Today we’d like to introduce you to Shay Adefeso.
Hi Shay, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been into music, my mom always played 80’s pop and R&B as well as gospel and my dad played more of our traditional Nigerian music with acts like Sunny Ade. My dad gave me my first MacBook in 2013 when I was 18 years old, not too long after I started learning to mix songs in Pro Tools and mixing songs for small clients around LA and later in Albuquerque when I moved to New Mexico for college. Later in 2016, I interned at Sony and got my first introduction into the music industry first hand for RCA under Sony Entertainment. In 2017, life just happened and I quit music for a little over a year until I got back into it September of 2018. Was able to get work with Warner Music/Atlantic and worked with Oliver Tree, Bazzi and Grammy-nominated artist from other labels such as H.E.R and EarthGang. Records from Oliver and Bazzi got certified gold and platinum this past year as well as Oliver’s album going number one on billboard so I’m extremely proud of that and my journey as a whole.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I wish it was smooth road, but it’s been the complete opposite. But an OG once told me you can’t climb a mountain if it’s smooth. Which pretty much means that hard times are sometimes necessary to get to where you want in life. Some of the struggles I had was just the having the wrong people in my corner who placed a lot of doubt in my mind to achieve in this music thing. Once I let those people go and started actively going for my dreams, a lot of good things started happening for me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a recording & mixing engineer as well as a producer. What I do on regularly for my work is to record, mix and edit sound using audio and engineering equipment. Adjusting volume levels, add effects, manipulate the audio’s frequency and synchronize sound. I would say I’m most proud of the RIAA certified records I’ve been able to have both of gold and platinum status and just having songs played on the radio is crazy to me still. I would say what sets me apart from others is that I’m still allowing myself to be coached and learn from others. I feel a lot of people in this industry get some success then all of a sudden they’re too proud to learn from anyone. I always try to learn from others and that’s what allows me to improve and get better.
How do you think about happiness?
This is a good question. I would say what makes me happy is being in control of my happiness. I realized that my happiness is not dependent on external things but a choice I make in every moment. I practice being happy every day, it didn’t just happen. Even when things are going badly, I can still be a happy peaceful person. This has set me free and makes me happy.
Contact Info:
- Email: mixedbyshay@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedbyshay/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mixedbyshay
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/shay-adefeso
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4sa7tdeBfuh2QcSBeuYrlk?si=KxmgUTe6RSKSbJ8LrG4C5g
