Check Out Gage Owens’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gage Owens.

Hi Gage, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
So, I started out as a musician. I grew up playing guitar and have been in bands since I was a kid. One day, in my early 20s, I wrote a song that I decided to record. Having the brain and mindset of a very naive 20 something and having recorded music with previous bands in the past, I thought “How hard could this be”. I made the assumption that I could put a mic in front of myself while I played and sang this song. Surely it were as simple as that, and no one in the music production industry had spent years and years mastering their craft, right? 

Needless to say, I went down every rabbit hole possible to learn the ins and outs of music production. What I thought I could learn in a day; I still feel like I’m continuing to learn more and more about a decade later. I never actually did release that acoustic song I recorded all of that time ago, but I did build a career out of it. 

After becoming a “studio guy” for a while, I found myself intrigued by the concept of live sound and realized that it was a fairly sensible transition coming from studio mixing. I spent a lot of time with a lot of friends and mentors learning to be a proficient FOH engineer (industry term, Front of House. Probably known as “sound guy” to anyone outside looking in… which is probably far more of an accurate description to be fair haha). 

Over time, I just started meeting people. I think networking is key in any industry (Although I try not to look at it as networking, feels too impersonal. And I genuinely do think I’ve made a lot of friends, not a network), but I think that it’s more imperative in the music industry than most others. These led to records and tours and shows on shows on shows. 

I’ve said this before, and I think it’s very true. I don’t always get a gig because I’m “the best” guy because, trust me, I am not. I am good at what I do, but plenty of people are. I do think I’ve gotten some of the gigs I have because, along with being good at what I do, I always try to be approachable, easy to work with, open to ideas, and open to helping when and where I can (you could honestly even call it “trying to be a good hang” to a certain extent) 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like most, I wouldn’t call it a smooth road. I quit my job to work in music production. I was a paramedic for 7 years before doing this as a career. I had (and still have) such a love for working in music, along with a belief that it was something I could feasibly achieve. But at the end of the day, I quit my job and that certainly puts a few bumps in the road financially. Luckily, I have an incredible support system around me, which made those bumps seem less jarring. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think that there are a lot of terms that could be blanketed over what I do, and most would be correct. I’d say, first and foremost, I am a Mix Engineer, both in the live music setting and in the studio. I also record music in various studios, have produced bands and singer songwriters, I am currently the Tour Manage for multiple different artists, and have managed domestic and international tours. 

I’ve worked on the production/tour manager side with Artists such as Owl City, John Mark McMillan, Gable Price and Friends, Adrianne Blanks, Never Home, narrowcast, Brian Morykon, and more. 

I am also a musician at the end of the day, and I always try to stay true to that in everything I do. Even working on the admin and management side or behind the board, I want to keep the creativity intact. 

I currently play guitar for a band called Never Home, and I play guitar and keys for a band called Narrowcast. 

If there is one thing I’ve found through working in the world of music and musicians over time, it’s that this is a very relational undertaking. I am not and won’t ever be the “get-in, get-out” type of music producer, nor will I ever be the vague, distant, angry tour manager. I think relationships are important in doing this kind of work and that a firm foundation that builds trust is crucial for working with artists and creatives. 

What makes you happy?
If you prescribe to the enneagram, I am a type 2 (although I could probably show up as a 9 on some days) 

If you don’t prescribe to the enneagram, here’s what that means: 

Number two is described as “the helper,” which I think really checks out for me. I enjoy helping and being the person that others come to for help. I used to feel like that was a sign of weakness, but I think as I’ve grown and learned to appreciate who I am instead of hiding from it, I’ve realized that it suits me well for the work that I do. 

Along with this, I do really enjoy having the chance to express creativity and to create something as an outlet for myself in some capacity. Whether it is alone or with others. Whether I release it or delete it, I just enjoy creating and try my best to be intentional about it because it’s one of those things that can slip through the cracks for creative types. 

Pricing:

• Per Song Mixing: $300/Song
• Recording: Variable, Reach Out!
• Live Sound/FOH: Variable, Reach Out!
• Tour Managing: Def Variable, But still, Reach Out!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.atkmixing.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/gage_owens_

Image Credits
@blueamberphoto
@flashed_by_tuna
@shun_officially
@andrewbkingsley
@katie_bird0