Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Suter
Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up playing in rock bands in Roanoke, VA. As confident (naïve) as I was that I was going to be on stage for the rest of my life, it started to become evident that if I stayed where I was, I was going to do just that: be in a successful band in Roanoke, VA, which isn’t exactly the dream. One year, the band I was in went into the studio. I had never recorded or even set foot in a studio. I was really taken with the whole process. I ended up hitting it off with the owner of the studio and essentially found myself interning at the studio. I really loved it. I loved being able to swim in so many different creative pools. It quickly took it over as the main focus in my life. After that, a lot happened pretty quickly. A co-worker of mine mentioned a friend of his attended The Sheffield Institute Of The Recording Arts in Baltimore, MD. So later that night I looked it up and booked a tour for that weekend. My parents and I drove up, toured the facility, and signed up that day. We spent the next day looking at apartments and a month later I was living in Baltimore pursuing the next step in my Audio Engineering career. Once I graduated, I cold-called studios all over the east coast before finding a studio in Charlotte, NC that had some space for me. So down I went. Over the following 10 years, I bounced around a number of studios, all while building my own home setup. In 2020 it got to a point where I needed to make a decision. I was taking up 2 of the 3 bedrooms in me and my wife’s house. It became an issue once the discussion of starting a family came up. We either needed to move to a bigger place, or I needed to pull back on my home studio having ways. I was also in a position that many budding entrepreneurs find themselves in: How do I make the jump from a part time side-hussle to full time? I just decided the best course of action, for my sanity, was to dive in. I had enough clients to consider it part time and I knew I could do some supplementary night gigging to fill in the gaps. So we arrived at the decision to build a separate studio on our property. I figured worst case scenario, if the studio dies and doesn’t work, it will at least be a space for me to store my hoard. Luckily, it has flourished and has become one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like anything else in life, it’s had it’s ups and downs. There are some months where all I’m doing all day is working with super talented, creative people, which is incredibly fulfilling. But then there are other months where all I’m doing is focusing on social media, which I’m not very good at. I think one of the struggles is betting on yourself. When you have slow months, it’s easy to feel the need to compromise. Whether it’s taking on work you don’t want to do, or bending on price because “some money is better than no money”. But in the end you just have to convince yourself to know your worth. Overall, things have been good, but there are always some bumps in the road that can make you feel like “this isn’t going to work”. So the struggle, for me, seems to lie in staying positive, motivated, and moving.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The recording studio can be a weird environment. It can be intimidating and, if you aren’t careful, creatively stifling. It’s my #1 priority to alleviate that as much as possible. It’s important to me to offer a space for people to feel like they can create freely. For example, singing is just as much of a mental game as it is physical. So often, when someone is in for vocals, I might dim the lights, light some candles, and I’d allow them to basically just run through the song as many times as they want before tracking official vocal takes. After a few times, they start to settle in and the pressure starts to dissipate. I’m a naturally anxious person. I think my overthinking nature makes me equipped to tackle the obstacles that can cause a cloudy headspace. So I’m proud of the fact that the feedback I hear most is how comfortable people feel in my studio.
Any big plans?
No real specific plans honestly. The growth of the studio has shown me areas I need to focus on and areas I don’t. Thankfully, word of mouth has served me well. My plan at the moment is actually to up my social media game. It’s definitely an area where I struggle. So that’s one area I’m sort of focusing on at the moment.
Pricing:
- $40/hour
- $300/mix & master
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gingercatsounds.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gingercatsounds
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gingercatsounds
