Today we’d like to introduce you to Scotty Lund.
Scotty, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Where it all started… I grew up listening to an eclectic mix of music with two brothers, a sister, and my folks. We all had varied musical tastes from rock to pop to folk to disco and everything in between! We’d all choose a record on the weekends and that trusty phonograph stacked six records high, and we’d run them all day doing chores, cooking, playing, whatever! It was fun.
I loved all the rhythms from these records, so, as I hit 13 and fresh off a move from the Northern Cali bus into LALA Land – and with the encouragement of my amazing mom – I picked up the sticks, banged on some drums and my music journey began… I lived for music and grabbed some early freelance gigs out of high school making money setting my career in motion. I was too young for bars, so, somehow, the cover bands I played in managed to sweet talk the owners of the pubs to let me play, but I’d have to wait outside during breaks.
I landed my first decent gig with Surf-Punk legends Agent Orange and started touring all over the world. I was piggy-backing as a studio drummer as well since I had a solid sense of timing and could work with a “click” (metronome), which was difficult for a lot of drummers back then. A few years later, I bought a Pro Tools rig with a buddy of mine, Mike Milchner. Shameless plug but he’s an incredible Mastering Engineer now! (www.SonicVisionMastering.com).
We opened a recording studio in North Hollywood called Piranha Digital Audio so he could mix and engineer while I started laying down drum tracks locally for those that wanted to attend the sessions and for people all over the world, sending them WAV files to dump into their recording rigs. Everyone does this now but back then it was ingenious.
I continued freelancing for years playing with a ton of great artists including Rihanna at the Grammys in 2011, The Surfaris, The LA Lakers home game opening band, and a bunch more you can read about on my website at www.ScottyLund.com.
I eventually evolved into producing and writing with other artists and now focusing mainly on the world of sync (synching music to tv/film/ads, etc.). My wife, Elisabeth Carpenter, and I have a fun pop duo called Cake Without Candles that’s focused mainly on sync. She has an awesome career as a Stuntwoman but also grew up playing music.
One day she put some words and lyrics to a throwaway track I wrote, and she blew me away!! And behold… CWC was born! You can check us out at www.CakeWithoutCandles.com. It’s super fun to stay in this ever-evolving career making music with my wife then sending her off to her other job jumping off a cliff, crashing motorcycles or beating up comic book celebrities on screen!
I also have a 12-year old daughter, Sophia, and a step-daughter, Brittanie, from a previous marriage, who loves music and both keep me inspired to write and listen to bands and artists I may have missed that greatly influences our writing.
On top of all of that, I freelance producing other artists, either on a co-write or just making their albums sound great. I do everything from, write, record, and mix so I can control how it will all sound from beginning to end.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, absolutely not!! In fact, as much success as I’ve achieved with all the variable aspects of my career, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention I’m dealing with the hardest obstacle of all. Cancer. I never saw it coming…
I was diagnosed last July with Classic Hodgkins Lymphoma. It’s put a huge damper on my creative world, but I have an amazing wife and friends and family all around me that have supported me. I mention this only because I’d like to begin writing my success story now and in a few months when I’m all healed, this interview will take on a whole new light!
That all said, as far as the struggle to succeed in the Music Business, I absolutely had many pitfalls as well as amazing experiences. They all helped me grow. The most important rule, of course, is never give up on a dream. I still dream, just in a more broad aspect and it includes my family and the quality of life I want to live out now. Back when I started, it was selfish but necessary to be hyper-focused on being a rockstar.
I achieved that… well, at least in my mother’s eyes!! Haha.. no, really, I had so much fun and wouldn’t take away any of it for the world, but I have a much bigger vision now. We live in a world we so desperately need to nurture back to good health… beginning with my own so that I can help others. However that looks, I want to play a HUGE role in that!
This all may be digressing a bit from the original question, but life is never a smooth road. How else do we learn? I’m confident my good health will prevail, and I can be the hero to my kid, my wife as she’s been to me, my family and friends, and the countless others I hope to influence with my story and vision.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Crash, Boom, Bang! evolved out of Elisabeth’s and my ever-growing list of small businesses we are pursuing. She is a Stuntwoman, Songwriter, and ridiculously talented Costume Designer. She grew up in the circus (yes, flying trapeze, juggling, tumbling, all of it…) as well gymnastics, so she’s extremely active. She saw the need for clothes that would work for all of that and be just as cool to wear in public chillin’ with friends at a coffee shop! That ultimately led to the birth of her tights company called transfuZe (www.transfuze.com). I have my producer/writer career, drummer, studio business (Unit 5 Productions) and a small semi-active entertainment company (SL Musicbox Entertainment), so we needed an umbrella to house everything. It’s a year old, and already we’ve seen it grow despite my health setback. Our ultimate goal is to conceive and write a massive production that incorporates all of our skills… music, circus, stunts, elaborate costumes, etc. It’ll be Cirque du Soleil meets Blue Man Group on steroids!!
I’m extremely proud of us for persevering through the toughest times of our lives. We were married not two years when I suddenly got sick, and we have so much life to live ahead. We want to grow our business and embrace the creativity of others and help save the world. Literally. We dream BIG!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes! I love LALA Land. I was born and raised here, so I’m a bit partial… This city is utterly fantastic and rich with opportunity, especially for businesses like ours. However, it’s all about how much sweat you’re willing to wring from your own towel. Nothing comes easy here. Elisabeth and I have been together on this journey here in LA and all the wiser because it’s tough on your own. Save before you come here. Don’t come here broke! You won’t get two days in before you realize everything costs money here. Plan ahead for the long haul. At least save up 3 to 6 months expenses out.
Anyone planning on starting a business here or moving out here for an opportunity, embrace it, come with a friend, or possy if you can. Teams are awesome. Be prepared for a LOT of hard work and expect the unexpected. Good or bad, anything can happen. Regardless, stay positive! I’ll refrain from being too spiritual, but we all think with the same energy we put out there. Meditate and stay strong and positive every day. It’s infectious and will make you fast friends here!
Contact Info:
- Website: CakeWithoutCandles.com, ScottyLund.com
- Instagram: scottylundmusic
- Facebook: cakewithoutcandles, scottylund
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2033824/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Image Credit:
Chris Massa, Macushla Wells, Michelle Rose
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