Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Acosta.
Andy, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in Oxnard California with my Mom, Dad, and two sisters. I started playing guitar around 6 years old and never really put it down. Once I graduated high school, I went to Ventura College and studied music theory. After studying there for a while, I got an opportunity to move to Orange County and I took it. I felt like being out here increased my chances of getting into the music industry. My original goal with music was to compose scores/background music for film and tv, as well as for advertisements on radio, etc. However, as time went on I discovered my love for recording and I began to spend more time in the studio.
I started to shift my focus more to audio engineering and less from composing. I still occasionally write jingles and songs for music libraries, but the majority of my time is spent in the studio recording, editing, and mixing music. I interned at Sound Asylum Recording Studios in Santa Ana From 2014-2016 and learned a lot about the business, the art of recording, and working with musicians. After my Internship there I got a position with a non-profit program called RYTMO which stands for Reaching Youth Through Music Opportunities, We educate and assist low-income at-risk youth about the music industry, help them discover their talents, and provide an outlet for them to express themselves productively.
Through This Organization, I received a position at a recording studio in Anaheim called Love and Laughter Studios. This studio is focused on music for Film and TV so it was perfectly aligned to my interests. I worked at L&L from 2016-2018. As of 2019 I have gone out on my own and started my own recording/music production business. I am also the assistant engineer to former David Bowie guitar player Stacy Heydon.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
Part of what I do is provide a service to local musicians/artists/producers. I Provide them with a space to record, High-quality equipment to work with, and my knowledge of how to use the equipment properly to get the best sound. For creating stock music/jingles I try to tell a nonverbal story or capture and emotion. When I come up with concepts I’ll generally start with the question “What mood am I trying to create?” Is it uplifting, happy, carefree? Or am I going for a serious tone, or something melancholy, or even angry? Once I have a sense of direction then I’ll start to get to work on the music, the arrangement, etc.
For RYTMO its all about giving back. There are so many talented youths out there that due to life circumstances, don’t have the resources to pursue their dream in music, or they don’t know where to start. Sometimes these kids are in a bad place in their life and they need a creative outlet to express their emotions productively. I started as a volunteer to help educate these kids. I wanted to pass on my knowledge and experience to them so they can have a better chance of doing what they want to do. It’s very rewarding work and I’m glad that I can be a part of such an amazing program. I go out to schools, cultural centers, and wrap-around programs to work with the youth at these places. We also have a class that runs one day a week from 4 pm-6 pm. students go through four levels where we teach them about the music business and how to create music. We show them how to make music in a computer on a DAW and by the end of the program, every student leaves with a song that they created themselves.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I feel like the role of artists is the same as its always been. Create good music, or whatever content the artist creates, and give people something to give them hope, to get them through tough times. With so much discussion in the country right now about acceptance, mental illness, and politics, its no wonder the most popular songs are about acceptance, fitting in, being who you are, artists talking about their struggles with depression, or suicide, or talking about political/world issues on social media. These messages resonate with a lot of people, especially in today’s world. My art is influenced by what the musicians bring in.
My job is to help them tell their story whatever the message is. One client may come in and talk about police brutality, and then the next client comes in and talks about their depression, or anxiety, maybe the next comes in and their song is about anger, and then I might work on a song written by someone that just fell in love. The world influences the artists and they speak about the issues that are important to them. My job is to help them get their message across.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Music that I have done is available in a few different places. My stock music can be found on audiojungle and my user name is GreatTunes. I wrote, recorded, and performed all the music on there. My stock music has ended up in commercials and tv shows. An investment bank in Mexico used one of my songs, and the Sportsman Network has used my music as well. Audiojungle doesn’t give me a lot of info on the buyers so it can be hard to see exactly what they use the music for or even where it ends up. At least until I get a royalty statement from my P.R.O. then I can see exactly what it was used for.
Almost every artist I have worked with has released their music on Soundcloud or through other major streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Some artists that I’ve engineered off the top of my head are Arthur Caves, Kid Vista, Tre Hendrix, AliforniaSM, Preston Keith, Graham Trude, Chelsey Danfield, YBH, Ca$h Cali, Xander Dinero, Julisa, and several others.
If people want to see/hear more then they can follow my Instagram @racosta121. I mostly post about what’s going on in my studio.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @racosta121
Image Credit:
Photos by @saviwaves (instagram)
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