After a few years, he began to hit a learning wall and the DIY DJ role wasn't cutting the mustard for Mike Webb anymore. Webb's career had begun in the '90s. After observing DJs at house parties and raves in Amherst, Webb, who was born in Chile and raised in the States, became enamored with the art of DJing. He started experimenting with turntables, mimicking what he saw others doing. Over the next three years Webb, as DJ Chilean, spun drum and bass, striving all the while to increase his musical knowledge and skill.
"I just became infatuated with how the producers could do everything they were doing," said Webb in a recent interview with the Advocate. "I think they learn over time, but I wanted to learn everything I could right away."
Webb decided to attend the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, located in Gilbert and Tempe, Ariz., in order to learn the professional art of creating and producing audio tracks and, hopefully, to start a career as an audio engineer sooner rather than later.
At the conservatory, Webb learned to use the tools of the trade, including placing microphones, manning consoles and remixing sound. The school requires students to complete 10 cycles of training—each cycle is three weeks long. In the middle of the 30-week program and at the end, students must complete a studio recording project, with musicians of their own choosing, from start to finish in seven hours.
"It's very intricate," said Webb. "You get the idea of what works and what doesn't. [The teachers] make you really humble." And it's no wonder: one of Webb's teachers was the head sound engineer for Primus, and others have equally impressive resumes.
Webb's final project was a bass, guitar and vocal version of "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The result has an ethereal, bluesy electronica vibe—soothing yet upbeat.
After graduation Webb interned with a company in New York City, working on post-production audio for a documentary. Currently back in Western Mass., Webb is co-owner of Deception Crew U.S.A., a company that hires out drum and bass DJs and facilitates the production of electronic music. Though Webb's formative years as a DJ were spent mostly spinning and creating drum and bass tracks and his current company focuses on that genre as well, Webb now incorporates many musical genres, including jazz, blues and a cappella, into his work and looks forward to working with many different kinds of musicians.
But he knows that, even with schooling under his belt, getting hooked up with a studio can take a long time.
"You can't just expect to walk into a place and start producing," said Webb. "You have to start out as an assistant or something and then prove yourself."
While it remains to be seen if professional training will give Webb a leg up on self-trained producers and DJs, Webb will continue creating his own tracks using his newly acquired engineering skills, DJing occasionally at clubs and parties, and taking advantage of the wealth of skilled musicians available in the Valley to collaborate with.
"Coming back to the area [the Valley], there's such great talent and there's no specific genre that I want to work in," said Webb. "I want to have a signature sound, but my goal is to have the best come out of every artist."
To contact Mike Webb about his DJ or audio engineering services, email him at mikedubselecta@gmail.com or hit him up on MySpace at www.myspace.com/djchilean.
