Today we’d like to introduce you to Wesley Switzer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a musician, bassist in the San Diego music scene, and started gigging pretty early in High School with local bands. After moving to Knoxville, TN, I was accepted into Berklee College of Music on scholarship and studied there from 2005-2007. Towards the end of my time at Berklee, I was working with a band called Zach Hillyard Band that got signed in LA and started doing pretty well, winning the John Lennon Songwriting Prize, etc… Shortly after being in LA, that fell apart, but I started producing, engineering, and playing bass with other artists.
I was able to connect with some great musicians and built a great community of songwriters, musicians around Burbank. I started working with Parker Ainsworth, Jessie Payo, Cole DeGenova, Alysse Fischer, and that led to playing with Jason Mraz a bit.
Simultaneously I was working as a Music Director and Audio Engineer for larger tours like Nickelodeon, Victoria Justice and some of the more straight-ahead pop tours. That led to me really becoming diverse as both a bass player, but also Music Director, audio engineer both live and in the studio.
At that point, I started a pretty heavy touring schedule around 2012 that included: Fresh Beat Band Gallant Krewella Zhu Dhani Harrison Tori Kelly LP Peppa Pig Emmit Fenn Nombe Organ Freeman
I was working with a pretty diverse collection of artists, tours, etc… and doing so in a variety of roles, bassist, producer, music director, audio engineer, production manager, and tour manager. So, I still work with most artists in most capacities.
With that, I’ve been fortunate to be nominated 7x for Grammy’s and won two Latin Grammy’s with Lucky Diaz & The Family Jam Band. Today I’m a Tour Manager, FOH Engineer and Production Manager with “Aly and AJ” and I produce, mix and record artists at my studio in Altadena!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Well, I wouldn’t say “smooth” – but it’s a longer road to “success” in the arts than you think it is when you’re in college! I know a lot of people that have been the most talented artists and musicians in the world that just got out of the game because it’s really, really hard to continue on that road for a lifetime. But, I think the most important aspect has been to work at it like you work any other job, 40+ hours per week, for a long, long time – and if you’re good at what you do, eventually that will be recognized by others.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a bassist, mix engineer, producer, tour manager and production manager. It’s a double-edged sword – as I think often in LA there’s a sort of unspoken rule that once people know you as one thing, that’s all they know you as. For example, it’s hard to be an artist’s “crew” member and also be taken seriously as a musician, or vice versa. But, I’ve been fortunate enough to keep fires burning in multiple capacities and over time, that has become a notable element of my career: that I can jump across multiple roles.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Networking is difficult to do in a sincere way. Lots of it feels lacking authenticity. Especially in a world dominated by social media, I would encourage people starting out to not mistake networking for the community. It may sound cheesy, but when I was fresh to LA, I was doing things like backyard parties, watching Breaking Bad on a projector in the yard with 30-40 people just because I loved those musicians and spending time with them. It had nothing to do with networking – it was just a great community of people that happened to be really inspiring. Since then, most of those people have gone on to have great careers, being music directors and musicians and beyond on the biggest tours and records in the world. And now – that’s my network. But, building that networking was just about building community and friends. Focus on that – not social media. I don’t have any social media, and so far I don’t think it’s held back my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wesleycoleswitzer.com/about-me
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesleycoleswitzer/
