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

Hi Coleman, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Once I realized that nothing has to work out, it took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. Growing up I was always told to go to college and graduate. This was something I gladly took on at one point in life. However, once I found myself making more music than putting my nose in books, I dropped out. I took a risk by doing that moving home. Although during that time I had no plan, I knew that the pay off of that moment, or the disappointment of that moment, would not define me entirely.

After being home for about seven or eight months I was finally knee deep in a steady job. I was making okay money and was saving up to get my own place. At this point, I still had no idea what I was doing. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to do music and not wait tables. On a whim, like I had air beneath me, I quit to pursue music full time. Mind you, I had no connections, almost no money, but I had the carefreeness to know that this decision would not define me.

It was only a few weeks after that that I met the people who I would know today that have helped put me in position to continue my dreams and goals. Yet even with that, you must continue risk taking.

January of this year I got a call from Ron Gilmore to engineer a session for Ari Lennox. I just knew this was my chance to make the impact I was looking for. Three years almost to the date that I dropped out of school and I get a chance like this. The problem is, I was unprepared. I didn’t know some things I should have known to run a session like that. When I accepted it, a part of me knew that. I knew that it was worth the risk. To potentially fail in the process was worth being able to learn and at the end of the day know that this doesn’t have to define me. High risk high reward? I disagree. Take the risks. They will only ever reward you.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a mix engineer I feel like it’s important to be excited about the projects you work on. That’s when I’m at my best sonically and creatively. What I feel sets me apart from others is my extreme willingness to just try stuff and experiment with the sounds I have in front of me. My job is an alchemist and it shows as the sonics shift and bend in my favor.

Was it easy? Hell no, but I didn’t know it was difficult until I look back and realize what all was happening and the struggles I was in. The best way to overcome those challenges is to just keep going. Find a group of people who you can call friends and then family. They’ll support you as you’ll support them. It takes a village to raise incredible art.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that everybody shits. If we watch a movie or we watch a tv show, unless it’s a pivotal scene, we never see the characters use the bathroom. Why? Because it’s implied that everybody shits. A lot of people, myself included, get into their field of art partially because they look up to some of the best or most famous to do it. On the surface they seem like they don’t miss. Everything they present to the world artistically is perfect and everyone loves it and instantly you may feel inferior. The best thing I learned is that even the greatest have off days. They have work that will never see the light of day because it just plain ole sucks. Everybody shits. Don’t feel bad when you do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I mean everybody knows about Broadway. I personally wouldn’t take my best friend to Broadway, but that’s a very popular spot. Gotta take them to Prince’s. It’s the reason Nashville Hot Chicken is a thing. Gotta take them to Slim N Huskies. Best pizza there is. We could go over to Shelby or Two Rivers park for a walk and a picnic, pop on over to Opry to see a movie. Nashville is actually kind of small in it’s own way, that’s part of what keeps me here. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shout AB Eastwood and Jet Springetti for real. He’s definitely helped me see the learning curve in this portion of my career and shown me that things aren’t as difficult as the masses would make them out to be.

Instagram: instagram.com/mixedbycole/

Twitter: Twitter.com/MixedbyCole/

Image Credits
Pixjt and Crownthement

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