Off The Record: Turning passion into career

ON HIS way back from school, Shane Wixted used to cycle as fast as he could to get home and listen to Nirvana. Today, he owns a recording studio, Launchpad LK, in the heart of Limerick city, where he welcomes musicians with his dog, Murph.

“I used to go home from school on my bike and cycle as fast as I could to stick on a tape or a CD and listen to Nirvana. I had a pair of sticks and I was just battering the bed, thinking I was Dave Grohl,” he recalls.

Being a drummer “by interest” led Shane into the world of audio engineering and production. As he sits down beside instruments and a  plate reverb, he recalls  where it all started.

“I was trying to record drums for projects when I was  in college. With drums, more than any other instrument,  it’s so complicated because there’s so many things you have to learn to get a really good sound from an acoustic kit. It got me really interested in it, to the point now where I do far more engineering and studio production work than I do actual drumming.”

The opportunity to take things more seriously presented itself as Shane got to meet people who  turned their passion into careers.

“People like Ben Wanders and Danny Lanham, it’s their full-time gig. To see people actually achieving their goals at such a ridiculously high level, kind of almost said that I could do that as well,” he says.

Speaking of his studio, he says: “You can come in here with your own machine, let this place and work with artists, or you can have me engineer the session and I can be there just to help out,” he explains.

Over the last couple of weeks, he has been working with the band Small Church. “It has been an absolute blast. We did a demo to see what sounds we wanted, to get a broader picture. Basically, you just track everyone and then overdub and track instruments to build up a picture of where you want to go. Once all the parts are recorded, it comes down to me, to mix.”

According to him, the mixing stage is often more analytical and less creative. Mixing a music production is almost like assembling a puzzle.

“When you're mixing a music production, it's all an illusion because all you're hearing is a stereo left and right from the speakers,  and that's all it is,” he points out. “You take that  zoomed out perspective and make everything fit and focus on your end goal. If  you know where you're going with the band and you get to know them, it makes things so much easier.”

That’s one thing he would like people to realise about production.

“The more people are involved in music production, the more they can understand the process, because it really is like building blocks, you’re layering things.”

His favourite part of the job might just be artist development, a process he “kind of fell into.”

Shane notes: “I love meeting really talented people that haven't really found their path. People who have unbelievably raw talent. You put them in the right environment and watch them go. At that point, you're just guiding and facilitating this brilliant thing that’s happening in front of you.”

In the midst of lockdown, Shane built the recording studio with the help of his best pal, Murph. Gazing at his rescue dog, he says: “We both started this mad little journey together. He was sleeping in his bed in front of a little gas heater while I was building this place. We found each other at this particular time.”

Not only does his four-legged friend entertain the clients, he also has a “very special” talent. When his human starts humming You Don’t Know Me by Jax Jones, the  pup instantly joins in. After a barking performance, Murph sits on the reporter’s lap.

Shane laughs: “That song came in on a laptop in the house and he just started howling his head off. You  can play it on the saxophone and he'll do it. It's just whatever that melody is.”

If he had one piece of advice for his 16 year-old-self, what would it be?

“Not to focus on all the noise,” Shane says. “Trust that what you're interested in can become a career. Whether you're a creative or a dancer, these things that your parents would probably tell you ‘that's not a real job’. If you want to become involved in music, you need to immerse yourself completely in it.  

“Do what you need to do to spend the rest of your time  doing music.