Please allow me to introduce myself so that you may have some sense of where I’m coming from when I start spouting off about studio gear, production practices and the state of the music industry.
My name is Stefan Konstantopoulos. I’m a Nashville-based music producer and remote production consultant for self-produced recording artists. My work is interesting but the story of how I got here is more so.
I grew up in the Portland, Oregon area. My first exposure to music was probably from my dad playing traditional Greek music from vinyl or cassette when I was very young. Not long after that, my older brother exposed me to bands like Inxs, The Cure and Oingo Boingo. Around then, I also started to take tape machines apart and made audio collages on cassettes with found sounds. Meanwhile, my uncle who was a professional jazz musician shared all sorts of unusual music with me as I listened with great interest.
In my teens, I began to venture downtown and dabble with gear in musical instrument stores. I would annoy the sales staff with my questions and never buy anything. Synthpop had taken root in my heart at this point and so my focus was on synths and recording gear. Within a few years, I was buying things from a pawn shop and experimenting with sound at home. I even tried jamming with some pitiful bands. (Hasn’t everyone?)
In the late ‘90s, I took a few music classes in college. I completed them but knew it wasn’t for me. Then I signed up for a year-long audio-engineering internship at a commercial studio. After completing that, I considered opening a studio but decided against it. I kept working at other things and took up bass guitar as a hobby of sorts. I wasn’t sure how to proceed on my desired career path in a city where art and commerce have (at best) a very strained relationship.
I did some freelance work writing gear reviews before signing on with PreSonus to help them start up an Artist Relations program. I did that for a year and after talking with so many high-profile professionals, I got my inspiration back. In 2007, I retooled. I started working with young artists on demos. I also did some live recordings with a couple of friends, thinking that would lead to eventual work with those bands and it really did not.
In 2009, I moved south. By 2012, I was working remotely with a friend back in Portland on an instrumental project intended for licensing. We did get one placement and some commissioned work. In 2014, I bought a place in Nashville and took some time to get my bearings. I wasn’t sure how I would fit in but I sure appreciated the fact that Nashville was unapologetically about the business of music.
Feeling frustrated again in 2017, I decided to start putting myself out there as a producer. I was already remotely assisting (listening and offering objective advice and (essentially) tech support) to a few people I knew with their projects. I wanted new clients. I had a friend build a web site and after strategizing myself in circles, I was introduced to the man who is now my manager: Rick Barker.
Rick’s music-industry education, Facebook community and personal assistance in my business development has changed my career and my life. I would need to write another novel to explain who I have been able to network with and all of the blessings that have resulted from my decision to align myself with Rick. Some of those stories will undoubtedly be revealed in subsequent entries…
In the meantime, if you have production questions or simply want to find out what I am up to, I’m on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram going by this handle: @ProducerStefan
Cheers!
