IRKO Up for the Challenge Tell us a little bit about yourself? Hey Michael! Thanks for having me! My name is IRKO, I’m the music industry’s most beloved bow-tie-wearing mixing engineer. I grew up near Venice, Italy but I have been in the United States for 15 years. Music took me around the World and I have been very fortunate to have worked with artists like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Sia, Pitbull, Jay-Z and many many more. How long have you been in the music industry? I opened my first studio in 98 but my very first days in Music were way before, the exact timing has been lost to time itself but I think it’s safe to say it was the mid nineties. Where did you learn your craft and how long did it take you? I went to audio engineering school in Italy. During that time I was able to learn all the basics of sound and the experience put me in the right direction to grow my career. My formation years were far from complete after graduating as my huge passion and interest for Hip Hop music made it very necessary to learn tools and techniques conclusive to achieving the results I was after, some of them were not taught in a classroom. So it took a while but I got it eventually!
What was your first project? My first projects were probably a bunch of beats that I would make using samples, these tracks were eventually used by local artists for their projects. They probably sound very silly if we heard them today Who were some of your mentors when coming into the industry? In the beginning days I had one OG engineer in Italy who I followed briefly, he helped me with gear and studio stuff. Then I partnered up with another teacher from school, he helped me with running the business and most things Pro Tools. Then, in the US, I learned many things from different people but if I was to point one out I’d say that Tony Maserati taught me how to communicate with clients. What genre of music do you listen to during your down time and why? Now I listen to a lot of instrumental music, it’s perfect for reading and cooking and such. But when I’m on my cleaning mode you better believe I’ll blast some boom bap! Who was your first well known client? Jay-Z for sure. I was involved in the engineering of ‘Kingdom Come’. What a time!
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