We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dan Millice. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dan below.
Dan, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I am really fortunate to be pursuing a career doing something that I love and that I’m happy to be doing every day. I love the process of making albums. I love collaborating. I love working on music. If you want to be the best at something, the road is definitely going to be long and repetitive. Whatever you decide to pursue is going to be a grind. You will have to do the work. So it’s crucially important to choose something that you love and enjoy doing. And if you do this, your work ethic will come from within.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. I studied music and audio engineering at Appalachian State University, and after graduation I moved to NYC to pursue my dream career as an audio engineer. I started as an intern, then progressed to a role as an engineer’s assistant. Now I am mastering albums full time and operating my own mastering business here in NYC. I’ve participated in 11 Grammy-nominated projects, 1 Latin-Grammy nominated album. I have mastered one Grammy-winning album and one Emmy-winning song, in addition to other platinum and gold RIAA-certified releases. My mastering and re-mastering credits include projects by A$AP Rocky, Al Green, Dolly Parton, SIA, Julian Lage, Béla Fleck, Blind Boys of Alabama, Rosanne Cash, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lakecia Benjamin, William Bell, Bobby Rush, Kehlani, Trey Songz and many others.
Mastering is the final phase of the record production process. It is the final chance to improve the sound sonically and creatively – and also facilitates the assembly of the album for various mediums, including digital streaming platforms and vinyl. The most special part of my job is collaborating with other engineers and musicians, not just here in NYC but all over the world – and getting to combine technical skills with creative ideas every day is really fun and challenging.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First, I would prioritize the quality of your work. Be uncomfortable with mediocrity. I would also prioritize learning. Develop systems to enhance efficiency. Scrutinize and improve these systems regularly. Second, I would encourage being obsessively detail oriented. This will reduce error and earn your client’s trust. Lastly, recognize the importance of speed. Just never at the compromise of quality or attention to detail.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
Tasks add up on top of other tasks. The work is never truly done, and the to do list seems to get longer and at a faster rate than the time it takes to complete them. And it can get especially overwhelming when you’re also juggling things in your personal or social life. Here are a couple of things that I have implemented into my daily routine that I’ve found helpful.
First thing I recommend doing when you start to feel overwhelmed is to zoom out and examine the big picture as a whole. It helps with perspective because I think we’re sometimes too close to the obstacle to see the full view. There can be blind spots when you’re too close to the obstacle or problem, and it’s been really beneficial for me to take a step back and refocus the image as a whole.
I’ve also found it crucially important to tackle the most important task of the day first. Prioritize your daily tasks in order of importance and complete your tasks in that order whenever possible. If that means paying a bill, or catching up on invoices, or mastering a song for a client that is time sensitive; complete the most important task on your to do list first, and then the second most important task second, and so forth.
Also, I would recommend moving your body every day. Some sort of exercise, does not need to be high intensity, just get your steps in. I work indoors, sitting in place for a majority of the day. I need to move my body every day to maintain a positive mental health balance. I need some sunlight and some fresh air. It has physical benefits obviously, but I’m prioritizing this for the mental health benefits. I’ve made it a non-negotiable priority in my daily life. This has helped me navigate the stresses of everyday life and has also helped me not feel quite as overwhelmed during more hectic and busier times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.danmillicemastering.com
- Instagram: @doctormillice
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/danmillice
Image Credits
Cover photo by John C Stallings Black and White studio photo by Michael Bashur
