2% Rising: Meet Aryanne Maudit

Audio Media International is delighted to present the first 2% Rising interview of the new year! Here, we catch up with West London-based producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist Aryanne Maudit…

Launched by artist and producer Rookes and mastering engineer and AMI columnist Katie Tavini, 2% Rising was founded in response to the widely reported statistic that female producers only make up two per cent of the industry. The hub, which is currently over 380 members strong (and still growing), is intended to serve as a safe space for women and gender minority producers to converse, share opportunities, ask questions and network. Sound designer Suze Cooper recently joined Rookes and Tavini as one of the group’s core staff members.

The partnership between AMI and 2% Rising will see us posting monthly spotlights on some of the most exciting new talent emerging from the network, while providing regular updates on its latest developments and activities.

Here, Aryanne Maudit tells us about working in the field and in the studio, the biggest challenges facing the industry and plans for the future…

Can you tell us where you’re based and what you do in the pro music and audio industry?
I am based in West London and I’m a producer/engineer and multi- instrumentalist.

How you did you come to work in music and audio production?
I started to work in music at the age of 14 years old, playing guitar in cover bands on the weekend to get extra coins. Then being out of rehearsing and recording facilities, my former bandmates and I opened our first recording studio with very basic gear, where I recorded and produced my first band EP in 2013.

I 2016 I decided to move to London to pursue my music career and I started playing as a session guitarist for punk bands, alongside producing. In 2018 I started studying Music production at ICMP where I had the chance to use the studio facilities to build my knowledge and career as studio and live sound engineer.

What’s been the job you’ve most enjoyed in your career so far?
What I enjoy the most is certainly live sound engineering, as I have the chance to interact with many artists in the course of one night. One of the funniest gigs I engineered was for an Extinction Rebellion gig in Finsbury Park where I had a 10-piece afrobeat band. Great fun.

Of which achievement do you feel proudest?
One of my proudest achievement is the foundation of AM Productions in April 2019. It gave me the possibility to work as engineer and producer for a great number of unique artists, most of them from the LGBT+ community.

What’s been the most difficult or challenging aspect of your job?
Working on projects that are not exactly my top creative outline but that pays the bills are often challenging. When it comes to recording I feel very motivated, the further away from my comfort zone the more I enjoy it. When it comes to production though, I find it harder to stick to a brief, mainly because I am not always able to contribute with my vision to the final outcome. But hey, sometimes that’s the job!

What do you want to focus on in the future?
I would like to focus on recording and analogue mixing, perhaps working for a commercial studio and observing big engineers in action with outboard gear and tapes.

How do you feel the pro music and audio industry has changed (or not) since you started to now?
When I started people were buying music on CDs, while now streaming is the go-to format. So there has been a shift from this point of view. Plus, independent artists are gaining more and more visibility thanks to indie labels or self-release plans, mostly available because of the digital era. That freedom has also encouraged more LGBT+ artists to come out of their shell and I feel that there is way more queer representation in music than ever before.

Have you ever been star-struck by anyone you’ve worked with?
It took me a while to answer this question as every artist I worked with star-truck me in some way and I feel like it would be unfair to name just one.

Which artists and producers are you listening to right now?
I have a very varied playlist on my Spotify at the moment. I listen to a good quantity of electronic music, such as Ross From Friends and Kollective Turmtrasse, mixed with indie / urban music such as Greentea Peng, Arlo Parks, and also Machine Gun Kelly and Fever 333.

What do you feel that being a member of 2% Rising has given you?
Being part of 2% Rising meant being part of a community driven by people proactively interested into helping, guiding and encouraging womxn and gender minorities to achieve their goal within the music industry. It is a network always full of resources and people willing to share theirs, and I believe this is something very unique nowadays as support is often lacking in this field.

Website: https://amproductionsmusic.wixsite.com/amproduction
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/am_prodmusic/?hl=it
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amprodumusic
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/amprodmusic/sets
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPKIzpHvwc2Mh5- CDjPPCoA?view_as=subscriber