Conversations with Gela Akhalaia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gela Akhalaia.

Hi Gela, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My audio engineering journey started back in late 2000’s when I was in high school recording myself playing guitar using the cheapest “Skype” microphone and FL Studio. My classmate Zaur found out what I’m doing and asked me to record his rap about our other classmate. It was fun. I liked the process, then editing (later I realized it’s called mixing). I had no knowledge, but I was enjoying the process so much, that I learned all the basics quickly, kept learning, and still learning even though I have a degree from The Los Angeles Recording School. I always wanted to get better.
Since then a lot had happened, for the past 5 years I’ve been making music with stars like Shenseea, Eric Bellinger, Ty Dolla $ign, Tone Stith and many more, and I never stopped enjoying it. Moving forward one step at a time. This year a couple of songs by Keke Palmer mixed by me were candidates for a Grammy nomination, but unfortunately didn’t make through. Hopefully I’ll get one next year.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think, the road is never smooth if you’re aiming to the stars. Especially for someone who came from another country. Unfortunately, visa application approval is influenced by the personal judgment of a US government employee. In my case, I had to reapply twice in order to overcome this problem, consequently paying twice as much (which was very expensive).
I didn’t give up, because I was sure that I deserved the visa, and had no reasons to be refused.

One of the biggest problems though, is not getting paid or getting paid late. For example, for Universal Music it takes 60 days to process a payment, which is ridiculously long to me.

Occasional struggles are good things, they help you become smarter and invincible to bumps on the road. But, most of the people will fail, unfortunately.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an audio engineer. Basically, anything that you hear through a speaker is made by audio engineers.
If you’ve ever recorded a voice memo on your phone, congratulations, you’re one of us 🙂

Once your recordings have being heard by millions, you’re in top 10% of recording engineers already.

It doesn’t matter whether you have a degree in audio production or not. No one cares as long as you do your job great.

But, there are different types of audio engineers, which require different skills, knowledge and expertise.
The more you know, the more experience you have, the more variety of audio engineering jobs you can do.

In my case, I have a musical school diploma, audio production degree, some certifications, and over 15 years of experience. Basically, I can do almost anything.

My preference though is music. So, I do studio recording sessions, mixing, mastering, live shows. Occasionally, I do post production for films, commercials and game audio too.

I put my 100% effort in everything I do, because I care about my reputation, which you can’t buy.

Most popular songs/albums I made (or participated significantly) are:
Maiya The Don – Hot Commodity (album) – over 20 million streams on Spotify+YouTube.

Various songs by Keke Palmer (Afford It, Assets, Tea Boo, Imposter, S.O.B., Rock With You) – over 10 million streams on Spotify+YouTube.

An OST to a movie Bad Boys 4 “Bam Bam” by Shenseea featuring Myke Towers.

A song “La Perla” by Eric Bellinger.

And many many more, my apologies if I didn’t mention someone, there are so many great and popular songs.

What does success mean to you?
To me, success is a point where it’s obvious that whatever you’ve done has been recognized as a great achievement.
I’m constantly thriving for successes in life and career to be a valuable part of a family, city, country, world.

Pricing:

• Recording session engineering – $40-$80 an hour
• Mixing – $500-$1000 a song
• Mastering – $100-$200 a song
• Film/commercial post production – $1000/one minute

Contact Info:

• Website: https://g10production.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gelagetsit
• Other: https://credits.muso.ai/profile/81842467-2057-4dd7-a554-c349aeb3bd94