check out this article on an intern's experience in a studio

rydaken · Post by **rydaken** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:30 pm

Man...... reading this has reminded me of my big blunder and how I'm very lucky I wasn't canned!

Years ago, I was an intern at a studio on my first day with Andy Johns in the house. He's quietly sitting outside having a smoke w/ a beer and I actually had the nerve to ask him about making Led Zepplin records. Picking his brain for a while, he's responding very politely. Finally, he asks me what I want to do. I reply "Produce / Mix". He takes a long drag off his cigarette, looks me up and down and says "It'll never happen". I was devastated! I couldn't believe it. My boss heard the whole exchange, called me into his office, didn't reprimand me, but kind of put me in my place by reminding me that Andy was probably hanging out in the back patio to clear his head from the session and my questioning him wasn't appreciated. I'd have fired my ass, but I'm glad it didn't work out that way. I did realize the stupidity of my mistake as soon as I heard my boss call for me to come up to his office. I was a little star struck, and lost my head. Lesson learned. Really, though, a lot of life isn't what you do. It's how you recover.

Tabnetic · Post by **Tabnetic** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:48 pm

msmith wrote:Well heres my take... The intern f'd up by upsetting the engineer on duty. Period. However, I think the engineer shouldnt be a t-baby about it, and should have spoken directly to the intern in a very frank matter. You know, "Thanks for the offer yesterday, but heres the deal..."

+1 for that. i think it also is unclear the *tone* the intern used when he offered the plugins. some people think they are know-it-alls cause they have a bunch of torrents and a macbook pro, and i think knowing when to speak is a skill to be learned.

that being said (as a one-time know-it-all myself) if the intern seemed like a nice guy, i surely wouldn't fire him. if he was a spoiled brat know-it-all i probably would have waited till the end of the week of fetching coffee to fire him

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:01 am

RefD wrote:
sorry, i promise it won't happen again!

can i come back now?

We've been WAITING!!!

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:13 am

rydaken wrote:Man...... reading this has reminded me of my big blunder and how I'm very lucky I wasn't canned!

Years ago, I was an intern at a studio on my first day with Andy Johns in the house. He's quietly sitting outside having a smoke w/ a beer and I actually had the nerve to ask him about making Led Zepplin records. Picking his brain for a while, he's responding very politely. Finally, he asks me what I want to do. I reply "Produce / Mix". He takes a long drag off his cigarette, looks me up and down and says "It'll never happen". I was devastated! I couldn't believe it. My boss heard the whole exchange, called me into his office, didn't reprimand me, but kind of put me in my place by reminding me that Andy was probably hanging out in the back patio to clear his head from the session and my questioning him wasn't appreciated. I'd have fired my ass, but I'm glad it didn't work out that way. I did realize the stupidity of my mistake as soon as I heard my boss call for me to come up to his office. I was a little star struck, and lost my head. Lesson learned. Really, though, a lot of life isn't what you do. It's how you recover.

What is it with some people?? This guy had the energy to ask you what you wanted to do just so he could abruptly tear you down, but didn't have the energy to politely tell you, "Listen man, I'd love to chat some other time, but right now I need a few minutes to clear my head."

I can hear everyone screaming at their monitors. "But, dude! It was ANDY JOHNS!!" I don't give a rat's ass who it was, and I don't care how much he was getting paid. There shouldn't be a price on civility. I've been a devout capitalist for years, but I have yet to find out where it says that once I reach a certain professional stratum I'm suddenly obligated to be mean to the peons.

It's not like these people don't realize their own perceived importance in the scheme of things. They have to know that kids are going to pick their brains. If they can't handle that sort of attention, then maybe they also need to reconsider their career choices.

Forgive my blasphemy. As I get older I find myself losing all patience with celebrities.

I've seen this self-same idiotic behavior from interns. Once, the guy had plans (that he was going to stick to!) to have dinner with his friends, so halfway through the session he decided he needed to leave and so some of the guys in the band HAD TO MOVE THEIR CARS OUT OF THE WAY SO HE COULD GO.

On the other hand, I would have SHOT this kid!

Spark · Post by **Spark** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 7:25 pm

CurtZHP wrote:What is it with some people?? This guy had the energy to ask you what you wanted to do just so he could abruptly tear you down, but didn't have the energy to politely tell you, "Listen man, I'd love to chat some other time, but right now I need a few minutes to clear my head."

I can hear everyone screaming at their monitors. "But, dude! It was ANDY JOHNS!!" I don't give a rat's ass who it was, and I don't care how much he was getting paid. There shouldn't be a price on civility. I've been a devout capitalist for years, but I have yet to find out where it says that once I reach a certain professional stratum I'm suddenly obligated to be mean to the peons.

It's not like these people don't realize their own perceived importance in the scheme of things. They have to know that kids are going to pick their brains. If they can't handle that sort of attention, then maybe they also need to reconsider their career choices.

I wholeheartedly agree. Rude is rude no matter whats on your resume.

Forgive my blasphemy. As I get older I find myself losing all patience with celebrities.

Agreed once again.

rydaken · Post by **rydaken** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:27 pm

Hey, that's not my quote above!

i am monster face · Post by **i am monster face** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:48 pm

CurtZHP wrote:
What is it with some people?? This guy had the energy to ask you what you wanted to do just so he could abruptly tear you down, but didn't have the energy to politely tell you, "Listen man, I'd love to chat some other time, but right now I need a few minutes to clear my head."

How do you know he didn't find out his wife just cheated on him? His mom just died? A homeless man killed and ate his dog in front of a school bus full of girl scouts?

It was a dick thing to say, I will most certainly give you that. Nobody read that quote and thought it was okay. But c'mon. You've never been rude,insulting, or otherwise unkind to someone who interrupted your relaxation? Sometimes I just want to chill. Again, it's not a cool thing to say or do to someone who just wanted to learn, but really? Celebrity? My neighbor is a complete piece of shit but it's not because he's famous. He's just a dick.

I can relate to that story. I once snapped at a man in a restaurant who couldn't eat with his mouth closed. I just wanted to relax and I snapped. I felt horribly afterward, but it worked.

Or, as said on the Simpsons...

Warden: Well, animals are not like people, Mrs. Simpson. Some of them act badly because they've had a hard life, or have been mistreated. But, like people, some of them are just jerks--Stop that, Mr. Simpson.

Ian
edited to add: Allentown is a cool place. I'm from Lancaster. We used to go to Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom there. Nice place. I did get a foot infection once when I stepped on glass and cut my foot. Years later I had a plantar wart removed from that same spot.

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:06 am

i am monster face wrote:
Allentown is a cool place.

That's what they tell me. My wife wishes we lived in Lancaster.

I had a plantar wart removed from that same spot.

O.K. now I need to go clear my head.

Spark · Post by **Spark** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:42 pm

rydaken wrote:Hey, that's not my quote above!

Yikes... Sorry, bad editing. I apologize!

Edit - Fixed! (I hope!)

Ultrastudio · Post by **Ultrastudio** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:25 pm

I got into recording because I liked music and gear. I started out recording friends for free. I was fortunate enough to be in a band that recorded in some nice studios and I met some pretty cool people who were generous with their knowledge. I learned a lot. I still am.

Eventually, my hobby turned into a business. I never had to endure the pain of interning in a studio. I have a good friend, a great engineer who came up through the ranks in a well-known studio, who has incredible stories about the overwhelming crap that he and other interns and assistants put up with. I can't believe he stuck with it! On the other hand, he also has some hilarious stories about exacting revenge. Right or wrong, being fired for talking in a session seems pretty common from what I've heard.

The vibe during a session is such a huge part of what's happening creatively. People have to be comfortable and trust each other. Trust takes time. It's potentially awkward to have a new guy in there. Most artists would probably prefer the same personnel on a day-to-day basis. Geoff Emmerick spends a fair amount of time talking about this subject in his excellent book "Here There and Everywhere: My Life Recording The Music of Beatles". I think he really nails it. I would definitely recommend this book for all potential interns, assistants and engineers.

Someone could have given this kid in the article a few ground rules beforehand. I don't think there's any excuse to treat someone badly, tho. It doesn't sound like the guy in the article was treated too badly even though he got fired. He kind of comes off a little whiny, IMO.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:03 pm

My own take on the subject, as a live sound guy, is that if making coffee and being silent is the whole of an intern's experience then the big studio has little of value to teach said intern. Yeah, I know that there's more in the long-term sense, but if shooting your mouth off only once gets you fired, then your "mentors" are a bunch of lazy assholes.

Come and work a live show, I'll have stuff for you to do. Don't bother going to the gym that week, and be prepared for the occasional brain-dump on various diverse topics.

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:37 pm

damn straight, scodiddly! you want to "intern" on live shows? run some cable, and you better dress it really well, and in the right direction! then, go get me coffee. but you'll sure as fuck learn a lot, and i'll be happy to tell you when to be quiet and when to talk.

it's just being human. i did one studio internship 5 years ago... man, i must have been the most annoying fucker in there. but i learned that, and accepted it. now if i have a younger person working under me, i explain everything i can, especially because i know how to do it it in very few words, but also because i have been the inexperienced worker/intern or whatever in the past.

of course though, it depends on how critical the situation is. if it's really do-or-die, then no one should have brought in an intern anyway.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:50 pm

Scodiddly wrote:My own take on the subject, as a live sound guy, is that if making coffee and being silent is the whole of an intern's experience then the big studio has little of value to teach said intern. Yeah, I know that there's more in the long-term sense, but if shooting your mouth off only once gets you fired, then your "mentors" are a bunch of lazy assholes.

AMEN.

CurtZHP · Post by **CurtZHP** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:14 pm

Scodiddly wrote: Come and work a live show, I'll have stuff for you to do. Don't bother going to the gym that week, and be prepared for the occasional brain-dump on various diverse topics.

And pull your %@#$@# pants up!!

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:26 pm

versuviusx wrote:http://www.record-producer.com/learn.cfm?a=3681

is this common?

Yep and I would have canned them too.

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