We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Sim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
To me, it was always about finding the balance between passion and reality.

My passion keeps me hungry for success and very competitive to be the best in the industry. I am very lucky to do what I love, mixing records day in and day out. I enjoyed working really hard for the past decades to be the master of the craft while spending majority of my time hustling in the NYC studio scene. It was not easy to be an alien in New York City but I am grateful for all the life lessons there. Throughout the years, my brand slowly grow. The quality of my work, the amount of music that I put out and my professionalism speaks for myself, that’s where my reputation are built upon and that speaks louder than any advertisement.

Meanwhile, passion is only accountable for 50% of my success, the remaining 50% I have to give credit to my understanding of reality. Passion can’t pay bills! Some of my peers think it’s cool to work at a minimal wage for decades working with some big artists and if lucky enough got a few Grammys along the way, and grow the business from there. That’s the traditional way to climb up the industry ladders. However, in reality, it’s like winning a jackpot, it rarely happens. And even if it happens it doesn’t mean your life is set afterwards. After a few years in New York City, seeing what I see, I wasn’t happy to just surviving in the music industry with passion, I want to thrive in the music business. I want to make a fortune with my passion, and that’s mean I ll have to work smarter, build my brand and run my business with a corporate executive mindset. I care about my career longevity and I want to reward myself with a better quality of life, that’s mean I ll have to make compromises. Trading potential grammy wins for a higher and sustainable paychecks.

I can’t control when’s the next big award/breakthrough for me, but at least I ll be ready for it when they come while living a very comfortable life still doing what I am passionate about.

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.
As a mixing engineer, I work around the clock and virtually anywhere when there’s internet. The advancement of technology allows me to work remotely besides working from a recording studio traditionally. My team consist of 3 assistants that works under me, they are all located in various locations around the globe that virtually covers all time zones, therefore we can operate 24/7 when the phone rings. This international operation is unheard of in this business that makes us very special, we are not limited by location or time anymore. I was traveling around the world for the past 6 months while I was still working in exotic places, like the volcano national part in Hawaii!

The fun part in this business is you never know who will hire you, it could be a huge artist from Finland or it could be your neighbor next door trying to put out a mixtape; It could also be the music in an advertisement or it could the music for a Hollywood movie. I always tell my friends, it’s full of surprises like fishing. I am really proud of our quick turnaround time, usually within 24 hours or as quick as 2 hours thanks to our ultra efficient workflow. I am also very proud of our high output volume, roughly 1000 projects this year!

It wasn’t easy to get to where I am at, luck plays a big part, it also takes a lot of patience and creativity to grow and retain my cliente. Constantly putting out great products was the most organic way to grow, I am a firm believer of it, Rome wasn’t built in one day. It took me years to perfect my skillset and eventually my works speaks for myself, my clients come to me because they know exactly what I can offer to the table and make their life a lot easier!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Troy Germano, Germano Studios NYC, Kenta Yonesaka, Prince Charles Alexander, Dave Rowland, Jason Staniulis, Robin Chi

Website: mixbymattsim.com

Instagram: mix_by_matt_sim

Image Credits
DAVE KRUGMAN

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