Nick Mac, Chief Engineer at Electric Feels Studio Talks Mobile Studio, Trial and Error & How Failing Helps You Learn

GPU Audio recently sat down to have a chat with music engineer and producer, Nick Mac, chief engineer at Electric Feel Studios, known for consistently producing some of today’s highest-grossing hits. Electric Feel Entertainment music and production studios boasts about 215 billion streams, over 625 platinum records, 173 million monthly listeners on Spotify, 56 million Instagram followers, and more.

Mac started his career as a touring guitarist and made his way into recording and mixing artists in his native Southern California. Mac’s strengths in audio production include recording live instruments, mixing, and vocal production. Mac has since earned his reputation as the go-to engineer for melodic hip-hop artist 24kGoldn and engineered for Post Malone on the upcoming Twelve Carat Toothache album. Mac also played alongside Post during his quarantine tribute to Nirvana. He has also worked with Iann Dior, Bryson Tiller, YG, Macklemore, Machine Gun Kelly, Tyla Yaweh, Travis Barker, Ariel Pink and more.?

Mac is not just talented but incredibly humble about that talent, sharing how his experience of failures along the way has served as a chance to learn and grow.?

“In the world of audio, failure is just an opportunity to improve and to be better,” said Mac. “It's inspiring to me because if something doesn't work out, you think well, why didn't it work out and it helps me keep my brain active… Failure just gives you an opportunity to learn, grow and just be a better version of yourself.”?

Early on in his career as a guitar player, Mac wanted to record himself, so he asked his mother to buy him a copy of Sonar, a MIDI sequencer and digital audio workstation. Within 20 minutes he found it so complicated that he tried to return it to Guitar Center. But since he had already registered the software, they wouldn’t return it and he was forced to learn it, starting his self-taught journey in recording. The trial and error and constant fine tuning of his first recording software that he refused to give up on laid the foundation for his career.

“I naturally became the guy to do it, so I just kept doing it and failing,” said Mac. “Then slowly getting better, and feeling like the carrot was always dangled just a little bit in front of me to improve a little bit… I still feel that way.”

Mac revealed a few of the work ethics that make him the professional he is, as well. It’s obvious he is passionate about what he does, about working with artists and being a conduit to their own creative talents. One way of doing that is by being truly emotionally invested in the artist's goals. Another is always trying to bring the best to them, whether it’s by way of his studio equipment, dedication to their craft in general, or simply honing in on how they want to work and then fine-tuning his studio to give them what they want.?

In addition to hearing about how he got his start and his work ethos, he shared some of his technical favorites including the mobile recording studio he worked out of with Post Malone, a hybrid set up which is loaded with the Focusrite Isa 430 and Softube plugins.

“I don't know if I could say one piece really sticks out to me, but from the microphones to the outboard gear we have from the patch bay, it's just such a nice solution to be able to go somewhere, because it really was like a mini a room on the go,” said Mac.

Tune into our Discord to listen to the full entire Livestream with Nick Mac. It’s an insightful and inspiring conversation with a top player in the recording world. Be sure to check out Nick Mac and Electric Feels Studio on their Instagram pages where they share their upcoming projects and news.