Recording Engineer Extraordinaire, Francesco Carrozzo hailing all the away from Italy worked his way to the top of the charts in the Los Angeles music scene and played a major role in the artistic creation of ASAP Ferg's "West Coast "and The Game's "Born2rap" album, two defining moments in Hip Hop Culture.
What's been the highlight of your career so far?
Working for The Game's last record has been one of the greatest highlights of mine, he is an incredible artist and rapper, I've loved his records since i was a kid and ending up working with him on his last and ultimate record BORN2RAP was one of my biggest highlights and pivotal moments. There were so many artists featured that while working on it I had no doubt it was going to be a really good one. Many artists involved with the record were Ed Sheeran, Nipsey Hussle, Chris Brown and countless more. It's a lot of track and a lot of work, but it was a honor to have been involved in this incredible process of record making that resulted in an incredible album. I'm really proud of it
You're a hugely successful in your field, what is it like working for some of the top artists in the world?
It always feels mystical, many artists that i've worked are just incredible people with their own directions and perspective, it's really all about trying to make them happy and help them in the realization of their work but while keep your direction, it's incredible to hear something in the radio that you helped in realizing and creating. It's nothing more reassuring but challenging to work with top artists, they are incredibly self-driven that you know that mindset will just win over-all, and as someone there to help them realizing a record, the most important thing to do is to realize they are the artists and their vision is what really matter at the end. We, sound engineers, producers and executives are just part of this challenge to deliver a product. But it's all in the artist's hands at the end to show their direction to the listener, and in my regards there is nothing more important.
What are the key attributes you need when working for A-list artists?
Dedication, professionalism and love, there is nothing better than putting just love in what you do. Takes a lot of hours to become a professional but the biggest thing i've realized a professional that puts love and dedication in their work more than others are the one that will prevail from the competition. We live in a digital era, competition is closer than being on the corner but to stand out there is definitely a couple of key ingredients, which in my opinion and believe are dedication and love.
How do you get the work that you do?
It's about the artists or co-engineers getting to call you because they need you, it's as simple as creating a work relationship while delivering an incredible service and doing an incredible job. It's about also becoming unique in what you do, and that doesn't require only a certain time, effort and experience but it require you to get something an artist, engineer, producer cant find in someone else. That is key to get work.
Why do people keep coming back to you?
The most important thing about any kind of service and business, especially in the music business is to be in the middle between an incredible friendship with the client and an impeccable professionalism into delivering of what their needs are. It's not that simple in a so competitive world we are living, but creating friendships in which people can trust you as a person first of all, and second to be trusted enough to put their business in your hands requires a lot of hard work, and caring. Most people don't also like change, once they get the team they need to accomplish a record, a song or a product in general, every different piece of puzzle must be matching, and as much as everybody is replaceable in this competitive industry it's about the one matching and my biggest priority is to be that piece of puzzle for the people that i work with and for.
Do you have any advice for people that aspire to do what you do?
"Just do it better than others and even better than yourself". Improve everyday, learn, be professional and care, CARE A LOT, organization is key, especially about details, nobody will trust you "if you only swap the center of the floors leaving the corners plenty of dust"; apply this rule to every aspect of your work and life and it will improve drastically. Get someone you admire, and stay with them till you are not independent enough to be able to do what they do, if it's a process of learning what a sound need to be the best way it could sound you got to have the right teacher and mentor telling you what the tricks and tips are, alone it will take forever. Rome wasn't built in a day, but persistence is what drives good people in becoming even greater.
