31 Women in Audio: Jett Galindo

Mix Messiah Productions presents: 31 Women in Audio, a series celebrating Women's History Month.

Day 6: Jett Galindo

Today, we are featuring Jett Galindo, mastering engineer at The Bakery (Los Angeles) whose credits include the La La Land Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. 

Leslie Gaston-Bird: What childhood experiences do you think led you to a love for the field of audio?

Jett Galindo: I've always had a love for audio from growing up being surrounded by music. My family runs a music management business. When I was a kid, I would always hear my dad teaching a band play cover songs from the rehearsal studio in our home. My dad also encouraged me to tinker around with computers at a young age so I grew up being passionate about both tech and music. It all clicked when I realized I could do both by pursuing a career in the field of audio. I've never looked back since then.

LGB: What was your earliest experience with recording?
JG: Back in the Philippines, I remember doing mix tapes from MTV using my dad's pro-audio tape deck. I started getting serious with recording when I went on a 2-month European Tour with my college glee club. Portable recording devices weren't accessible in the Philippines back then, so I had to carry around a heavy backpack with my laptop, a Tascam US-122, and pray that the venue we were performing at had a mic stand I could borrow for my condenser mic. It was a lot of effort but definitely worth it! This was around the same time I got started on my internship in a recording studio in the Philippines.

LGB: Compare your leadership role now with past roles you had in other, perhaps larger companies / crews.

JG: Prior to the Bakery, my role primarily focused on the audio production/engineering aspect. I focused on being the recording engineer of Jerry Barnes at Avatar, and then Doug Sax' right hand man at the Mastering Lab. Once I joined Eric in his venture of opening up The Bakery almost 2 years ago, Eric and I both had to wear many hats besides being mastering engineers. When not mastering or cutting vinyl, Eric works on studio electronics & maintenance while I work on website development. These are among several other responsibilities we share. Especially when you're in the audio/music industry, you have to make an effort to stay well-rounded and abreast of trends on music, technology, etc. to stay competitive.

LGB: What questions do you DISLIKE being asked related to women in audio?

JG: I'm always open to answering any questions about being a woman in the audio industry. But I do wish that we hear less blanket statements about being a woman working in sound. I've encountered circumstances where I've heard women being generalized--in one particular example, I've heard someone mention that women are less predisposed to working in sound because of our evolutionary characteristics. I've also heard the claim the women in general pay less attention to music. Situations like these make me more motivated to prove that women are just as capable as men in whichever career they choose to pursue.

LGB: What questions would you PREFER to be asked related to women in audio?
JG: I don't personally have any preference. The more questions and dialogue there is going on about women pursuing audio, the better!

LGB: What female role models do you have, fictional or real?
JG: I have a huge admiration for women who've paved the way for more women to pursue a career in audio/music/tech. I've always looked up to women like Imogen Heap, Leslie Ann Jones, Joan Jett, Marissa Mayer (Google), just to name a few.

LGB: What upcoming projects are you excited about? If none, how about a favorite recent project?
JG: I can't disclose upcoming projects just yet, but I'm incredibly excited with our work on the double LP of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the original Star Trek film with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith, and produced by Bruce Botnick. The LP will be out on March 14th!

LGB: Finally, be sure to tell me about anything you’d like to promote: website, recordings, films, etc. JG: You can know more about my audio & vinyl mastering work at http://thebakery.la :) Also a shout-out to Soundgirls.org for their incredible work at connecting women audio professionals and aspirants all over the world.

-Leslie Gaston-Bird
Owner, Mix Messiah Productions, LLC
www.mixmessiahproductions.com