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

Hi SamRyeBread, how do you think about risk?
I’ve never been into risks like skydiving and not wearing a seatbelt; For me, it’s more about listening to myself and following through on what I see for myself rather than what everyone else is telling me I need to do. I always find my own way to do things and stubbornly stick to them until it works out and it looks like I knew what I was doing all along. Part of this has been leaning into what is uncomfortable and difficult and never taking the easy path. I committed to a career as a sound engineer after graduating Grinnell College and went through the grind of putting in 3 years as an intern at MilkBoy Studio. I regularly worked any session I could get my hands on, which usually meant overnight sessions after working one of many day jobs. I did all of this with no actual idea of whether it would pan out at any point. Even now that I’ve established myself as an engineer and am building my career as an artist, nothing is ever guaranteed, especially with music. I love the risk of music though because it means there’s never any immovable trajectory in my life. The uncertainty of risk means I can always redirect and adapt. Risk means imagining the future however I want it to be and deciding to get there.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart from other sound engineers is that typically people engineer to support their goals as an artist/musician. It happened backwards for me because I always knew I wanted to be an engineer and the desire to be an artist didn’t come until later. I love seeing the potential in other people’s art and helping them reach it. Starting as a purely engineer has allowed my other skills as a producer and songwriter to grow by being exposed to the huge variety of styles of my clients. These skills have naturally become more integrated to the point that I can be anything I need to be in a session (outside of a drummer, please don’t put me behind a kit). Somehow out of this I’ve found a strong sense of who I am as an artist, nuanced with all of the music I’ve worked on. My upcoming EP for SamRyeBread, Alarm, is an example of all the genre-blending I do to remain myself. I’m certainly very proud of winning a Grammy last year! Getting to record Jazmine Sullivan on Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales was a moment of seeing what all my hard work had prepared me for. I now know I can be in any session with any artist and belong there and be able to carry me own weight. Haha, it was not easy to get there though. I really knew nothing about music production when I started working at MilkBoy Studio in 2015 and it was a painful learning curve. It’s taken years of not sleeping, missing family events, losing friendships, and a whole lotta lessons to get here. One of which being the importance of remembering who you are when defining yourself in business. Building a brand off of an honest image of myself and conducting business with transparency has been the thing that’s made my career sustainable and fulfilling.

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?
I live in Philly and we have a lot of low-key awesome outdoor spaces. I’d take them to Fairmount Park or to hang by the Delaware. Also Cira Green has a great view of the city and is an awesome rooftop space. I really like roofs, I’d also go to Bok Bar to get a drink. Food spots… hoagies at T&F Farmers’ Pride, tacos at Prima Pizzeria, Jamaican at K&J, Tom’s Dim Sum in Chinatown, and Cafe y Chocolate for breakfast.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It’s feels wrong to pick one person to shoutout because it’s been so many little moments in the studio that have kept me going and gotten me to where I am. There’s so many times when this life/career seemed impossible and having a great studio session with someone has reminded me that this is where I need to be. Sometimes it’s getting the support and the creative brainstorming with a friend like DJ/Producer Selekta XXX or fellow engineer Justin Miller. Other times it’s jumping into a session with someone I’ve never worked with before and catching the energy of collaboration. Also being on the other side of things and having other people support and enhance my vision for my own music like my bandmates Richard Rein/Robby Webb and my co-producers Kyle Pulley/Logan Roth/Danny Murillo has allowed me to keep taking risks with my music. So shoutout to all of the artists that have trusted me with their music and all of my music family!

Website: www.samryebreadmusic.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/samryebread/

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@samryebread2454

Other: My music production website: www.samryebread.com

Image Credits
Primary Photo: Drew Dennis Photo 1: Drew Dennis Photo 2: Samantha Rosen Photo 3: Mary Zheng Photo 4: Mary Zheng Photo 5: Melissa McLaughlin

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