
Jeff Zipp:
it you can't it's
Sara Ramsay:
It's just compounding
Jeff Zipp:
yeah yeah
Sara Ramsay:
sleep
Jeff Zipp:
it's not
Sara Ramsay:
deprivation.
Jeff Zipp:
like these these things of like like maybe Hollywood eyes tour stories of like people going out and you're partying every night and this and that like if you have one party night the rest of the show is just gonna suck like it's gonna be a drag you
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
know to the end. So you have to
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
be very, very, you just have to stay healthy and you got to make sure you're getting enough sleep and it's difficult. And then also trying to stay in contact with your family back home. Sometimes you're eight or ten hours ahead of everyone else so you got to wake up maybe at a certain time to have a phone call with them. It's tough. I mean
Sara Ramsay:
Ugh.
Jeff Zipp:
it's the greatest job ever. I love it. But
Sara Ramsay:
Yep. Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
it is incredibly difficult.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
no kidding.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
No kidding.
Jeff Zipp:
You know, we're lucky because we do about 15, I think it's usually about 15, sometimes upwards of 20 countries per year with the show. Or at least locations, I should
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching!
Jeff Zipp:
say.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
But that definitely comes at a price and that price is you do not get a day off and you do not sleep, but you get to live out your wildest dreams on the road. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. How many seasons have you done
Jeff Zipp:
Uh,
Sara Ramsay:
now?
Jeff Zipp:
only three I believe that have been released. Four I believe in total, because there's another one coming up. And then I'm leaving in a month I believe for another one. We do two a year. And
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
It's a lot. Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
No kidding,
Jeff Zipp:
yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
no kidding.
Jeff Zipp:
I do have, I wanted to share one of the wild stories of the show. that
Sara Ramsay:
Please.
Jeff Zipp:
the grand finale of one of the seasons was in Nashville and I was like, oh my god,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
I cannot wait for what they have planned for us. And I found out that they brought in the Nashville Film or Symphony Orchestra and we were in the municipal auditorium
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm?
Jeff Zipp:
and they asked me if I'd be willing to engineer and record the theme song for the show for them to use. I was like, yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
So cool.
Jeff Zipp:
that sounds great. I don't care.
Sara Ramsay:
So cool. And you're in a city where you can
Jeff Zipp:
That's
Sara Ramsay:
get
Jeff Zipp:
right.
Sara Ramsay:
extra
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
gear
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
if you need
Jeff Zipp:
So I
Sara Ramsay:
it.
Jeff Zipp:
called Blackbird Studio and I rented a ton of microphones from them. And it was probably the highlight of my life so far career wise, getting to work
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
with them. It was so difficult because I think I flew in from I was in Petra in Jordan. I flew in to Nashville and I landed there. The orchestra showed up maybe a couple hours later. We had everything sort of set up. input list on the plane to Nashville. Calling the producers, you know, before, or like right when I arrived saying, hey, have we received our rentals from Blackbird Studios? Can we get a few more hands on? They were literally still building the stage while, because everything's so like, we've
Sara Ramsay:
God.
Jeff Zipp:
got these tiny little windows to do these incredible things. And
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
yeah, the stage was still being built. And the orchestra was arriving in like two hours. And you know, I was just asking anybody that was there with a set of hands. Hey, can you guys help me put up some microphones? This is a U87.
Sara Ramsay:
Thanks for watching!
Jeff Zipp:
This is a Coles. Coles go on the horns. 87s go on the cellos. And yeah, and it
Sara Ramsay:
Oh
Jeff Zipp:
was
Sara Ramsay:
god.
Jeff Zipp:
crazy because there was so much pressure leading up to it. And then all the lights go out. The contestants run in. They have to do some sort of tests, or they have to do a challenge. And I think this is a final challenge for the winner, they win a million dollars, so a lot of pressure.
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
And they run in and it's absolute chaos and the orchestra plays perfect and we engineer it and it sounds fantastic and I'm so proud of it. And it just felt like it just finished in a blink of an eye. It was just, it was over. Now all the lights go on,
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
now we've got to tear everything out. It's two o'clock in the morning at this point, I think by the time I get out of there. And then I have a flight to Denver after it. So
Sara Ramsay:
Oh
Jeff Zipp:
that's
Sara Ramsay:
my god.
Jeff Zipp:
basically the show. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Wow.
Jeff Zipp:
But I mean, it is filled with some of the most impressive, inspiring people like the, the, the, there's literally
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
teams and they are, sorry, I should say there's camera people and audio people that literally run after the contestants. And when you're, when you're seeing this show and you're seeing the contestants run and the big Sony camera on his shoulder and you're wondering oh
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
wow that's so interesting they've got so many different shots and angles on the same team that's the same camera person so when you're seeing these teams run this way and then all of a sudden you see a cut of them running the other way there's a camera guy that's run past them these guys are going as fast as they can the camera guy sprints
Sara Ramsay:
Oh my
Jeff Zipp:
past
Sara Ramsay:
god.
Jeff Zipp:
them and they'll get the reverse shot and follow them backwards you know wherever they're going it is they're some of the most Yeah
Sara Ramsay:
That's a stat. So all of the, the like athletic capability that's required of the contestants is required twofold from
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
the camera people.
Jeff Zipp:
And these are the people that, like, they are the... If you ever use these things, there's like a bicycle and a running thing called a Peloton, and there's these little screens where they kind of mimic, like, you know, where you're going. You're doing the Boston Marathon or whatever. These camera people
Sara Ramsay:
Yep.
Jeff Zipp:
on the Amazing Race are the people that film those things for Peloton. So they actually run the Boston Marathon
Sara Ramsay:
now.
Jeff Zipp:
with the cameras that they can
Sara Ramsay:
Ha!
Jeff Zipp:
put onto the Peloton. people that I'm around and so it is just constantly so inspiring to be around these people. I can't say enough good things about them. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
That's
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
just so cool. So my guess is that you have just answered my question. I mean, my next question was going to be, what's the most unexpected way you've used your talents in the
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
course of your career?
Jeff Zipp:
this is definitely it. I mean,
Sara Ramsay:
laughs
Jeff Zipp:
I truly love recording music and it is, you know, one of my favorite things in the entire world and just to add on all the complexity of traveling while doing it is, it was completely unexpected but I have so much gratitude for
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
the opportunities that came, you know, that's allowed me to do those things. I feel very lucky, very blessed.
Sara Ramsay:
Uh huh. I think you really have to be the, I mean, I know we sort of touched on it before talking about what a MacGyver you have to be to do the job that you do on that show. But, um, it's. Well, I think a lot of audio engineers actually are, uh, really good problem solvers anyway, because it is
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
such a big part of the job, but the specifics of in the context of the amazing race and doing all of it on the road, there is such a huge problem solving on the fly piece of that. Like it's amazing that you were the first person that they asked and you were the right guy for that job. You know what I mean? Cause that's a very specific skill set to have the audio engineering piece fly capability.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, I don't think that I did have those skills until I got thrown into it, to be honest. I think I kind of had to learn it. And I
Sara Ramsay:
Fair.
Jeff Zipp:
think that that's something that's worth noting is that a lot of times opportunities will come up and maybe you're not, maybe you don't know exactly all the ins and outs,
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
but you can absolutely find the resources to figure it out. There's nothing that's
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
going to stand in the way of you and achieving what you want. to achieve you know if you know sure I never recorded music on the race but I definitely trusted my instincts that I could figure out how to do it yeah
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
and and I think well there were other people that had recorded music for the show before I just didn't have any contact with them so I didn't know kind of like what the ins and outs
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
were
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
so I didn't necessarily create the job but I definitely had to figure it out how it was gonna work for me yeah
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Um... Is there anything, so working in the industry that you do, and you can talk about this in any slant that you want to, whether we're talking about working at home in the studio or working on the road the way you have, is there anything that you see often sort of missed or misunderstood by artists or producers or people in the field that would make the experience better or the more successful.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, I think that when I was younger, I kind of looked at working in music and entertainment as being a very competitive thing, as if you're like everyone around you is competing against you. In reality, there's
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
plenty of work to go around. You just, you need to meet people, you need to be genuine with people, you need to, you need to, sorry, I lost my train of with people, you need to lift up people and celebrate them for their accomplishments because it really isn't you playing against them, it's not you versus them, it's we all kind of, we will rely on each other at some point, you know, if we're all working in the
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
same industry. So not looking at it as a competitive sort of thing, but as a more of a community sort of thing. That's definitely
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
because everyone around you that's gonna stick with it are just gonna be your peers and they're gonna be the ones that you're gonna rely on in the future, so.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, I think it's funny. I think the industry is perceived as being a very competitive industry.
Jeff Zipp:
Sure.
Sara Ramsay:
And in some ways it is, but I think, I mean, that's a question that I ask around the issue of competition versus collaboration or community to most of my guests. And the overwhelming answer from people is far more collaborative and far more about the, you know, the community and supporting each other and working with each other and lifting each other up than it is around competing with each other. And I think... I think that maybe that's a bit of an outside looking in versus inside looking out, two different perspectives. Cause I think when you're on the inside, I think most of us are really rooting for each other and, and trying to, you know, like I know if I can't have the gig, the number one thing I want to do is get somebody I know and love or, or, you know, respect and value. I love
Jeff Zipp:
Me too.
Sara Ramsay:
seeing it go to them.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
of thing,
Jeff Zipp:
That's such a
Sara Ramsay:
you
Jeff Zipp:
great
Sara Ramsay:
know?
Jeff Zipp:
way of looking at it. I think that that comes with experience, but
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
I wish that I would have known that a little bit earlier on. I don't think that I was ever
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
malicious or trying to take a job from someone else, but I wish I would have looked at it more as a collaborative community sort of thing rather than it being competitive.
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah, yeah. Well, like you say, I do think that that comes with experience, but I think that's also why it's important to talk about for the people who are up and coming and can benefit from those of us who have a little more
Jeff Zipp:
Well,
Sara Ramsay:
experience.
Jeff Zipp:
good on you
Sara Ramsay:
Ha
Jeff Zipp:
for doing this, because I wish
Sara Ramsay:
ha ha,
Jeff Zipp:
that this
Sara Ramsay:
years.
Jeff Zipp:
is something that I would have had access to when I was younger, because I, like I said, I didn't really have a roadmap or a blueprint of what this would look like. And I also didn't really know anyone. And at the time that you couldn't just listen
Sara Ramsay:
Mm-hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
to a podcast, you couldn't really, there just wasn't those same resources. So I think that what you're
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
doing is such a valuable thing for the next generation of people.
Sara Ramsay:
Thank you.
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, this is a wonderful thing that you're doing. Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm just, I'm hoping to answer the questions that the emerging artists and the emerging generation within the industry, they might not even know what questions
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
to ask yet. Because when you're young, you don't, you
Jeff Zipp:
Mm-hmm.
Sara Ramsay:
don't know what you don't know. So you don't even know what to ask. And make those answers a little bit more
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
readily available. Because just like you, and I grew up in a musical family, and I still didn't feel like I knew what to do or who to ask or any of that. So,
Jeff Zipp:
That's great.
Sara Ramsay:
yeah, thank you. Yeah. Well, where can people find you, Jeff? Web, social media, upcoming projects, all the things.
Jeff Zipp:
I mean chances are coming to a city near you at some point
Sara Ramsay:
Hahaha
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah, you can find me on Instagram, I don't have a personal Instagram, but I have my my studio's Instagram, which is light machine records You can you can add me on Facebook or send me a message I guess or you can email me light machine records at
Sara Ramsay:
Yeah.
Jeff Zipp:
gmail.com and and let's hear what you've been working on. I'm always so excited
Sara Ramsay:
Awesome.
Jeff Zipp:
to meet new people. It doesn't matter what level of experience or how many years they've put into it. I just think that everyone's got so much value no matter what their
Sara Ramsay:
Hmm.
Jeff Zipp:
story has been. So yeah, reach out. I'm pretty easy to get a hold of.
Sara Ramsay:
I love it. Well, we'll put all
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
of that in the show notes so that people can
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah.
Sara Ramsay:
find it easily. And yeah, as we go, anything else you think is really important for up and coming artists to know that we haven't touched
Jeff Zipp:
I think
Sara Ramsay:
on?
Jeff Zipp:
we touched on a lot of really good stuff. Yeah, I hope
Sara Ramsay:
We
Jeff Zipp:
I
Sara Ramsay:
did.
Jeff Zipp:
didn't ramble too
Sara Ramsay:
We did.
Jeff Zipp:
much. Hope there's something that you can cut out of this.
Sara Ramsay:
No, no, I,
Jeff Zipp:
Yeah,
Sara Ramsay:
that's Kurt's
Jeff Zipp:
thank you,
Sara Ramsay:
job,
Jeff Zipp:
Kurt.
Sara Ramsay:
but no, I, I think it was, I think we had a good, illuminating conversation, so I appreciate
Jeff Zipp:
Thank you
Sara Ramsay:
your
Jeff Zipp:
so
Sara Ramsay:
time.
Jeff Zipp:
much.
Sara Ramsay:
Thank
Jeff Zipp:
It's been
Sara Ramsay:
you.
Jeff Zipp:
an absolute pleasure.
Sara Ramsay:
Hehehe