Meet Steve Chadie | Recording Engineer, Mixer, Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Chadie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
My family is originally from Boston, Mass. I spent the first 10 years of my life traveling overseas due to my father’s job. I was never in one place long enough to feel like I was a part of anything or to feel like there were any roots in any specific place we lived. When we moved to Texas in 1978 I was 10 and I was already a loner. I think that has benefits to it as there are long periods of time where I’m alone in the studio or on the road for a gig and I’m ok with that. I am self contained. Self reliant. We all need human and social interaction but I don’t wither away without it for long periods of time.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business as an entity is fairly new (WFO Productions, LLC) but it’s just a formal name for what I’ve done for the last 29 years. Record, mix and produce records. Anyone in this business knows it’s not an easy one. I began as a musician and fell into working in studios and perseverance has been the key. Mostly because I wouldn’t know what else to do if I wasn’t doing this. Being a musician first and foremost helps in the process as I am extremely aware as to what that side of the production team is sensitive to. You have to be cognizant of the fact that artists are vulnerable in the studio. Often times you are the first person hearing their work and it’s a balance of that awareness and the ability to give direction without criticizing the material in a detrimental way to the creative process that gets the job done. If you shut an artist down by saying the wrong thing then nothing is getting done.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This area has some great restaurants so we’d be eating everything from Mexican to Cuban to Thai and seafood. And of course some great BBQ. I’d also take them out to the Texas Hill Country to see the beauty along the Balcones Fault Line. Plenty of clear blue rivers and water holes (Blue Hole for one) to swim in as well as caves and rolling hills. Enchanted rock is also a good time. Fredericksburg offers lots of German culture and antique shops and of course there are lots of ice houses and barbecue joints along the roads to these places to stop in to. People are really friendly out there. Downtown Austin has the night life and we’d wrap the week up seeing some bands play there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to thank my Mom, Martha Moss. She never gave up on me no matter what I got in to, and I got into a lot as a kid and young adult. Her unwavering support kept me going when I couldn’t muster it up to keep going on my own.

Website: https://stevechadie.com

Instagram: @stevechadie50