Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Barsoe and Jackie Hishmeh .
Thomas and Jackie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Thomas: I married a beautiful girl from California in 2008, and I was just finishing up my last tour in Asia. We moved to California, and I decided that I needed a break from touring. I was supposed to start working on my next record, but I was a little burned out and needed a little break away from that. So, I decided to do a little bit of charity work going around to high schools and sort of talking about the music business. I talked to one of the guys, Keith Hancock, who just won a Grammy for Music Educator of the Year. He had some really talented kids, so I asked him, “Can I borrow a bunch of them and do a mini songwriting camp for a couple of hours?” I wanted to see if I could use my experience and their young, raw talent to make something out of it, and it turned out that I could.
After about a year of doing that on and off, I realized that I wasn’t going to go back on tour or do my next record. I felt like this is what I think I’m meant to be doing. So very quickly we outgrew the house. We had about 30 kids and parents in our house and it just got crazy. I decided I needed to make this a business and started renting a studio, first in Anaheim. I was there for about two years then realized I wanted to own my own place instead of renting rooms in other studios. That was the beginning of it all. The first songwriting camps we did at my house were literally in like bathrooms, garages and front lawns. Now it’s a bit more organized but it’s still that same spirit and still taking untested, raw talent as far as we can.
Jackie: I’ve known Thomas since I was 14. I met him when I was at OCSA. I went to OC Hit Factory and sang, I think it was Hurt by Christina Aguilera. Thomas freaked out. I was one of the newer people that he had been with. I was a new sound and new talent he was listening to in Anaheim Hills in this random little studio. So, I started working with him, that’s how we met. When I came back from LA, he asked me if I wanted to be a vocal coach. I had no idea what vocal coaching was because I only took vocal lessons here and there. I never took enough to know technique. I knew how to perform, and I knew how to stylistically work, vocally. I knew how to push myself to work. I did that in a healthy way, of course, but I had no idea what coaching was going to be. That seemed weird to me. You don’t teach someone how to sing, I believe you’re born with it. You can teach anything, but to have a specific sound and to have that drive in you, I just feel like you’re born with it. You can be taught how to hit notes, you can be taught how to match pitch, but to “sang” or till you know to really develop a full artistry, I feel like that’s something that you were made to do.
I work now at OC Hit Factory full time and I meet people like my 14-year-old self every day. People who are very driven, who want this more than anything and who will stay true to themselves and their sounds. It’s amazing. I love the position I’m in, and I love being here at OC Hit Factory working every single day.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Thomas: Nothing in the music business is ever a smooth road but it’s been smoother than my artist career, that’s for sure. I think the challenging part has been taking my love, helping people, and turning it into a business. I think together with some amazing team members, who have been a part of it since the beginning, we’ve figured it out. We made a lot of mistakes the first few years, but we ironed out those kinks. I feel like we’ve gotten more and more streamlined and figured out exactly what we’re all about. It is hard when people would ask me, “What is OC Hit Factory?” and I didn’t know what to say. It is so many different things. So, pinpointing exactly what the essence of that is has been challenging. There is still room for improvement, but I feel we’ve come to a place now where we kind of have it down. That is also why we’re looking at expanding to more locations and expanding to the next level.
Jackie: No, I don’t think it’s been a smooth road. Right after high school, like I said I had no idea what I was going to do, and my parents were expecting me to go to college. When I said I wasn’t going my parents cut me off completely, like 100%. I did studio sessions as a session singer, I sang at bars and clubs that were grimy and dirty. Places I just didn’t want to be, and places that I knew I didn’t belong, but I had to do it because I wanted to be in LA.
It wasn’t necessarily being in LA, it was being able to network, meet people, be in that scene and know that know I’m starting from the bottom but there was a lot more out there. To be surrounded by it every day was really inspiring. So, I got a lot of stories out of it, which I feel as a songwriter and as an artist you need. I think you really need those struggles. There were times that I would think about continuing, but at the same time I would snap out of it very quickly. I feel like everyone knows what they want. We know and we’re capable of it, it’s just getting there is the struggle. But, you can literally do anything you want to do, I’m a big believer in that.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with OC Hit Factory – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Thomas: The idea is based on that I wanted music, songwriting and recording to be accessible to anyone. So, if someone is sitting at home thinking, “I can do that,” you can walk by here and that same day audition to show us what you’ve got. I love getting people into a recording studio straight away. That is also why the location here is unique. It is not hidden away in some industrial neighborhood, it is actually something that’s accessible. Its next to the bowling alley, movie theaters and restaurants. That’s my philosophy with music nowadays, it must be easily accessible for young people.
The idea that a 14-year-old can walk in and sing for me, then three months later we have a finished package with original content, music videos, and a social media bio that we can pitch to labels and companies is what I think is unique. It is fun to find that extraordinary talent and now I know what it takes to get it to that next level. It is fun to be able to turn someone who has never done anything, from scratch, into someone who is ready to get out there. I don’t know other companies who specialize in that, taking completely untested talent and getting them to a professional level quickly.
Since we have become this Orange County hub of extremely talented young artists, we have very quickly, become the go-to place for all the big networks. Just this year alone, we have had American Idol, The Voice, The Four and DreamWorks looking for young talent because they know we have such a big pool to choose from. I am proud of that. It is always a proud moment when you can give someone with potential a real shot at something big.
Jackie: I am proud to be here because it welcomes everyone a chance that is realistic. If you’re here, we work with you no matter what. If you’re not a great singer that’s fine, we’ll work with you to get you to that next level, of at least intermediate. If you are driven and you are born with that voice, you are ready to create an EP and you’re ready to write, you are ready to be in sessions and meet people and perform we provide those opportunities. This place came from a studio in Anaheim Hills in the middle of nowhere. It was one room, he didn’t have anything else and so it was him in here and then the recording and that’s all it was. It is crazy because now this place is super modern, people want to be here and every year it keeps getting more enhanced and brand new. We’re bringing in interns and this is a business now. It used to be a one-man show.
So, it’s great to see the growth of not only the business but of course a friendship. I’ve been with one of my clients for a year now and she’s working on an EP with me, so it’s going to be our second year. To see her grow, coming from someone who had no idea what she was doing was really cool. So, I’m really happy to be in a place where I can see that and do that and help other kids in the position that I was in when I was 14. I don’t have all the answers but I was given a lot of no’s in my life so I know what produces want nowadays. I feel like I definitely know the ins-and-outs and I’m really happy to help young people not get discouraged not quit.
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