Meet Neil O’Reilly of Knowhere Sounds

Music has just sort of been the one major constant in my life. I am always listening, learning, studying, and making music all the time. Ever since i got my first drum set at the age of 8. Music was my first love and still to this day it’s one of my biggest source or inspiration and joy. But for the longest time i always just kind of saw it as a hobby and not so much of what i could do with this passion and love for music. You kind of grow and are made to think that the only way in music is to be the rock star and that most people never get there so you shouldn’t really try. But the more i started to learn and understand not just the creative of side of music but also the production side of it as well. I started to learn there are so many people that work countless, tiresome hours behind the scenes that make the music we love so great. The producers and engineers who come up with these amazing records and sounds and help creative artist see and achieve their full potential. The people whose jobs it is, is to help another artist get to where they want to be. That was the person i wanted to be. Not the rock star on stage, but the rock star in the recording studio. And that was the catalyst that started me on the journey to where i am today. After years and years of working and going to different schools that in no way was helping me pursue a career in music production, i started looking into places where the things I was already familiar with would actually be a good foundation for me to seek a internship somewhere. So i did some research and found a program called the Recording Connection which hooked me up working as a student/intern inside a working recording studio called Studio 713 (the best studio by far by the way) in the heart of Houston. From there i was learning from real professionals and saw what it takes and how extremely meticulous the craft of being a producer on a record can be. I loved every minute of it. Learning new things and being able talk about it and dissect a new concept of music i wasn’t aware and applied to a song and just the environment was infectious to be around. Just a lot of creative people creating something new and exciting and working together in a fun but also very demanding way. I learned so much from those guys and still talk to most of them daily. So i started to really dive into the craft of music production and engineering. I started getting my hands on as much equipment and software as i could and started working on my home studio. Shortly after i started to make tracks and started mixing records in my own time just to learn and get better, but also to start training my ears to be able to identify flaws or hear something no one else might hear that could be really special. I started of an Instagram account really just to reach out to other producers and music makers for advice and tips about making my music or mixes better. Naturally i started to post my own videos and tracks and the response and support was overwhelming. It’s funny how the community of music makers is so supportive of one another. Nobody really makes fun or bad mouths you for trying to make music. Everyone wants to collaborate and share and work together on something. It really the best place to be professionally and personally for me

The road to anything is always a struggle. Their is so much self doubt and second guessing on what i am doing as apposed to what i should be doing. And i have to admit that i had no idea when i was getting into music production, that were so many different aspects i would have to be learning including music theory, composition, mixing techniques, mastering techniques, beat making, microphone placement, etc.. The industry and technology is changing everyday so it was frustrating trying to wrap my head around everything but at the end of the day i always enjoyed the little things you work on for hours everyday finally getting to spot that you understand and it makes my music just that much bit better.

So the company i’m working on now is called Knowhere Sounds. Its pretty much just my production company where i can showcase my work, sell beats or tracks, and also offer my services in any way i can. I still would much rather be the man in the seat behind the glass on the mix board then the actually artist.Thats ultimately where I want to be. I want to be able to wow the artist instead of actually being the artist myself. I hate the way my voice sounds (laughs).

Success for me is just doing what i love regardless of money. I don’t want anything more than just to be able to do this for the rest of my life. If i could make just enough to able to continue this forever, then i will have succeeded in life. If not, it will still be a success because i will have done something i loved for my entire life.