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Meet Jake Ferguson of al3ution in Mid-Whilshire

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Ferguson.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Self-taught guitarist at a young age while being homeschool and grew up in Overland Park, KS till the age of 9 and then had to move to Memphis, TN for my pops new job he secured and he left to find my family a place to live on my 10th birthday, After moving to Memphis my spark for music ignited once again. I went downtown to Beale street with my pops to go see a Memphis Redbirds game and was exposed to all the live music down there and I knew I wanted to learn the blues on guitar and my dad bought me my first Electric guitar my freshman year of High School. Throughout high school, I played in the worship group at my church and started trying to start local band around town with very minimal success. After graduating high school, I went on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard for about 5-6 years doing primarily Counter Narcotic missions in the Pacific Ocean. During these times at sea and deployment, I would break my guitar out and play for my friends improving lyrics as I played the guitar and then bought my own Dj controller and would start to play live mixes from the music I could gather together with the hotels wifi when we would pull into foreign countries to try and stay up to date with the new music that might have come out during the deployments when we didn’t have service. I then kind of got bored playing other people’s music all the time I wanted to try to make my own, so when I would Dj I could sneak my own song into the mix and see people’s reaction whether they would dance to it or not.

I separated from the Military in late 2016, having this urge to pursue music I decided to enroll into the Los Angeles Recording School, I was very blessed to have an amazing Aunt and Uncle that let me stay in their spare bedroom while I started school and was settling in. Six months later, I played my first show ever in LA at the Belasco Theater opening up for Snoop Dogg while doing a very shitty attempt at DJing. While on stage, I quickly discovered that djing was not for me. I didn’t enjoy it the way I did playing a guitar on stage so as soon as my set was over, I packed all my gear up and left with my brother and friends and called it a good night. I worked a couple of part-time jobs while going to school and was studying Music Production. Made some really cool producer friends in school that I still am in contact with like everyday. I really started to understand production at this time and was starting to learn about Pro Tools and really took a liking to it. I got an internship in the beginning of 2018 at the Blue Room Recording Studio West. This is where I confirmed that I was on the right path. I learned a lot about what it takes to be a profession recording engineer with some of the biggest names in the hiphop industry. The Internship ended in the summer and I graduated with my Associate’s Degrees in Music Production in August. I was trying to make a name for myself by going to studios around town and showing off my beats to artist and then engineering them, I was kind of like a package deal for my friends that could rap or sing they could either come to my house and record and listen to beats in my bedroom which I call a home studio or we go try to find a studio and pay for it.

I started going back to school in January of 2019 for my Bachelors in Audio Production, during this time I focused more on the engineering side of things to try to level up while going to school. So far, I have down almost 3 Albums Recorded and Mixed in my home studio. The First Album was Dirty Feet & Nag Champa by T.K.S. from Detroit, Michigan. We met in school and his drive and work ethic is what made me want to help produce and mix an album with him. The album was released on. April 20, 2019 and Feature artist Sp_ce Phantom and Lexx Samplez. It was produced by XiX, Lexx Samplez, Sp_ce Phantom, T.k.s., and myself al3ution. It included ten songs and was T.k.s first album release. The second album was Abducted by Sp_ce Phantom which had 14 songs again recorded in my home studio. It was released on Sep 26, 2019.

I also started an internship with Sony working at the Sound Factory learning a lot more about being a professional engineer from some really amazing Engineers and Producers. I have started tracking more live instruments and finally getting around to writing my own music. I plan to release a personal Ep later this year but in the meantime, I’ve been working with a band called Daylake a local hardcore band engineering their next EP. I just finished working on my friends Brandon Masenko and Frank the IV new music which I am absolutely stoked about. These two guys are the real deal, I see their future blowing up a lot sooner than they think. Jared Bishop from Aroy Production is another Artist that I’ve started to work with last year and big things are coming soon for his crew and him soon. I try to stay as busy as possible with going to school full time, working at a profession studio part-time and doing my own career out of my home studio the rest of the time either making music or mixing music. I have been extremely blessed to be apart of all of these amazing experiences so far.

Has it been a smooth road?
I would say living arrangements and finding good roommates has been a blessing to my time in Los Angeles, When I was staying with my aunt and uncle in Buena Park and going to school in Hollywood there was a lot of sleepless nights. I swear to god I submitted over like 200 applications and giving my resume to everyone. Finally in January of 2018 I got my first Interview with a recording studio! I ended up getting the job as a runner at the Blue Room Recording studio. I would leave Monday morning at 6:30 am to drive to Hollywood and get to school around 8am, then be in class till 4pm after class I would go over to my friends house that lived in Hollywood and then go to work at the blue room at 7pm and sometime I wouldn’t leave until 7 am the next morning then drive to garden grove from my job that started at 10 am work there till 5-7pm and go home sleep till 6:30 am and repeat the schedule for about six months straight until July of 2018 when my old military buddy Gilbert moved to LA for his next duty station then he and I moved into a place in Mid-wilshire and that’s when I set up my home studio. Once I graduate from my Associates degree in August of 2018 I was working part time at Sherwin Williams in Hollywood off of Highland, which was funny because being a sales associate there meant I had to learn how to interpreted people imaginations for designing their rooms and homes! I actually made a lot of friends from the customers there. I actually ended up working a bunch of free jobs which made things really hard sometimes because I didn’t have any credit to prove that I was a good engineer and ended up getting taken advantage of. I been through two cars since I’ve lived here one car was total led and my other car broke down on the 405 other than that its been smoothish.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with al3ution – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
My business is making people’s musical dreams become a reality. I like to give people a one of a kind studio experience that you really can’t get from everyone. There are a lot of amazing Producers and Audio Engineer and Mixing engineers in the world but I offer that one of a kind southern hospitality and comfortability that Many others cannot. I do Recording engineering such as Singers, Rappers, VO, and ADR, I do Audio Mixing and Sound Design for Film and Television. As well as Music productions for Music, film and television. I specialize in Production and Music Engineering, I’ve been playing guitar, bass and drums since a young age and my professionalism form the military really sets me apart from other young engineers and music production.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the opportunities Los Angeles has to offer, you get to meet so many amazing and talented people everywhere and it is so diverse. The only dislike I have is the traffic which is why I work from home and very close to my house now.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Jared Bishop

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