Meet Fernando PERDOMO

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fernando PERDOMO a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Fernando, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Hello There,

My Name is Fernando Perdomo. I am a professional record producer, multi instrumentalist, and singer songwriter. I am 43 years old and am originally from Miami Florida. I moved to Los Angeles in 2012 after starting my career with appearances on 3 platinum selling records and some heavy touring experience. After my relocation I was discovered playing in a Jewish diner by former Capitol records president Andy Slater. Slater put me in his album and movie project “Echo In The Canyon” as the guitarist in all the music scenes and the soundtrack. I was suddenly backing up artists like Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Cat Power, Norah Jones, Brian Wilson, Beck, Regina Spektor, and more. Since the end of that movie’s run I have successfully opened my own Forward Motion Studios where I produce artists ranging from Teenagers to 75 year olds. I also tour with Marshall Crenshaw as his lead guitarist and play in numerous original bands.

I grew up in a middle class household of Cuban immigrants with a Journalist mother and a Handyman father. I have one older brother who had tried being a musician but he ended up becoming a brilliant computer engineer who now works for the government. I always had a fascination with music . I was a tween record collector and I started dabbling with guitar at age 10. I truly found my purpose in High School when I was under the tutelage of a one of a kind teacher named Doug Burris. Burris founded the first high school rock ensemble program at Miami Beach Senior High School in 1972. Not long after Burris was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. What started with a limp eventually left him quadriplegic in a wheelchair. This inspiring man took me under his wing and really guided my way towards viewing music as a career not just a hobby.

Burris brought mentors into the classroom often and one of those was legendary record producer Tom Dowd. Tom famously produced “Layla” by Derek and The Domino’s and also was at the mixer behind Aretha Franklin, Allman Brothers Band, Rod Stewart, Dusty Springfield and many many more. I saw what I wanted to do when he told his story. Help OTHERS make the music of their dreams. I told Tom I wanted to be him when he grew up and he found it lovely. At a Grammy hall of fame event in 1998 he told a crowd of people.. “This is Fernando.. he is 18 .. and he is gonna be a record producer” . well Tom… I did it.

I started producing artists at 18. My computer engineer brother let me set up a studio in his new house. He introduced me to computer recording back in 1999 and by 2000 I was working in Pro Tools which is now the industry standard. There is a joy I have sitting in my chair in my studio when an artist brings in a new song and they play it. My mind starts filling in the blanks with the perfect instrumentation that will compliment the song. When the production process is over I love looking at my clients face as they hear their song at its full potential, ready for the world.

That is my true purpose. To use my gifts to help others achieve the music of their dreams.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
( I think I did this in the previous section)

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Ability to listen and collaborate 2. Ability to help solve issues artists can have with self confidence
3. Ability to guide artists with ways of distributing and promoting their music and making sure they know what to do to make the most from their music

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
“Making Records” by the late great Phil Ramone. Phil is one of my absolute favorite producers. His book traces his entire history from being a young man interested in radio’s to working as a live sound engineer to working alongside Enoch Light (an unsung genius producer who revolutionized the recording of Jazz) to making a name for himself producing Billy Joel, Chicago, Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and more.

This book has a wonderful ego-less human tone that gives the reader a true view into his story. I read the book a decade ago and it helped reinforce my confidence in knowing I was on the right track.

My latest achievement of sorts is a controversial one. On Feb 1st 2024, Billy Joel released “Turn The Lights Back On” , his first pop single since 2007. Its a stunning song with gorgeous lyrics. The production is very modern and sparse.. I could not help wonder how Phil Ramone would have produced the track . Using Moises (An AI extraction program), I was able to create stems from the track and I isolated Billy’s vocal, piano, and the string arrangement from the original. I then added real drums, bass, percussion and mandolin. I posted a video on Tik Tok and it reached 100k views in less than 24 hours. I was informed that one of Phil’s assistants saw my video and told me that Phil Would have been deeply moved by my tribute. I also received a positive email from Liberty DeVitto (Billy’s former drummer from 1975 to 1993)

I completed a full cover of the song with the help of Jim Camacho, Kaitlin Wolfberg, and Nicholas Satchell. It is out now wherever music is bought and streamed.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photos by Cyndi Trissel, Ric Agudelo, Marta Evry, and Myriam Santos

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