With a sense of humour that never fails, I decided to interview Dylan Ford, a past City Varsity student and a sound engineer who owns Serotonin Studios, where everything from band albums, post production and sound design takes place. His student years at City Varsity were a bit of a blur but an enjoyable experience.
‘I did all-nighters down in the studio twice a week, every week for a couple of years, so lots of bergie showers…the time in the studio, trying not to bathe in the sink’.
Dylan was born in Scotland .He moved down to Cape Town in 1996 with his family.
He graduated from City Varsity in 2000 and at the tender age of 21 (almost 22), he went on to work as a freelance sound engineer, taking any job he could find, either being in the studio, on location or doing sound live.
During the freelance period, he worked on numerous productions which aired on MTV Europe, the Discovery channel and local radio and TV stations.
He did post-production work for films which later went on to be accepted into prestigious film festivals such as the New York, Berlin and Sao Paulo film festivals and later screened on the Australian and New Zealand cinema circuits.
Afterwards, he received the opportunity to start a ‘Live Sound’ company which he ran for a number of years before the ‘late nights and carrying of heavy equipment took its toll’.
The creation of Serotonin Studios shortly followed.
When asked what he enjoys about his job, he replied: ‘probably the point where a production comes together in the mixing stage. There’s a certain point where everything just clicks and it always re-ignites the love for the project’.
But like all jobs there are things he doesn’t enjoy, like editing.
‘Editing. Mondays. Editing on Mondays. Seeing cyclists out on the streets on the way to do editing on a Monday. Seeing cyclists on the way back from editing on a Monday’
In all his years of working, his memory of an aired production on MTV Europe (in which he worked on the sound design) stuck with him.
‘It’s pretty surreal when you realize that people from all around the world have just seen something that you’ve worked hard on’.
Dylan believes that in this particular industry, a lack of money is one of the main problems.
‘A serious cash injection into the music or movie industry in South Africa in the right areas would help to lift the standards across all the different mediums to new heights. Ironically there seems to be more money changing hands in training sound engineers than in actually doing ‘sound’ in South Africa, which I think is flooding the industry with a lot of qualified but unemployed engineers’
In order to survive this profession, he believes: ‘a lot of determination, patience and desire to learn more about the recording world’.
If he could choose an historical figure he believes he resembles, Dylan chose ‘a blend of Winston Churchill and George W. Bush…As a producer I have to keep the production moving as swiftly and efficiently as possible but I also have a goofy side to not make the experience too ‘stuffy’‘
I asked, with a sense of humour: If you were to die and come back as something or someone, what would it be? His response: ‘the sound geek in me says a capacitor in a Neve console, the politician in me says Malema's woodwork teacher, the testosterone in me says Hugh Hefner’s security camera, the realist in me says Dr Phil’s couch’.
Since Dylan works in the music business, I thought I would ask who his favourite bands are: ‘If a bass guitar is nearby then its Rage Against the Machine, but I also love bands like Tool who have amazing progressions in their arrangements, and Pearl Jam for the strong vocals, it’s too difficult for me to claim a singular band as my favourite, each has a time and place’.
If he could give advice to bands wanting to record an album, he strongly suggests pre-production. He believes that walking into a studio with a well written and well-rehearsed song, ‘not only saves time and money but the reality is that a good song that is badly recorded will be a lot more successful than a bad song that is well recorded’.
‘If I had to give a ratio I'd estimate that for every hour spent on say guitar lessons, a guitarist should spend two hours learning about song writing, even if it’s just studying the music on their iPod. This goes for every member of a band’.
Lastly, I asked if he had any advice for current City Varstiy students doing the sound engineering course:
‘Get as much hands on experience as possible. It’s a tough industry and when you walk out the door you are not only competing with fellow graduates but with guys who have decades of experience, so learn as much as possible and never stop trying to master your craft’.
Interview and story by Gemma-Louise Wright
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