My name is Summer Dregs and I am a music producer, composer and engineer! I'm sort of a jack of all musical trades: composing on commission for dance companies, producing songs for artists, writing music for children's musicals, engineered classical recordings and more! I've gotten to work with everyone from Office Depot to YGTUT and everyone in between. Here is my pathway to a career in the music industry.

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  • I started out playing organ in church

  • Toured with soul and fusion bands as a keyboard player

  • A fan of my music asked if he could use my music in a commercial and I said yes.

  • I offered to write music specifically for commercials and he gave me a shot.

  • Through the success of that piece more people started asking me to do commercials

  • I used the money to buy equipment that would help me work faster and better.

  • Through commercial work I also learned to create on a deadline and how to keep clients happy.

  • After a few years, I had a skill-set and a studio that artists and advertisers wanted to use and would pay for.

ADVICE FOR THE STUDENTS:

  • Being easy and pleasant to work with is KEY to repeat business. Unless you are a genius (I know very few of these), being easy to work with is what will generate return business and projects with large budgets.

  • On the other hand, you've got to be good at business side as well. Set prices that allow you to grow your business and live. Be clear about expectations up front, knowing that what can go wrong, may very well go wrong.

  • Expand your network. Show the people you want to work for/with that you know their work and care about it being better. Only then will they give you a shot at being on their team.

  • Build a team and let people help you. This is a great way to expand your network. If I don't know how to do something, I'll hire someone else to do it, and then watch how they do it. Take constructive criticism to heart and you can learn to do whatever you need to for the next time around.

  • I personally like to be working on many different types of projects at once. Right now I'm working on an ambient album, a PSA about vaccines and mastering a rock EP. For me, using different parts of my brain throughout the week helps me stay on my toes.