Brian Irving
Engineer

Music has been a part of Brian Irving’s life since an early age. “My mother used to send us to the record store to get the latest 45’s, and my brother was into everything from jazz to rock”. That led to an interest to become a DJ and go to broadcasting school.
“I watched the mobile DJs that were in Alabama & Georgia, and how they did their thing, and I always liked music since a kid. I always had some kind of record player since I was a kid, and I started to collect records early”. After graduating high school, and returning to Connecticut, Irving discovered his true craft. “I was called in to do some scratching on a track at this home studio around the corner from me, and I never left”.
L.U.V. Sound Studio at 102 Cornwall Street was a small, makeshift studio that made big noise on a small amount of equipment. “In the 80’s we only had 8 tracks to record on, there was no MIDI, and no sequencer, everything was recorded live.
It was here that Irving got his “formal” education. “I was surrounded by guys that were doing session work in New York, and they come to work on their own stuff in L.U.V.”
The musicians working around Brian all went on to do great things
“There was this band called Wood Brass & Steel, and the members stayed in touch as they went around the world and off in different directions as session musicians and solo artists”. There’s the guitar and bass duo of Skip McDonald (Sugarhill Gang, Melba Moore Sinead O’Connor), and Doug Wimbish (Sugarhill Gang, Seal, Madonna, Living Colour), keyboardist Hubert Powell (Solo Gospel Artist & Session Musician) & Drummer Harold Sargent (The Moments, Bootsy Collins, James Brown).
Along with keyboardists Silver Sargent (Jonzun Crew, New Kids On The Block), Keith Cloud (Lola Falana), Dwain Mitchell (Sugarhill Gang, The O’Jays) and Drummer Tim Williams (Xavier, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton), this group of musicians all helped shape Irving into what he is today. “The way I do what I do is based on the experience, lessons, and stories I got from these guys. I never went to school for this, they were my teachers along with trial & error, and reading whatever I could get my hands on about recording”.

“I started to write songs in 1991, and that’s when everything I learned came into play, along with all the records I listened to when I was young. It gives me constant inspiration to this day to have memories of all kinds of music in my head.”
In 2003 Irving designed Influx Productions, a mid-size studio based around a Apple Mac G4 running MOTU Digital Performer and a UAD-1 Plug-in card. Highlights include an Avalon mic pre, Mackie HR824s with matching 12” sub and synths from Roland, Korg, & Yamaha “Influx is the perfect environment for writers & producers to create music on the fly. It’s been designed to totally recall, or switch projects at a moment’s notice, so as not to disrupt the creative flow.
Today, Brian Irving is part of a new class of engineer. “It’s what I call “a jack of all trades” kind of thing”. Desktop Video, Computer
Graphics, and Audio Mastering are just some of the things I’m trying to add to my arsenal of skills to make myself more valuable as an engineer.
In 2009, Irving designed DA CHOP SHOP studios, his personal writing, recording & mixing lab. The sole mission of DA CHOP SHOP was to remove the limitations that were present in previous studio situations.
“It’s great to have a full blown studio in your house, and come up with any idea in your head and record it” This time, Irving based the studio around a fully loaded Apple Mac Mini with a 1TB external hard drive, MIDI controllers by M-Audio & AKAI, and a whole bunch of plug-ins and virtual instruments. “The collection of samples & sounds that i have now is CRAZY!!!” The use of virtual instruments has opened up a sonic palette that one or two hardware keyboards can not match.
Irving made use of all of this on his last project, recording, mixing, and producing tracks for hip hop artist JAC SKY “the project is all over the place musically, i’m doing everything from southern hip hop to r&b to dance/pop, to hard rock, all in one project”
In January 2012, Irving enrolled into Full Sail University to peruse a Bachelor’s Degree in Recording Arts “Going to the best school in the country for Studio Engineers is a dream come true, and an answered prayer. I feel like a law student going to Harvard right now”

Selected Credits
House Of Music – East Orange, New Jersey (Mixer)
Steve Wytas Productions – West Hartford, Connecticut (Recording & Mixing)
Tape Works – Hartford, Connecticut (Drum Programmer)
Nickel Recording Studio – Hartford, Connecticut (Mixer)
Studio 26 – East Hartford, Connecticut (Studio Manager/Engineer)
Influx Productions – Hartford, Connecticut (Studio Manager/Engineer/Producer/Studio Systems Design)
DA CHOP SHOP STUDIOS – Atlanta, Georgia/Orlando, Florida (Owner/Engineer/Producer/Songwriter)