Meet Sherry-Lynn Lee | Music Producer & Renaissance Woman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sherry-Lynn Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sherry-Lynn, what inspires you?
Challenge is a big one for me. I’m most driven when I’m trying to win a bet I made with myself. I’ve used this strategy to finish projects ahead of deadlines, to create a sold-out first musical for my high school, to write my first song, and to become a producer and mixer.

It’s such a thrill when you achieve something you weren’t sure you could before. It empowers you to trust yourself and to make bold moves, knowing things will probably be okay. If you know you have a track record of figuring things out, then you don’t worry so much about failing. You view life as an iteration process and that’s far less intimidating than a rigid success/failure outcome. And every time you get a win, you want to try for a bigger one. I started out just wanting to sing but I ended up doing so much more than I ever imagined. I write the songs, play the instruments, produce and mix the tracks. All because at some point I told myself “I bet I could learn to do that”.

Songwriting:

On the tiny tropical Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, music is ubiquitous, but opportunities for budding musicians to perform can be few and far between. At least in my time. But I loved to sing and would perform anytime anyone would let me. When I was 14, the island hosted a singing contest. Idol, X-factor, Star Academy were just starting to gain popularity around the globe. YouTube had yet to be invented. I wanted to try out for this local contest so badly, but my mom was not crazy about the idea of her daughter receiving media attention at such a young age. Wise woman.

Luckily for her, the contest was not just for singers, but specifically for singer-songwriters. So she lovingly told me that, unfortunately, I did not qualify because I did not write my own songs. “Aha, we’ll see about that,” I thought. That very night, I went up to my room and wrote my first song. I remember being ecstatic about it, and feeling like I had just acquired magical powers. I created something out of thin air. Something that didn’t exist before now does because I decided to make it. It was such a powerful moment. I was too embarrassed to tell anyone I had written a song, and I did not enter the contest. But I never stopped writing songs.

Producing/Mixing:

I went on to record many of those songs, including a full-length album with my husband a decade later for our duo “23rd Hour”. We loved going to studios, hiring session musicians, producers, and engineers. But it was costly and it took a lot of time to get from idea to finished product. So I decided to learn to do it myself. I dove in head first and just absorbed everything as fast as I could. My husband had a small home studio and showed me the basics. I took courses online, joined related groups on social media, attended listening sessions, trained my ear. In less than 3 years, I have gone from knowing next to nothing about production to doing full production and mixing, not only for myself, but also for other artists. I even received positive notes from GRAMMY-nominated mixing engineers and producers whose credits include Amy Winehouse, Kelly Clarkson, GWAR, Jessie J and many more.

Other surprising things I’ve done include learning to weld and making furniture. My now-husband had a proud boyfriend moment one day when he was making dinner in the kitchen and heard me operating the table saw in the garage after he taught me how to use it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I would describe my brand of production as understated and nuanced. If you’re looking for in-your-face edginess, another producer might be a better fit. Heartfelt singer-songwriter with great lyrics? Yes, please! I’m probably more interested in the lyrics than the average producer because I started out as a singer-songwriter myself.

If I had to describe what it’s like to work with me, I’d say I’m an intuitive nerd with an affinity for details. I work collaboratively and will send ideas back and forth to make sure we’re on the right track. I tend to gravitate towards acoustic-based projects. I love making them stand out with subtle elements that complement the lyrics without getting in the way. My goal is to create the right sonic space for the story to come alive. I’m also slightly obsessed with vocal hooks. The genres I do most are singer-songwriter, jazz-pop, indie pop, acoustic, and holiday music.

In my view, one of the most valuable things producers offer is perspective. Ideas that the artist might not have considered, not necessarily because they couldn’t come up with it, but because they’re too close to the current version in their head. To offer perspective, it helps to have a pretty solid appreciation of different genres and eras. The lyrical styles, the types of harmonies used, the mix, the vocal production is different in each genre or sub-genre.

Being from a tiny African island on the other side of the world, I have a rather unique mix of influences. A steady diet of French pop, Bollywood, and Mauritian Sega and Seggae permeated my childhood in addition to the U.S. Top 40. Zouk made an occasional appearance as well. Through piano lessons, I learned about classical music. I practiced Chinese ballet for nine years and taught myself choreography to R&B and hip hop tracks as a teen. In the P2P era, I discovered various sub-genres of rock, singer-songwriter and folk. Since meeting my husband, I’ve delved more into jazz. While I only focus on a few of the genres mentioned, knowing the general parameters for each one helps me generate more ideas and narrow down the most interesting ones likely to enhance rather than distract from the song.

It’s been so rewarding to contribute to an artist’s project and have them be excited about the work we’ve created together. Taking a song from a guitar/vocal demo and creating a beautiful world around it with space, ear candy, and great harmonization is so much fun for both the artist and myself. The more I produce, the more I love the process and I’m so thankful to all the people who have asked me to work on their music. If you think I might be a good fit for your project, let’s connect. I’d love to help. If you’re starting to produce yourself and just want to chat, that’s cool too. I give tips and point people to free resources all the time, so don’t be shy!

It’s amazing what can happen when you finally do something that feels most natural to you. I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it wasn’t harder than it should be. It took effort, patience, and trust in myself to start from the beginning at age 30. But when you’re too busy having fun learning and creating, the milestones creep up on you sometimes. I was a terrible mixer, and then one day I was a pretty good one. Three GRAMMY-nominated engineers even said so! I used to get mostly rejections on my songs. Now, most of my new material, whether solo or with our duo “23rd Hour” is getting signed to publishers or sync agents. Last year, I had my first few placements on TV. After a few years of just focusing on acquiring new skills and growing creatively, things are now slowly falling into place. Leaving Silicon Valley to live the creative life was a gamble but, so far, my experience has been very validating. Just a few years ago, this would have seemed impossible, but I am now proud to say that I am a female BIPOC music producer and mixing engineer.

So if you’re itching to try something new, I highly recommend giving it a shot!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Downtown LA is always going to be my favorite part of LA, so we’d start there.

First, a trip at the Broad Museum & MOCA. Then take Angel’s Flight down to the market and sample some of the delicious food for lunch. Next, a tour of The Last Bookstore and of course, the Bradbury building & a stroll by City Hall. Dinner at Vespaio, right before a concert at Walt Disney Hall. The acoustics there are amazing and the stage-side balcony seats are the absolute best. Can you tell I’ve done this tour a few times?

Other must-sees: Griffith Observatory, La Brea Tar Pits, Santa Monica pier. A drive through Beverly Hills. Alhambra/Pasadena for some excellent Asian cuisine. For a quieter beach experience, I would go to Sycamore Canyon beach. We’ve seen whales there several times and the rock formations are lovely.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So, so, so many! I’ve joined many groups and learned from so many people over the years it’s hard to pick. Here are a few top ones.

People:
– Ronan C. Murphy, Rob Venable, Frank Socorro, Gary Noble for validating my work.
– Robin Frederick for knowing my songwriting style and always making helpful suggestions.
– Martin Merenyi for giving me detailed feedback regularly and helping me improve my mixes over the past few years.
– Last but not least, my duo & life partner, George Paolini, for expanding my musical world and encouraging me to pursue production. You can check out his guitar tutorials and other music-related content at https://georgepaolini.com

Books:
– Seth Godin’s books are all great for creatives.
– Robin Frederick’s books have actionable songwriting tips that have helped me become a better and faster writer.
– Mixing Secrets by Mike Senior has been super helpful when I was starting to learn production. He also offers a library of tracks for mixing practice. It’s definitely worth checking out.
https://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms/mtk/

Website: https://sherrylynnlee.com

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Image Credits
Lesya Kulchenko