Last
week I caught up with Ant Whitehouse, a supremely talented
sound smith and long time friend of The Cud. Ant has just
given away a stable career in Occupational Therapy to
start his own recording studio. Like many twenty-something’s,
he has been questioning the merits of the traditional
School, University, Career, Mortgage, Family progression.
But unlike most, he has decided to stray from the traditional
path, to pursue his passion for sound. In the following
interview, Ant was kind enough to share with me his thoughts
on his career change, the music industry, and life.
OP:
You went to Uni, you worked for a while and now you're
taking the plunge. What are your thoughts?
AW:
In the last year or so, Sydney has never quite felt right.
You've done your uni and you've had a crack at after uni,
whatever that is, like in that line of work. I was looking
at all these people who amaze me and re-invent themselves
all the time. I just started meeting more and more people
like that in my life. I thought bugger it, it's time for
me to have a crack at that. There was a friend with a
recording studio, and I was obsessed with sound and going
over there and watching what he did. In it's rawest terms
I kind of thought, "what do I love doing?" I
thought bugger this, I could be quite good at this.
OP:
Is there any type of music that you can't stand?
AW:
I've always been averse to people... I'm a massive critic
of music critics, I reckon, and it's funny, these are
apparently the people who love music, and all they do
is go to gigs and somehow turn it into something where
they forget what it's all about. I'm particularly averse
to people bashing lyrics with music. If you don't like
it, then that's cool, but just go and shut up and keep
it to yourself. Sorry, what was the question?
OP:
Is there anything you don't like?
AW:
No. But I look at some stuff like I don't get anything
out of it. Like RnB. That hip-hop thing just doesn't float
my boat. The hardest thing is accessing music which you
like these days. You gotta know people or know some sort
of amazing website chat-room, but coolest thing that's
been about the studio is I'm recording stuff which I wouldn't
normally like. But I'm totally into it when I'm in here,
which is really cool, because I'm liking more and more
music...
OP:
Is that because you're seeing it in the different
parts? And you're seeing a different problem, perhaps?
AW:
You start seeing it from the perspective of the muso who's
in here. You unlearn all these things which you think
you like. And you start getting more and more out of music
that you thought you didn't like.
OP:
I'm guessing that you haven't recorded somebody famous
or overly pretentious with a huge ego yet. Have you recorded
some arseholes? Has there been any conflict?
AW:
I only realised this recently. My job before this was
managing a disability service. And I realised after a
number of years that I'd gained some serious people skills
without even really knowing it, not even knowing how to
put it on paper or anything. I had to manage 50 staff,
and many marginalised staff, because many people in that
industry are people that couldn't get work in places that
are more typical. As well as a lot of families, clients
and government agencies. So I've learnt how to be diplomatic
and get the most out of a situation without being too
much of a bureaucrat or a wanker. But I've been very lucky
that the first lots of people that I've had in here have
been really, really, really great people. Like they haven't
been too uptight. I'm waiting for the first arsehole to
come in here, or the first person I call an arsehole 'cause
they don't listen to me. I'd like to think that it's a
bit of a testament to the fact that maybe I've chosen
something that is right for me. It's not just that there's
a bunch of nice people. It is clicking, what I'm doing.
I guess anyone who's started some kind of small business
like this, the highs and lows can be day to day. But that
side of it I feel really good about.
OP:
On the other side of the coin. Has there been anybody
who's come in that simply doesn't have it? I've seen terrible
people?
AW:
I've been lucky in that most people I've had have been
people with some talent. Again, I think it comes from
my previous work with people with disabilities - that
sounds really bad - you learn how to look at stuff and
get the best out of it. There's times where I think, "God,
that's grating". But that's half the challenge. Getting
the most out of people. I'm sure I'll get someone who
comes in who might have a bit of money to record a CD,
and it's just gonna be painful as hell.
OP:
So you'd have to take the money and record the album?
AW:
Yeah. But it wouldn't just be that. It would
be a challenge, and you don't know until you get someone
in here. I actually feel like I can get more than what
people can get out of themselves. I think I can help that
process. But I haven't had any supreme fuck-ups as yet.
OP:
What's the difference between a live performance and a
recording?
AW:
I read in one of these sound engineering books that I
got on Amazon, like I've spend hundreds of buck on all
these books over the last year or so, but someone said
that a really good performance, which isn't a great recording,
is always better than not a great performance with a really
great recording of it. I think that's something to remember
when you've got someone in here, it's about trying to
get them in the studio to relax as much as possible, 'cause
that's when you get the magic. And that's what music is
about, not worrying that there's a microphone in front
of them, or if you've hit the note or not.
OP:
What was really important, you own a recording
studio, you're a producer, has that helped out your love
life at all?
AW:
Well! I've got this big red couch, which you're sitting
on at the moment. Where we just had a drink, The Rose,
I did have a date. I don't think I've been on a date before.
I've had lots of girlfriends and things, but this was
the first date, and after a couple of beers I did actually
say, would you like to see my studio? And that's as far
as it went. We listened to some music and then went somewhere
else. But, other than that I haven't had any rock 'n roll
moments in the studio. But I'll be pissed off when this
lease is up, whenever that is, if I can't say I got one
magic story out of it.
OP:
There's a lot of competition out there. What's
the difference between you and them?
AW:
I'm lucky. I have the next step up. What I wanted to avoid
was, everyone's got a home studio set-up now. Technology
has just advanced so much that it's become really, really
affordable. And it has allowed me to start off a business,
but everyone's trying to do it. You can set yourself up
for not much money, it's not like the old days where you
needed one-hundred grand to be able to have a studio running.
You don't need that. You can do it on ten really well.
I've spent maybe about thirty, thirty-five on my set-up,
and it's a very good set-up. Which makes it really competitive.
The difference with mine is it's not just a home studio
set-up, I do have a dedicated space, and good rooms to
record in, lots of good equipment and I think I'm good
at what I do. The scariest part about the timing of when
I've done this, or when I was born, is that the technology
is such that everyone's doing it. So I've got my work
cut out for me. Absolutely.
OP:
Do you think a lot of your competitors are pretenders?
AW:
I've been told by everyone, and not being arrogant. And
it's probably the one thing that helped me take the step,
is that I've literally got good ears. I can hear musically
and sonically where things are at. The other thing in
terms of making this place succeed is I've figured out
what kind of studio that I wanna run. Not a big studio,
I want to still have a pretty intimate setting, like it's
irrelevant if it sells a thousand, or a hundred thousand
copies, or none, but the person walks away from their
experience of recording and thinks that's just great,
and I've had something to do with it. I wanna keep it
quite intimate in terms of the process.
OP:
Do you think that's a rare goal of most business people,
to have their customer walking away thinking "shit
I feel good"?
AW:
Yeah. I could have gone down a road with my Occupational
Therapy of finding a very lucrative way to live my life.
But this is the crux of wanting to keep a very intimate
situation with my studio and make really good quality
albums, I don't want to make demos here, but make everything
as good as it can be for someone. Obviously I want to
make a living out of this, and this is the hard part about
running a business, because you can' not care about it,
because it'll go under and you won't be able to do it
the next day. But all I want to do is wake up the next
day and be able to do it again. I'll be stoked.
OP:
Do you watch Idol?
AW:
Yeah, I'm a sucker for it. That's how fucking good this
music machine out there is. Those guys, I don't care if
they like crap pop, or they have that many trills on the
end of every chorus, they're still people who really,
really love singing. So good on 'em for having a crack.
The whole Idol thing is outrageous! Would I make crap
pop? Well, as I was saying, some music has come in here
that I normally wouldn't have been into, but I still get
a kick out of anything that's new at the moment. So if
a girl came in here and wanted to do a bunch of pop singles
and stuff like that I reckon it would be a really, really
fun process. And it's fun, because your care factor for
something like that might not be as precious, you can
almost let go a little bit more, and it makes it even
more fun in a way. It's a flip side to some of the more
passionate stuff. I'll have a crack at anything, basically.
OP:
How many hours a day do you log in here?
AW:
I've only just quit my other job, but it varies. I might
go hard for a couple of days. Twelve to fourteen-hour
days of mixing away and recording stuff. Or I might come
in and do some quieter stuff, or some of my own stuff.
I also have a real aversion to the whole nine-to-five
construct of most jobs. I'm sure it works for most people
so they can have families, but it makes me physically
ill, the idea of nine-to-five. That's a really nice cool
thing about having your own business is that the hours
are pretty obtuse. You can pick and choose when you want
to work. I really like that side of it.
OP:
Do you feel that when you're up and running that you'll
be logging more hours down here than in a regular job?
AW:
Well, it could end up that way. Studios are like wormholes
for time. Time just disappears in them.
OP:
Like casinos? Do you have a clock?
AW:
I must say that when you turn on all my equipment, the
bright lights are pretty similar to the pokies. You would
be doing more, or just as much as some guy in a very intensive
financial job in the city. It's like anything when you're
enjoying it.
OP:
Does it feel like work?
AW:
Nah...
OP:
Ever?
AW:
Well, sometimes. But nothing like I imagine most other
jobs out there. I was having a good chat with my folks,
well, I've had a fair few in the last few months, going
through this whole process of really letting go of my
other career, and they keep highlighting that I'm the
kind of person can't fake liking something if I have no
motivation. The things I didn't like at Uni I just never
went, and things I'm into I will give one hundred and
ten percent. I just can't fake it and that's what's really
important about planning something like that. It's definitely
hard work, but it's good hard work. Maybe I won't do this
forever. I was thinking the other day, like, a friend
of mine, who I used to go to school with, she's an amazing
tour guide, does all these amazing tours all around the
world. That's what I was saying before about people that
re-invent themselves. I don't want to be in the one job
for the rest of my life. I definitely want to try different
things. I've just gotta find a girl that can put up with
that shit.
OP:
Having your own recording studio, I think you might have
a good chance.
AW:
It sounds good, doesn't it!
OP:
Perhaps a girl who wants to record her own pop album?
AW:
You see right through me. This is just a means to an end.
As I say, if I don't get one piece of naughty in this
studio...
We
at The Cud thank Ant for spending some time with us and
wish him and the Anthouse the best of luck.
The
Anthouse is in Chippendale, Sydney's inner west. And if
you've ever thought of recording something, even a shitty
pop album, you can contact Ant at antwhitehouse@hotmail.com
