I’m both a musician like you and a skilled audio engineer. I understand your needs, the artist lifestyle and I understand the disappointment of bad studio sessions and wack mixes. In my younger days I found myself in the studio as an artist with engineers that made me think “I can do this better.” Turns out I was correct and I use my skills to keep other artists from having to express their art in front of apathetic, unskilled and musically uneducated technicians. I provide a positive, patient, energetic and fun atmosphere in-session and I bring an understanding of musicianship and emotional connection to mixes. Feel good music is the mantra every step of the way. If I take on your project, I’m invested in making it sound great and I’ve never flaked on a commitment or missed a deadline. It’s not a feel good vibe when you’re dealing with an unprofessional workflow and lack of communication. Once we’ve got the vibe right and your recording captured, my mixing and mastering skills will leave you with a final product that balances your unique sound with a sound competitive with top-charting songs and albums. I know my methods can work for you because my productions and mixes have garnered millions of streams & video views worldwide, have charted on iTunes & Bandcamp stores, been broadcast on network TV (The CW, MTV, VH1, BET) and have been covered by outlets like MTV, Complex, XXL, Pigeons & Planes, Chicago Sun-Times and more. My productions and backing track work have been performed at festivals & venues across the US, Canada and Costa Rica.
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over 20 years experience with both music and audio, over 10 years professionally.
Bachelor of Music, emphasis in Jazz Studies & Music Technology, from Webster University
production and mixing credits include names such as: Saba, Chance the Rapper, Action Bronson, Twista, Lil Dicky, The Palmer Squares, ProbCause, Griz, Gramatik, CYN, Gangsta Boo from Three 6 Mafia, Watsky, Merkules, Strange Music Artists Joey Cool & UBI, Nico Segal FKA Donnie Trumpet
Charting work with The Palmer Squares includes “Finna” #8 iTunes US Hip Hop, #13 iTunes Canada Hip Hop. “Planet of the Shapes” #40 iTunes US Hip Hop, #1 Bandcamp store
My production and vocal work with my band, The Belief Cycle, has been sync licensed on The CW network and Netflix.
2011 internship at Chapman Recording, KC which was at the time the home of Strange Music Records (Tech N9ne)
nearly 100 music videos have been created to my work
I have collaborated with choreographers to compose music for modern and hip hop dance. Highlights: my piece “Suffering in Dm” performed by 40 dancers at the Kaufman Center in KC MO, choreographed by DeeAnna Hiett and my collaboration with Shanna Colbern, “Deliberation,” has received hundreds of thousands of views on my YouTube and inspired dozens of choreographers to make their own choreo to my soundtrack
I also do podcasts. I helped launch TPS Reports podcast as producer and third mic and it’s grown to average 1000 weekly downloads
I have Sega Genesis and PS4 you can play :)
On the first day I brought home my beginner acoustic guitar, I recorded my first open strings song to cassette tape. In the 20+ years since, writing and performing music has been inextricably tied to recording and mixing it for me. I played in Rock bands throughout High School and learned just enough about Jazz to gain acceptance to Webster University in my hometown of St. Louis. I began my Bachelors of Music degree in 2005 and began playing my first paid gigs that same year. I bought my first copy of Pro Tools for home recording and enrolled all my elective credits at Webster U in audio recording classes, gaining me access to Webster’s studio full of classic mics and outboard gear. As I grew in the skills of creating recordings of my own songs and showed them to other musicians, they began offering to hire me for their recordings. By graduation in 2009, I was teaching guitars lessons, playing gigs and producing recordings. I was fronting my own band, cleverly titled Drew Mantia Band, which was booked at several of St. Louis’ largest venues in opening slots for acts like Slightly Stoopid and Flobots. In 2010 I made a move to Kansas City for what would end up being only one semester of grad school. In 2011 took on an internship at Chapman Recording, longtime studio home of Tech N9ne and his Strange Music label. Throughout 2011 and 2012 I also collaborated with Kansas City choreographers to compose music for modern and hip hop dance. A particular highlight was my composition “Suffering in Dm” being performed by 40 dancers at the Kaufman Center in KC, choreographed by DeeAnna Hiett. By 2011 I was engineering and producing home recordings as a full-time freelancer. I made a successful move to Chicago in 2012 and become a full-time subcontractor at CarterCo Recording (2005-2015). I became a Hip Hop specialist in the exploding Chicago Hip Hop scene from 2012-2015 where I began work with artists that would receive millions of plays and views, sell thousands of albums and perform slots at large festivals. Some projects of note from this Chicago era include ProbCause “LSD” featuring Chance the Rapper (produced, mixed, mastered), The Palmer Squares “FINNA” (mixed, mastered, debuted #8 on iTunes hip hop chart) and my own collaboration with Saba, “Down” (produced, recorded, mixed, mastered). Other production and mixing work in Chicago led to collaborations with more notable artists such as Twista, CYN, Gangsta Boo from Three 6 Mafia, Lil Dicky, Griz, Gramatik and more. I also did some runs of touring with artists I produced for from 2014-2017, some highlights including Festival dates behind ProbCause at Summercamp and Hulaween, Running Wild Tour opening for Grieves and a Canadian run with The Palmer Squares. I worked in Chicago until 2019 when I moved back to St. Louis and found a renewed passion for my craft in my hometown. I have still been working closely with Chicago artists, taken up work with STL locals, and more than ever I am doing remote mixing, mastering, selling beats and custom production online. In 2021, I opened Feel Good Music Recordings based in the Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis, MO. Throughout my music career I’ve been told many times “you make that feel good music!” I was so pleased that I was having that effect on people that I made feel good vibes the cornerstone of what I do. I have a production album series called “Feel Good Music” and when the opportunity came to take over someone else’s already built out studio space, it was a no-brainer what I would call it. So far business is great and I’ve taken on a new speciality in R&B and Gospel that has been fun and fulfilling. 2021 also saw success in a newer area for me, sync licensing, leading to song placements in TV, ads and film.