About The Real Me

Hey. ✋ Hazel here. 

I'm an audio engineer, producer, and artist developer in Los Angeles. I'm a dedicated music enthusiast. And as much as I know, there's always more to learn.

My relationship with my music began with my family. My dad owns a large collection of record vinyls stored in McDonald's french fries boxes. The collection ranges from disco, house, Italo disco, 80s pop, 90s techno, classical, opera, ballads, and more in different languages from different eras. There's always music in my family home. Growing up in a Mexican home meant waking up on Saturday morning to clanging pots and cumbia or Juan Gabriel blasting from the kitchen. 

Dad used to take me record vinyl hunting at local thrift stores and record shops when I was a kid. To be honest, it used to be more of an art museum for me because I enjoyed flipping through the records and checking out the album art. 

Dad enjoys mixing music - DJ mixing - at home. And he always played his mixes in the car. A few of my popular favorites included Daft Punk, Michael Jackson, ABBA, Billy Idol, Donna Summer, Ray Coniff, Blondie, TOTO, New Order, The Beatles, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Some of my other favorite songs are somewhat obscure and I can't recall all their names. I'd like to share those at some point when I find out the names. haha 

My dad used to make CD mixes for my mom that included tons of Motown and beautiful Spanish ballads from the 60s/70s. So, I listened to tons of that, too.

For a period, my family was religious and rejected rock music. So, in elementary school, I wasn't allowed to like Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and whatever was popular at the time. 

I used to listen to the radio in secret. 

My middle school friends would make me some rad mixes of pop punk, emo music, hip hop, and rock. I used to title them "Mozart" and "Chopin" when in reality they included tracks from Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes, Avenge Sevenfold, and Reel Big Fish. I remember asking my friends if they knew the names of songs and artists from the radio by singing excerpts. This is how I found out that I apparently absolutely loved Nirvana. 

I'm thankful for my friends Elizabeth, Steffany, Karina, and Norma for sharing so much music with me.

In high school, my family wasn't as religious. So I began to risk downloading my own music through Limeware and Kazaa because my dad started doing the same. I discovered new music through whatever was available. I think I treasured those tracks more because it took forever to download them on dial-up internet. I got into metal, industrial rock, pop punk, and emo a bit more. I think I found some great artists through MySpace, too.

I've always loved classical music and got really into movie soundtracks. I revered John Williams and Danny Elfman. I began to finally learn piano and picked up an acoustic guitar. 

In my senior year, I left the school paper journalism class and instead joined band where I played percussion and clarinet. I regret not having joined earlier. Marching band and concert band were the best musical  experiences. We went on trips. We made new friends. We saw amazing performances. We had unforgettable laughs. Those who went to band can relate, I'm sure. It just seems like a universally amazing experience. 

I attended UC Davis for 3 years. There I majored in Economics and minored in Music. I began majoring in Computer Science to learn nanotechnology. But it shifted to English and then to Economics. But the field of economics wasn't doing it for me. I joined economics clubs and connected with other economics students. But I felt... empty.

At 3 years, I took a good hard look at myself and saw someone who dedicated their time to music. I was a religious listener of our college's radio station KDVS. I attended local music events. I even researched music online. I began to play with MIDI on GarageBand. I still listen to KDVS today. 

So I withdrew. I left a wonderful apartment and well-earned high degree education to return to LA and pursue a career in film scoring. My parents were very kind to me during this time. 

I was very depressed. 

My salvation was going out to local shows. I began listening to KCRW and learned about new bands. I was rediscovering a Los Angeles I didn't know I had missed out on all these years. I met new people "in the scene". Started following bands and getting to know them better. 

I decided to attend Pasadena City College and took audio engineering classes. I fell in love with the field. And I considered myself having a knack for it. After this, I felt I could apply myself to help the music community I love. 

And along that journey I met other wonderful creatives. And others.. not so wonderful. And I learned a lot about radio, publishing, recording, mixing, mastering, promoters, venues, business, photography, video, and just about everything in between.

To the people I met, thank you. Thank you for being kind. For sharing your perspective. For doing your best. For dreaming. For being realistic. And for being a part of our local music communities. I am proud of your art.

Love,

Hazel