Heather Crawford
Los Angeles, CA
Their Story
By most accounts, Heather Crawford was already on her way to music industry success. A young, self-taught club DJ who gigged under the moniker “DJ Zienna,” at a fairly young age she’d already honed her skills and promoted herself to the point of spinning at a regular Hollywood residency, and even landed a few respectable gigs.
So why would she need the Recording Connection? As she describes it, she wanted to expand beyond spinning other people’s music into producing her own.
“One of the main reasons I got into the producing and engineering [is] because I have a passion and a love for music,” she says. “I want to personally work on my own music.”
It was this desire that led her to the Recording Connection to take things to the next level. She enrolled and was placed with producer/engineer Doug Boulware at The Abstract Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. At first, she says she was a bit overwhelmed by the studio environment, but she caught on quickly.
“From the beginning point, I thought it was too much for me to understand,” says Heather. “And then once I actually started going through the program, I understood that I can do it…It’s just sitting down and getting the knowledge behind what you’re doing.”
Heather says Doug had a lot to do with helping her over the initial learning curve. “My mentor has been absolutely amazing,” she says, “helping me understand musical concepts and be comfortable in the studio. The way that the class studio is set up is more than I could have asked for…I’m a very hands-on learner. Once I see, I can physically do it. I can grasp the concept behind it better.”
As she works toward completing her externship/externship, Heather continues to work on her career as well, and tells us she’s even got a gig lined up next month in Shanghai. “I’m so excited,” she says. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to do my whole life is to be able to travel overseas, so with what I’m doing…I’m able to do it now and get paid to do it, so it’s beautiful.”
Meanwhile, Heather is excited to put her new-found skills to good use as she expands her musical reach. “I love going in the studio,” she says. “It’s been a great opportunity for me. It’s one thing to love something and have a passion for it, but when you have the knowledge behind it and you can combine them, the opportunities are endless.”