Here's to Dallas: Raising a Glass (and the Volume) with Wes and Dean Castelhano
Used to spend my nights out of the
Dean:Hey, Wes. That hey. That was great, man. Is that the Justin Timberlake version?
Wes:Yes. It is. It's, him live. Excuse me. Yeah.
Wes:Justin jumps in when he does, the in the second verse. But, yeah, it's live.
Dean:Yeah. Yeah.
Wes:Yeah. But, you know, Justin is a Tennessee is from Tennessee.
Dean:Realize that. So so we we play that music because we're here at the end of the year, and we're kinda celebrating a great year both for 2nd Floor Studios and Grand Mortgage. So Yeah. Yeah. This is me here dinging Castellana.
Wes:And I'm the that's my papa bear, and I'm the baby boy, Wesley Castellana.
Dean:He is the founder of 2nd floor studio.
Wes:Co founder.
Dean:Oh, nice. You you know, you're all the energy and the talent.
Wes:Of the
Dean:Got a little a little bit of jingle in the deal. But, you know
Wes:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If it wasn't for you and, you know yeah. I had you've helped me upgrade for sure the the studio to get it to where it is,
Dean:with
Wes:the help of you and Victoria to push me back into what I love doing the most.
Dean:Oh, yeah, man.
Wes:So it but it's been fun watching, and I know we talked about this, the the progression of what the studio was aesthetically to what it looks like now has been really cool to watch over the year. So and it was all on a very good budget.
Dean:I would say. Yeah. No. Just we're sitting here with these world class mics. Wes is very value conscious.
Dean:He buys good stuff for reasonable prices. He's, you know, I would say of all the things you've accomplished this year, your engineering skills. So what what are some of the really interesting technical things you've learned
Wes:this year? So kind of the original mentality, and this was always kind of the joke, and I won't say the exploit it, but you say, f it. I'll fix it in post. That is doable, but you spend a lot of time what I really, really learned was we have good equipment. You don't need the $1,000 mics.
Wes:You know, these Rode Pod mics that you are using. I'm using BoxAssure mic. But to let the equipment do the work for you, so it live in
Dean:Sounds like golf.
Wes:Right. So trust yeah. Trust the and then what these guys who I listened, they do music mixing and mastering, but if you can get the sound just about right because you're always gonna do a little bit of, compression and equalization. That's that's just part of it. But to just like, we just played back the first part of the small business living it, and you heard how clean it was.
Wes:I didn't have to I'm not gonna have to remove background noise. I'm not gonna have to boost much. It all sounded and especially in multitrack because I just did that little extra, and I I was able to dial in of how to use the equipment. Right?
Dean:So so where did you learn all that?
Wes:Internet. Well, no. So there was some things, and a lot of it was just trial and error. It was because I wanted to see postproduction was tutorials. I have this guy, Mike Russell, that I follow.
Wes:He's he's awesome at showing tricks of getting, you know, expediting your postproduction, but reading the manuals of especially with, like, the shore mic, you know, that how to get the all of these these switches on the back. What makes a good like, the RODE RODE makes great products for you know that's a $100 mic that you're using that sounds incredible. And all you need
Dean:How do you spell that?
Wes:RODE, r o d e. R o d e. And so they're the ones that shout out to RODE, shout out to Mackymixers, and, RODE and, actually, these boom arms that were you know, a lot of people wanna do them in the desk, and they have a grommet, and all that with the grip. And the other boom arms that I had, you would have to adjust each angle. These, you can just put right in, and they hold the weight.
Wes:And so for people who have different styles of how they wanna talk, it can just adjust. So making people comfortable in doing that and and just kinda saying that that preproduction of let's make sure that your levels are good. Let's make sure everything's good on that end, and that really does help acoustics. Just, you know, the summertime's a little bit harder because, you know, the it's hot.
Dean:I didn't realize that was, atmosphere impact.
Wes:Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. So sound dampening. But, you know, a lot of people think in the and, like, I knew that the gain in your, you know, when people turn out the gain on a mixer, it sounds louder.
Wes:It's kinda like it sounds like you're turning up the volume, but you're also opening up more sound to come in. And that is what you don't want. So it's it's more about the but the and and the engineering department was yeah. It really was let the equipment do its job. And then also with headphones, and with this is I even thought Trey had to be he's becoming an audio file.
Wes:I think you're starting to notice too. Base doesn't base doesn't mean better. Like, so you have, Bose, just music headphones? Yeah. I don't know.
Wes:Okay. So you have
Dean:Oh, yes. I do.
Wes:Right. Right. So those are good for music. The ones I have, they have a mono flat signal to it so I can hear Mhmm. Everything.
Wes:So it's it's it's kind of like saying kinda teaching I was able to teach people, like, this is how you're supposed to listen to it. And the and knowing that what sounds like which makes sounds like a good podcast, learning how to optimize remote call ins was, a big thing for me too because a lot of people are afraid. So I learned that, you know, I don't get I never got on people for their mic technique, but I always like to do, like, a 20 minute BS episode of just you know, like you said, you the way you sound from when you first started.
Dean:Absolutely. Yeah, man.
Wes:Yeah. And when I listen back and I would be like I'll be mad not at you, but I'm like, god. It sounds so I think good. I'm like, what is going on? Right.
Wes:So
Dean:Hey. So this is this will be gold, I think, for your podcast, because this is technical and this is kinda speaking to maybe people who want to produce podcasts or beyond podcasts. So there's there's elements of this that I believe, I'm just gonna say for me, I thought in the beginning, this was more so you could be a content delivery guy, and I think it's evolving into the fact that now you're a service provider for the industry relative to who may want to get their message out.
Wes:Right.
Dean:Whether it be audio and now video in the studio. I think that that that does that turn you on? Yeah. So content or more than content?
Wes:Because for me to be behind the mic, it's I I'm a rock radio guy. You know, that's where my content thrives. And I did find something where I can be shielded with I can have licensed where I don't have to buy the license to the music. I can play licensed music by just paying this one site, and they allow me to play, licensed music in the
Dean:So that's gonna bring you back
Wes:to behind the mic, you think? Yeah. So that's gonna be the show will be called South by Southwest. So it's it's like creative. Hey.
Wes:I'll piggyback in off of yeah. But the idea was to, you know it's like, what am I? And I always say that I'm a rock radio DJ at heart. That's just what I do. But over lockdown and stuff, learning to just kind of just audio mixing and mastering, then starting to learn, parametric equalizers and things like that, more about compression and how you want your signals to look, and my ear has developed a lot.
Wes:And I want to show people because it took me a while to finally, like, get it in a sense. But once I understood it, I can explain it to somebody, like, the the Feynman technique. If you don't if you can't explain something like, if you say you're an expert, but you can't explain it within 5 minutes to somebody who has no knowledge, then you don't fully understand.
Dean:So that You wanna hit me to do mortgages right now?
Wes:Yeah. So yeah. Like yeah. No. No.
Wes:No. No. Like wall. Yeah. So
Dean:I'm teasing.
Wes:Yeah. So but, like, just just, like, little things like that, I I think in getting older, kinda like, I think we talked about in previous episodes of passing wanting to pass knowledge, down. And I think that, yeah, a lot of people can watch YouTube videos and but those, you know, how all those guys make money? They sell their courses. You know, they're they're not you know, they'll say all this, but it's like, hey.
Wes:You wanna grow 10,000,000 followers? Just, pay me $50, and I will show you how to it's like, dude.
Dean:Yeah. Well, so that that's a good segue to my next question. Right? So it's like, if you're so I see this since you've since we started this, you you have a a job now, full time job?
Wes:Full time. Yep. And I
Dean:can say
Wes:Yeah. No. With with Blaze with Blaze Media at Mercury Studios, I started off I got a phone call on a Friday because some dude I had never met through a temper tantrum. And, and, my manager, Sarah, calls me up, and you were in Charleston at the time Mhmm. Asked me if I could come in and run the board, for, the Steve Day show.
Wes:And I said, yeah. And then they said, can you edit this one show twice a week, Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher? Love you, Jeffy. And, it's fun to do it with him because he's a ball buster.
Dean:Oh, yeah.
Wes:Oh, I love Jeff. And, but he's got a heart of gold. And then it just, they started to see slowly that, one, I had I brought back the energy that a lot of people, you know, get, like, not jaded, but
Dean:You got energy, Wes.
Wes:Yeah. You know that. I'm like, I'm excited to I'm excited to be there.
Dean:Passion. You have the passion of a of a founder. That's why Second Floor, as your baby, is fueled by that passion.
Wes:Yeah. And and it's and so within, I know, starting at, you know, very basic stuff to now assistant directing of the pack ratio, which is the number 2 show right after right below Glenn Beck, who's got, you know, you know, half the country listening to him. Like, just today, the pack ratio after 1 hour being uploaded had 22,000 downloads. Wow. Not to mention TV and all that stuff.
Wes:So it's, I'm I'm starting to learn how to translate that into 2nd floor of seeing kinda what works, and there's a lot of behind the scenes work of scripts and pulling images. So it's like even though the show's done, I have a lot to do when I'm not there. So, but to bring to learn I I get it. I will never have something as big as what Glenn has. You dared a dream there, man.
Wes:Yeah. I mean, trust me. I would love to have the studio. He has the All in the the original All in the Family set inside the studio.
Dean:Nice.
Wes:But to but everything I see, it's all doable, like the multicam and things like that. Learning lighting and stuff because video is so important. But, yeah, just to be back in that world, back in this world because I thought after, after 98 rock, you know, my passion like, I just spent my whole life wanting to be a a broadcaster, and that medium's dead. And now it's like, hey. It's here's just the version of it now.
Wes:And, and now the goal is to you know, I always say, when did I wanna learn? I when you we would watch SportsCenter when I
Dean:was Gotcha. Uh-huh.
Wes:And then when I saw Howard Stern private parts Yeah. That was the but that's when I wanted to do it. But now to be in Dallas, there's obviously a music scene. There's a lot of the art scene, you know, everyone from tattoo artists to all that. I don't I want people to be able to see how easy it is, but it is a lot of work.
Wes:It's taken me years. I have 13 plus years of experience of knowing what works, what doesn't. And if I could just take that away and just say, hey. Here's your here's your product. You know, I'm happy to do it.
Wes:I can get it to you fast, and we can do it quick. We can have fun doing it, at a way when I say I'm not trying to undersell my prices. But
Dean:let's just call this a side hustle because you got a job.
Wes:Right? Right. So
Dean:do this like your hobby.
Wes:Passion. This is self fulfillment. Yeah.
Dean:Well and I call it the driving range. Right?
Wes:Yeah. The driving range. Right.
Dean:Where you're honing skills or
Wes:Yeah. Like
Dean:you pounding, balls into the dirt.
Wes:Yeah. Like you own the yeah. Like you own the golf course, but you're not trying you know, it's like, yeah. If a PJ guy, you know, starts there and ends up going to the PGA Tour. Cool.
Wes:Why?
Dean:Well, it's really good. So you're providing support for that. And, of course, it is kind of what I would call an artist lane if you're which is always difficult to monetize. So,
Wes:the
Dean:thing is and I'm sorry. I got about 5 more minutes.
Wes:Oh, no. No. It's okay. Sorry for talking so much.
Dean:No, man. This turned into something really cool. So I think I think that what I was we were talking about this before is like there's 2 ways to go in your career. And I'm not gonna, lock you down to either one, but it sounds like there's there's something out there for you in the what I would call larger studio corporate media world because you're in it. You can see the benefits of that.
Dean:And then there's this small business. Here we are. Small business living it. And you get to live it on the side, and maybe someday it becomes monetizable. Or maybe someday it's just like a support, as you say, for guys who wanna get their voice out there.
Wes:To to and also to network because a lot of the guys that I always call us production guys were the roadies.
Dean:Right.
Wes:Everybody has they do side hustles all the time. So to create a network of, oh, hey. You need a video guy? I got a guy. Or, you know, shoot on location, and they will contact me if I need to clean up audio for him.
Wes:So it that in that corporate world, you know, that's worth some good money. But for me, yeah, helping out just like I can always say this is I like it to be like the idea of the CBGBs or the the set, sound city where it may not have the this, you know, sound stage, but the product is just as good or if not better. And it's like
Dean:It drips of quality and creativity.
Wes:So I
Dean:here's a question. You mentioned private parts?
Wes:Yeah.
Dean:So is it 2nd
Wes:floor studio? Oh, it's a 2nd floor studio. I think it's 2nd floor. So now I see I'm I'm I'm hearing it, Kenny. I'm I'm hearing it right in my head.
Wes:So is it w
Dean:So you tell me how you would say
Wes:If if it was in the private parts, way, I'd be 2nd floor or studios? What right? What what would you say what would you think?
Dean:Well, I I believe it's 2nd Floor Studios. Okay. So Or is it 2nd Floor Studios?
Wes:So yeah. Where where was the where's the the accent?
Dean:Pause or where's the pause?
Wes:Or is or maybe is it drawn out 2nd Floor Studios? No. No. No. That's yeah.
Wes:That was bad.
Dean:It's more staccato.
Wes:Yeah. So
Dean:2nd floor studios or 2nd floor studio?
Wes:I think it would be, like, 2nd floor studios because you wanna accentuate the
Dean:break between 2nd and floor.
Wes:Yeah. We wanna do the we wanna hit that too because you wanna be able to say it in your head if if you're saying it, you know, like, it's all letters, like, you know, s e c o n d second. Or the way my in my head, it's the 2 with the n d. So second floor studios.
Dean:Got it.
Wes:So because you gotta you gotta you gotta punch it.
Dean:Yeah. Shout out to Paul Giamatti.
Wes:Paul Giamatti as big vomit and Howard Stern. Howard Stern, you shaped my life, especially with the, the where the girl turned no. I'm just kidding. But also shout out to Trey. I wanna I wanna be quick.
Wes:Blank a doodle doodle doodle doodle doodle. Yeah. Yeah. Big old pussy.
Dean:You can edit that.
Wes:Yeah. Yeah.
Dean:Don't put it on my Yeah.
Wes:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That'll be the 2nd floor studios after dark. But big shout out to Trey.
Wes:He I was just went from producer, and I'm the know nothing guy about sports to, the show has evolved, and he's been has become
Dean:So label it. It's it's strike
Wes:The strike zone, the end zone podcast.
Dean:With Trey.
Wes:Featuring Trey Ballard. And then on the on the all the graphics, it's, and Wes.
Dean:No. They're both handsome dudes. And Wes is the other thing that he's really learned a lot about is graphics through AI, software. Right?
Wes:Yeah. So I use I use, as a jumping off point, I have so, you know, I'll pick a style like South Park characters and animation, then I go into Adobe and create animations and things like that. So I don't I don't I like to use the AI because I I try to do one per episode, and that that's really hard to do. But then, but yeah. So a AI is really meant for the the graphics, but I don't use AI, like, to you know, things like Riverside and all that stuff.
Wes:They will do the auto, you know, echo cancellation and noise reduction for you. But that's according to what some programmer thinks is the way it's supposed to work. And Drew taught me that too. Just because that photo, the autofocus Mhmm. That some programmer said that's what it's supposed to be.
Wes:So I like working with the raw files. So that's why I say I record in mono because that means I have more control over it. But going circling back, let the equipment do it for you. You don't have to do much. But, yeah, we could go more on about this.
Wes:Yeah.
Dean:So let's let's wrap it, but let's recap. So you're talking about Drew Castellano.
Wes:Drew Castellano, photography.
Dean:Photographer in Charleston, South Carolina. Yep. You're talking about Trey Ballard, who you and he have a podcast here. Yep. You were talking about Mercury and Blaze.
Dean:That's, those are brands,
Wes:that Yeah. So, Mercury's yeah. Blaze, the Blaze Network is the the umbrella. Okay. Because it's a TV, but Mercury Studios is where we work.
Wes:And then, of course, Graham, you, This message.
Dean:Yeah, man.
Wes:Yeah. If it wasn't for you, because you helped me push the passion and,
Dean:for mention the box?
Wes:Box, rest in peace. I mean, every Say
Dean:his full name.
Wes:Richard Boxsmith. Awesome. So by box every day, and then shout out to his sister Dawn for giving it to me. Box and miss you every day, man. You were the I try to tell stories, and, I just can't do it justice.
Wes:So we love you, and we miss you.
Dean:And then we're dedicating this to Victoria.
Wes:She was and Victoria and sorry this was the last I mentioned, but if it wasn't for her, I'm the one that throws the, hey, I wanna do this to the studio. And she goes, Wes, go play drums. She will lay on the floor and then figure out how to make it all work. Yeah. So she and she's making a good recovery.
Dean:Yeah. Laying on a couch right now, resting so she can come back.
Wes:She wants when she's ready to get up the stairs Mhmm. She wants to get some more wall decor and stuff like that. So, Victoria, I I love you more than words could ever describe. And, you know, hopefully, when you start feeling better, she can start being some of the production.
Dean:So what what's that phrase you have about cancer?
Wes:Yeah. Well, with ovarian cancer, you wanna kick ovarian cancer in the dick. And then So
Dean:figure that out, world.
Wes:Yeah. So, yes, I realized that ovaries don't have one. That's the joke, people. I got that. Wes.
Wes:Alright. No. People actually said that to me. I'm like, okay. Yeah.
Wes:But anyway, dad, it's always a pleasure.
Dean:Wes humor.
Wes:Yeah. Yeah. This is the, not safe for work part. Yeah. Well, I'll put a little disclaimer.
Dean:No. That's all. It's all good, man. This turned into how how long have we you and I been talking about?
Wes:Yeah. We're right yeah. About 20 minutes.
Dean:There we go.
Wes:That was quick.
Dean:This is pretty gold, I think.
Wes:Yeah. Next time, we'll go we'll go wireless next time.
Dean:Alright, man. Love you.
Wes:Alright, dad. Love you too, dad. Great job. Alright. Awesome.
Wes:Bye.