Alumni Corner: Jorge’s Passion for Mixing and Music Production

Interview with Jorge Antequera

We’ve all heard that music is a universal language, but for most artists, the passion for music goes beyond that. This rings true for most of our artists, engineers, and producers. And it rings just as true for Jorge Antequera, an Abbey Road graduate whose passion for music knows no bounds.
The 24-year-old Spaniard fulfilled his dream of living the ‘Artist life’ while pursuing a Music Production course at the Abbey Road Institute in Amsterdam. As an artist, songwriter, sound engineer, and music producer, Jorge worked on all aspects of his craft. Since graduating, he has started working as a Studio Manager at Metropol Studios in Madrid.

We chatted with him about his time at Abbey Road and his future in music. This is the edited interview:

How did you start working with Metropol?

When I finished my course in Amsterdam, I went back to Madrid to try getting an internship at a music studio. So, I emailed my CV to Metropol Studios. I wanted to take a friendly approach to the internship application, so I had a chat with them over coffee. After our coffee, they accepted me into the team.

What’s your role in the studio now?

I’m a Studio Manager, which involves helping throughout every session in the studio and making sure things run smoothly. I engineer for bands or artists who don’t bring their own engineers to the studio. I also keep the place tidy and organised.

How is it to work in a commercial studio environment?

It’s a bit of a mix. Big labels, which are the main clients in the studio, tend to bring their own engineers. So, they only rent the studio facilities. My job then becomes assisting the main engineer throughout the session to make sure they don’t encounter any problems. With independent artists or clients who don’t have their own engineers or producers, I get to play a more active role in music production. The house engineers – myself and my colleagues – usually engineer the session for these artists.

Please tell us more about your music project.

My project, Jayco Jr., started because of my artist business plan I did at the Abbey Road Institute in Amsterdam. It’s a collection of 10 songs that give shape and meaning to the idea of not wanting to go backwards, get lost again, or repress feelings. It’s a celebration of love, an acceptance of pain, and a confrontation of who I really want to be.

I like to call my sound ‘Sonic Folk’ because it’s backed up by folk compositions exposed to sonic textures and experimental sounds. The project is set in an intimate and home environment to give it a unique feeling. It’s a DIY album in the most professional way I could possibly do it.
I took care of the songwriting, production, engineering, and mixing of everything. However, I also had incredible luck working with several of my Abbey Road Institute colleagues: Rubén Sánchez, Andrés Aracena, and Luca Milozzi. They helped me with the arrangements, performances, and recordings.

How do you see your future career in music?

For the moment, I see myself as a Studio Manager at Metropol Studios. I also see myself engineering and producing for local bands in Madrid and creating a scene with them and with my music.
I have continued working with Andrés as the lead guitarist in my live shows, and Rubén and I have kept working together on his album and other productions.

Do you see yourself more as a sound engineer or music producer?

I love engineering, and I’ve grown to love it more in this past year since it’s been my main job. But I enjoy producing a lot more. I would love to become a music producer mainly, but I still love doing both.

What is, in your opinion, the role of a music producer?

The role of a producer is similar to that of a director in the film industry. The producer has to know a bit about every department so he can steer the project towards the right direction.

Based on your experience, what is the music industry like in Spain?

In the past few years, it has become bigger than ever. For the first time, the Latin Grammys were celebrated in Seville. Artists like Rosalía, C. Tangana, and Nathy Peluso, whose music is centred around flamenco and variations of it, have gotten more recognition in the international scene. They’ve opened doors for other Spanish artists to become bigger. So, I think the Spanish music industry is in the best position possible at the moment.

So, why did you choose to study at the Abbey Road Institute in Amsterdam?

When I was looking for music production courses, I did not find anything that matched my expectations. I was looking for a course that would teach me how to work in an analog studio. Finally, I found the Abbey Road Institute. The curriculum really matched my expectations.

I saw that in addition to the technical aspects of music production and sound engineering, they were teaching music business and music theory as well. So, there’s a bit of everything but in a complete way. When I finally got to experience it in Amsterdam, it surpassed my expectations.

What stuck with you the most when you look back at the course?

The environment—everyone here was very passionate about music. And when you get a lot of people who are passionate about the same thing in one room, stuff starts happening. We all got super contagious with this passion, and we made so much music. I think we all grew a lot in that year. That’s the best of it, for sure.

When I got back to Madrid after finishing the course, I had a really nostalgic trip because I realised that I was living the ‘artist life’ in Amsterdam. Without fail, each day revolved around music. I’d wake up every day and go to school. I’d spend all day studying music, go record my music in the studio, and then go back home and make dinner before I start writing lyrics. I had the freedom to be a full-on artist for an entire year at Abbey Road Institute, and that was really amazing.

At some point in the past year, I found my artist plan on my computer, which is part of the Music Business and Management module in the course. When I started reading it, I realised that I had done everything I had planned. I remember the first day at Abbey Road when they told us to do a business plan; I didn’t want to do it. Now I look back, and I think it’s an essential part of the course. One of the final assignments is to write a plan for your future, and it has to be realistic. And if you do it well enough, you can make it a reality. You just have to plan for the best.

Thank you, Jorge! We look forward to hearing more from you.

Check out Jayco jr

Jorge’s first LP, Jayco jr., will premiere soon after publishing this article with the release of his first single MARCO POLO on Spotify and other streaming services

Learn more about our Advanced Diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering

More alumni news: https://abbeyroadinstitute.nl/blog/meet-our-alumni-gilles-van-wees/