Life & Work with Austen Jux-Chandler

Today we’d like to introduce you to Austen Jux-Chandler.

Hi Austen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
Firstly, I’m from London, UK; I’m mixed race, having both British and Barbadian heritage, and I moved to LA about 6 years ago to pursue sunshine, music, and a little adventure. 

I’d always been creative, (art, design, acting, music etc) and I was in a handful of bands as a teenager when a school friend had shown me what they were studying on the music tech course (microphones, computer compositions, recording techniques etc) and so, after learning more about it and understanding there was this magical role called a ‘music producer’ I decided to pursue a degree in that field. 

During my Popular Music Production degree (at The University of Huddersfield, UK), I was encouraged to take a gap year as a work placement program – after hounding a few studio owners, I was eventually offered an internship in Dean St. Studios in central London, and it was there my career began. 

After serving teas and coffees, cleaning toilets, and sleeping overnight on the couch (a lot), I was eventually offered a full-time position after graduating. So literally a week after my degree ceremony I found myself back at that same studio as an assistant engineer. Due to the sheer volume of work at the time, I ended up having to fill in as the recording engineer a tonne, and eventually took over the role full time, becoming the Head Engineer with a team of assistants and interns under me. 

I racked up a huge amount of experience, worked with some of the industry’s most revered artists and producers, and learned an incredible amount – not just technically but about how to operate within a recording environment and the wider industry in general. 

I was eventually asked by a major UK artist to work full time on an album they were producing and that began my foray into embodying the sort of role I’ve developed for myself since – that being a “Vocal Producer” where I am the main creative “co-pilot” for an artist as we develop and produce their songs. We will take a piece of instrumental music made by a “beat producer,” and I will work alongside them from the initial song inception, coaching their performance in the studio through to the technical side of recording, editing, and mixing the full vocal production. 

I love how my job allows me to be creative, helping an artist to realize their creative vision, as well as utilizing the technical skills I’ve crafted through my years of experience. It’s challenging but fun and incredibly rewarding. 

The most recent project that’s really pushed me in both a technical and creative manner and allowed me to work with some of the most talented people in the industry right now has been vocal producing Kali Uchis. We’ve worked closely together on her last 3 albums which has lead to some amazing achievements such as a Billboard award and the track “telepatia” going 2x Platinum. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has absolutely not at all been a smooth road! At any point! From the early days of earning less than minimum wage and spending more time at the studio than I did at home, to clients not paying on time (or ever! in a couple of occasions!) or crediting me properly, to bigger logistical things like my green card initially being rejected and me needing to technically “sue America” to have it put right, to the on-going uncertainty any freelancer faces of where your next project will come from, to moving away from your family and friends in the pursuit of your dreams… it’s all a struggle! haha 

I would say that last summer was the first time I think I’d really ever actually felt settled – I had consistent, high-quality work, I’d moved to a much nicer part of town, and I’d put a lot of work into regulating my mental health so that summer I made a concerted effort to be more of a “human” and not just solely career focused – so I went out and made new friends, got to the beach regularly, spent a lot of downtime just walking and hanging with my dog Atlas, and even picked up a couple new hobbies – most notably – I started DJing! So that’s opened up a whole new chapter for me, which pairs so perfectly with my production work but also seems to have brought my other passion, fitness, even more into my lifestyle and gives me an avenue to connect with the community surrounding that as well. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The thing I’m most proud of is Winning a Grammy Award for “Album of the Year” and standing on stage alongside Adele and the rest of the production team for our work on “25.” 

It’s thanks to my work with people like Adele as well as Kali Uchis, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran that I’ve become known for delivering great vocals. 

Contact Info:

• Website: austenjc.com
• Instagram: @austenjc
• Other: https://www.mnrk.com/management/producer-songwriter-management/

Image Credits
Jack Levick
Alessandro Bordoni
Lex Fleming
Austen Jux-Chandler