Rodrigo Galvan interview

Born and raised in Mexico City, Rodrigo Galvan became a bit of a world traveler when he worked as a telecom engineer for Schlumberger in Paris before relocating to New York City and learning everything he could about audio. He joined HSR in 2009. His resume includes projects for Heineken, Home Depot and Sunoco as well as sound design on indie features and production of jazz albums and his own electronic music endeavors, and he has been known to spin discs at drum-and-bass parties in New York. StudioDaily asked him five questions about art and inspiration.

Q: What are you working on today?
A: Working?? Oh, right! Sorry, what I do never feels like work. I’m recording and mixing a TV spot for Hills Pet food for Y&R. I’ll also be preparing some stuff for my weekly JCPenney session.

Q:What’s the best tool or innovation that you’ve started employing in the last year?
A: Traktor (DJ software, aka pitch-bending). So far I’ve only used it to spin records, but I have this idea to integrate it into audio-post situations. Also, Pro Tools elastic audio plug-ins have been sort of the last revelation for me. A gimmicky but very cool one is the Db (SPL) meter for the iPhone.

Q: What’s the project — film, TV show, commercial, or music video — that most
impressed you in the last year? And why?
A: No questions asked: Mad Men. I think that it just goes back to basics: great writing, great production, great directing and great acting, without all the bells and whistles. Plus, it’s a show that has made me realize how relative it all is.

Q: What’s your favorite project that you worked on in the past year? And why?
A: It has to be Tequila the movie. I did the ADR lines for the main female character “Lola”. This was the first time I was able to collaborate with my cousin Santiago Garcia, a movie producer based in Mexico City.

Q: Who are the top four artists on your iPod?
A: Always? Led Zeppelin, Portishead, Pearl Jam, and Klute. This week: Primus, The Dead Weather, Helmet, and Daedelus.