Llane, Would you please introduce yourself to us and tell us some stuff about what you do?
My name is Amin Asbaghipour also known as LLANE-A. I’m an audio engineer, music producer, and marketing specialist in the music industry. I’ve gone through different stages in music, leading me to where I am now and I’m still trying to explore more in this exciting journey.
I started rapping when I was 16 and had a dream of being a rap star back then. I continued rapping and going to different studios for recording sessions, while in the process I started to like what the producers in the studios were doing. That made me think why not I don’t make my own beats too? And since I couldn’t afford to pay for beats every time, that was a good way for me to save money and also go more creative in my music.
I learned how to work with Cubase 5, and went through creating my own beats, and then recording my vocals in my humble home studio. Lots of fun and unprofessional tracks were created there, while it all helped me learn more and get better at what I was doing.
Eventually, I noticed I had to be better at mixing my tracks to make them sound better. So I decided to take lots of courses to learn audio engineering, making me realize that, it’s a really fun and artistic part of music production. I then became a full-time freelance audio engineer, working with several indie artists, and managing my blog Musixon.org helped me get to know many inspiring people in the industry, and it all lead me into learning more about marketing and the music business.
Why did you choose Cubase 5 as a DAW to start? and what is your favorite DAW at the moment?
The reason why I chose Cubase 5 was that all the guys I was seeing in studios back then in my town were using it, and that made me also wanna use it. I also could get help from those guys by asking them questions, sometimes paying them to give me accurate answers… lol – Right now my favorite DAW is Logic Pro, for its versatility and ease of use. However, I feel like all DAWs are great, but the only thing that matters when choosing one is how comfortable you are with it.
How did the Musixon blog begin? What made you decide to create it?
I remember while I was an amateur beatmaker, I was in my car with my ex-girlfriend, driving and thinking about some ways of making money to support my music. I told her “why not I make a blog about upcoming music artists’ news on Instagram”?
She laughed at me first, and then said “Go ahead, see what you can do with it.” I created an Instagram page called Musixon, sharing content about new music artists from different places. Then after talking about a few producers and studio owners, I noticed a good engagement in the page, and that automatically lead me to focus on that.
I discovered I had some kind of talent in marketing and so a way of making money to support my music turned into a passion to build a community. Soon, thousands of people in the industry noticed the blog and started following what I was sharing with them, featuring recording studios from all over the world, interviewing artists, and sharing tips and tricks about music production, etc.
How did you made audio engineering a full time job for yourself?
It was in 2018 when I ended up being a full-time freelance audio engineer. I went through a long process of mixing a lot of music for many artists for free to build a decent resume. (Probably around 300 songs? lol)
Mostly at first, I had 9 out of 10 people not liking my free work, but I used the experience to improve my skills and ended up charging for the work I was putting in, and slightly increasing my rates as more clients were reaching out to me.
Why did you give up making your own Rap songs? Do you still wanna do that?
Well, as life got more intense with the bills, I had to find ways to make money to survive. I’m blessed that music helped me pay the bills but it wasn’t the rapping. The passion to become a rapper helped me get there, but it was not possible for me to give up everything and risk my whole life for something that I didn’t have much chance to get. I was rapping in English while English isn’t even my first language, and I’m not even living States or Europe…
You don’t always get what you aim for, but if you stay focused while easy-going I believe you get something that’s right for you. I no longer have a dream of being a rapper, but a dream of being me and continuing my life the way I am now. As I got more grown, I learned that there is more in life than what the general success is known by the majority of society offers.
However, I still love rapping and making music as a passion and I will continue making my own music. Sometimes just to listen to my own music to feel better. There are times when you can’t find songs that you can fully relate to while listening but you can create music that is 100% related to you.
What do you currently do for a living and how do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’m now head of marketing at Sonimus LLC, as well as a marketing adviser in Vollume Inc. Both companies are related to music production. I’d love to continue exploring more things in the music industry. I have no idea where I will be in 10 years as the journey has been really magical and unpredictable for me!
Do you have anything special that you’d like to say to the readers of this interview?
I think humans are too complex and we will never fully understand each other. There are people helping you grow and there are those stopping you from it for several reasons you won’t figure, but in the end, it’s just you, that can follow their desire. I learned to ignore people with bad vibes and those making my mind distracted and care more about those who wanted me to be better.
