Daily Inspiration: Meet Aaron Eisenberg

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Eisenberg.

Aaron, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Santa Rosa, CA where my mom was a rock ’n’ roll radio DJ who turned me on to bands like the Talking Heads and T. Rex as soon as I was old enough to learn how to operate a record player. My dad was a tie-dyed t-shirt artist and made some truly legendary merch for bands like The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, and the Moody Blues. Needless to say, I was very fortunate to grow up in a household full of art and music with hip parents who inspired me and never made me feel like a job had to be something you hate doing.

At 13, I tagged along with my mom when she got re-certified as a broadcast engineer at KVMR FM in Nevada City and ended up getting certified myself. Once the station realized I was the youngest certified broadcaster in California’s history, they offered me a time slot. For the next seven years, I produced and hosted the first radio show in the world entirely dedicated to my first real passion: skateboarding. I got to interview some of my favorite pros – like John Cardiel, Chris Senn, both Tony’s (Alva and Hawk), and Corey Duffel – as well as up and coming bands with skateboarding roots and community organizers working to get skateparks built through fundraising and general awareness. The show went on to be nationally syndicated for several years.

The majority of my teenage years were spent traveling around to different cities and skateparks, entering contests, hopping fences, sneaking into schools with lights and generators after hours – all the while filming and editing skate videos documenting it all. I consider skate videos to still be a core reference for my approach to editing and storytelling. Guys like Jon Miner and Ty Evans were major influences and I still think about videos like This Is Skateboarding, Yeah Right!, or Sight Unseen when working on an edit.

The summer before my Senior year, California was plagued with hundreds of forest fires across the state, something that’s unfortunately all too common these days. Most days, my neighborhood was so thick with smoke there was no way we could do much of anything outside. Instead of skateboarding, I spent a lot of time inside watching The Last Waltz and rediscovering the guitar. Music became my new obsession. What started with guitar grew to include piano, drums and ultimately a multi-instrumental skill set.

I graduated from high school as a valedictorian and moved to San Francisco to study cinema at SF State, as it was one of the remaining few film programs that focused specifically on celluloid production. During my last year in college, I joined a band called The Soft White Sixties with three other guys who were soon to become some of my best friends. By the time I graduated from college, Soft White Sixties shows were getting booked regularly and we’d go on to spend the next ten years making records and touring the country playing clubs, ballrooms, and major festivals — right up until everything went on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever we would stop into radio stations around the country on tour to perform and promote shows, I’d often be reminded of the time I spent working in radio as a teenager and appreciated the insight and appreciation it gave me into the radio world and communication in general.

When not on the road touring, I would work in video production for a company in SF called Repertoire Productions. I was one of their first hires and the founder, Jonathan Jackson, became a huge mentor of mine as I watched him grow the company from a small closet-sized office in North Beach to what is now known as one of the top production companies in the Bay Area. I eventually became head editor there and we created and managed content for clients like Google, Air BnB, TEDx, and other Fortune 500 companies in the Bay over the next several years. It was around this time that I started directing the occasional music video on the side for my band and a handful of other local acts whenever Jonathan would let me sneak a camera and some lights out of the equipment locker.

In 2015, my then-girlfriend (now wife and business partner, Anneliese Salgado) was offered a job at Dreamworks Animation. The band was also ready for a change of scenery and since our management and booking agents at the time were based there, we all decided to make the move and relocate to Los Angeles.

Becoming immersed in the Los Angeles music scene was a refreshing experience – the years we spent coming through town for shows or recording sessions made it feel like an easy transition and there was a tangible feeling of community almost immediately. In 2018, after a series of expected LA scenarios – after parties, Laurel Canyon jams, you name it – I was invited to join another project: Mystic Knights of Amnesia. Helmed by my good friend and fearless leader, Chris Cester, it’s become a rotating cast of different collaborators, players and writers, many of whom I’d been a fan of already. We’ve been stacking up a batch of recordings during the pandemic and are looking forward to having them out in the world soon.

Around that same time in 2018, during what had become annual 4th of July visits to Nashville for Anneliese and I, I met a guy named Benno Nelson at a bbq and he quickly became another major mentor of mine in my journey as a director, editor and designer. I started working with him for his company, Yes Equals Yes, creating content for a handful of record labels based in Nashville and New York. This proved to be a perfect blend of my skills and background in both music and video.

A creative collaboration that began in 2019 became official at the start of 2020 when Anneliese and I officially formed our own full-service production company and creative consultancy, Sound + Vision Co.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Looking at it on paper, it reads like it was a very natural progression but of course, I could come up with a long list of things I’d wish had gone better or differently at the time. Chasing a career in skateboarding, music or film are all objectively risky pursuits where you’re setting yourself up to hear the word “no” a lot, which I certainly have.

If anything, the biggest struggles were really just personal struggles with self-doubt or the ever-present Imposter Syndrome. There have been many times I’ve found myself in a room where I wasn’t sure if I deserved to be, but I’ve always felt at the end of the day being a good person who is respectful to others is more valuable than anyone specific skill.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a creative director, editor, designer and composer. These days, a lot of my time is spent producing content and growing Sound + Vision Co. with Anneliese. The majority of our work consists of music videos, lyric videos, social media content, live performance visuals, custom music composition and some experiential/event production for major record labels, indie bands, global brands and a few celebrity clients.

I’m proud to say that every project we take on these days is not just paying the bills but creatively rewarding too. We generally work for bands we love and brands we believe in on concepts we’re excited about.

I like to think Anneliese’s background as an educator, artist, and producer coupled with mine as a touring musician, editor and director who’s spent over a decade on both sides of the lens gives us a unique perspective when working on projects together. I’ve been on the receiving end of some bad music video treatments (sorry guys) so I try my best to always put myself in the artist’s shoes when pitching.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The last year has really been an exercise in gratitude for me. There have been times over the years where I’ve wondered “should I just pick one thing?” but being a jack of many trades has been more beneficial than I realized while the world has been locked down – especially since we were able to be self-sufficient without a lot of outside assistance when producing content. I’ve followed a lot of different paths over the years that often seemed unrelated. In hindsight, each one has informed the next in a unique way and I’m realizing that a willingness to adapt has been one of my most beneficial qualities. Most of the time when I tried to force things, it didn’t work out, whereas some of my best memories and experiences came out of going with the flow and being open to new opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: soundandvisionco.com
• Instagram: @aaroncalebeisenberg
• Other: @soundandvisionco (company Instagram)

Image Credits:
Main photo: Anneliese Salgado Photo 1: Aaron Smith Photo 2: Sloane Morrison Photo 3: Kimberley ZB Photo 4: Anneliese Salgado