Meet Brian Casey | Music Producer

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

Hi Brian, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m from West Cork in the south of Ireland, and I returned to live here about an hour from the house I grew up in, having briefly lived elsewhere . It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth, and despite being relatively remote, the area has always attracted creative thinkers and artists who want to do things a bit differently. I’ve been lucky to grow up around a relatively diverse community. I grew up with kids whos parents were part of the original hippy movement who came to the area in the 1970’s to live outside the mainstream capitalist system, while other kids came from families who had farmed the land for hundreds of years. From this I was lucky to have a sense of place and a down to earth no nonsense tradition, while also being exposed to new and alternative ideas. In ways there are limited opportunities here and economic survival isn’t always easy, so a lot of young people leave the area, but many of them return later and along with outsiders continuing to settle here – it keeps new ideas flowing in.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I make my living by helping musicians turn their ideas into reality. Sometimes that might mean helping to finish writing a song, playing some/all the instruments on a record, simply being an engineer or all the above.

I’ve come to this point in the music industry having tried and enjoyed many roles – touring and releasing my own music, writing for a music magazine, starting a small label and playing more average cover gigs than I care to remember.
I’m proud that I’ve taken a very roundabout journey to a career that should have been very obvious to me early on.

Sometimes I think it would have been far easier to focus on one instrument, one genre or one skillset but thankfully I think my multiple musical personalities are what makes me well suited to truly serving the artists I work with. I’m also proud of the fact that I’m carving out a living doing what I love in rural Ireland, far from the traditional centres of the music. It’s a slower burn but with the help of the many talented artists that call this area home, we are gradually attracting people from much further afield and hopefully building something a little unique.

It’s extremely hard to know what a “healthy” work life balance is when your job happens to be something you want to do the whole time anyway. Over time I’m learning that seemingly idle time can be as important to the creative process as doing the obvious work of creating. Even within recording or writing sessions I’ve learned that its ok not to work relentlessly, and sometimes a long lunch, a random jam session or a meandering conversation could lead somewhere great in a way that rigidly focusing on a certain schedule or imagined outcome may not lead.

There’s a Quincy Jones Quote which read : “Let’s not get too full of ourselves. Let’s leave space for God to come into the room.” – In our case in the beautiful South-West of Ireland, I think it’s good to leave a little space for inspiration to creep in from the landscape and culture that surrounds us.

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?
First I would take them to my favourite beach “Long Strand”, to witness the majesty of the wild Atlantic Ocean, walk in the nearby forest and devour some well earned Fish and Chips (or veggie burger in my case) in “The Fish Basket” at the end of the beach.

We would go to see some live music in the unique family owned music venues in West Cork. Debarra’s Folk Club of Clonakilty, Levis’ Corner House of Balleydehob and Connolly’s of Leap. All of which put on a crazily eclectic programme of music all year round, serving the population that is probably smaller than a couple of neighbourhoods in LA.

We’d finish the week with a pick me up at our friends beautiful cafe “Revel” in Clonakilty.

There are endless things to do and see here but one of the best experiences around is just getting lost in conversation with some of the local population. This is something I’m always very grateful for.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As a music producer any success that comes my way is undeniably down to the talent and efforts of the artists I work with. Focusing my own creativity and growth to best support the people who trust me to guide their musical projects is everything. If I can help an artist realize their vision and make a meaningful connection with an audience of any size then that is the ultimate success.

Website: https://www.wavefieldrecordings.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wavefieldrecordings

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wavefieldrecordings

Image Credits
Luciano Marcao
Juliane Schutz