Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Sanders.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in Milwaukee in a family of professional musicians. My parents were church musicians and both of my siblings were classical violinists, so I started music lessons pretty young. In middle school though I got pulled toward roots, folk, and rock music. I started playing in bands and working at local recording studios, and as soon as I graduated high school I moved straight to Nashville.
I spent the better part of a decade playing and touring full time with a wide variety of artists before rekindling my interest in production. I eventually made the shift into producing records full time and ended up running a studio of my own. We recently moved the company into a much larger production space in East Nashville, where we continue to make records while also facilitating more community-focused projects and events.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The playing and touring part of my career was relatively straightforward. It wasn’t always easy, but having grown up around professional musicians I always had a pretty clear sense of what the next steps looked like.
Production was a different story. When I shifted my focus I had to learn how to let people see me differently, and translate existing creative relationships into a new part of my career. A lot of people were confused that I was walking away from playing full time so I had to really learn how to trust myself and keep showing up for the work.
Running a studio brought its own growing pains. I never actually set out to own a recording studio, but I stumbled into a really generous opportunity to build a community around a cool space in Berry Hill. That allowed me to shape the studio around what people actually needed rather than taking the “if you build it, they will come” approach. I was able to develop the space, the experiences, and ultimately my own creative identity around the community that was forming there.
When we moved the studio from Berry Hill into a much larger space in East Nashville I had to learn how to translate that very personal model onto a bigger scale. More recently I’ve also been learning when to step back from the day-to-day operations. Bringing in a few trusted colleagues has given me the freedom to put more of my energy back into producing records.
At this point, I think of it as two complementary businesses: Barnfire Creative is the commercial studio I operate and work out of, while my work as a producer isn’t tied to the space itself. This gives me more flexibility creatively and allows the studio to be available as a community space when I’m not there. It definitely hasn’t been a smooth or obvious road, but I really value the people and communities it’s allowed me to connect with along the way and that’s made the process so worth it to me!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
A lot of my musical foundation came from working with acoustic music and a really wide range of players, from symphony orchestras and old-time string bands to singer-songwriters and experimental noise-rock bands. I’ve always been fascinated by how physical sounds interact to create something bigger than the individual parts.
It took me a while to realize that I was less interested in the performance of individual instruments and more interested in how they could support a larger idea or emotion. That’s really what pulled me toward production.
Today I tend to approach projects from that perspective. I’m less concerned with genre or style and more focused on what feels right sonically and emotionally. I care a lot less about execution for its own sake and a lot more about how something feels.
The other huge part of my work is very people centric! A primary factor in the success of any project is casting it properly. Years of playing and touring gave me the opportunity to build relationships with musicians and artists from all kinds of communities and that gives me a really deep well to draw from when I’m putting a team together. The chemistry in the room is everything, so I’m usually more interested in finding the right people than necessarily the “best” people. When the creative chemistry is right and everyone genuinely connects with the vision there’s an energy that can carry a project so much further!
Any big plans?
No major changes on the horizon, but I’m always open to new and positive opportunities. Right now, I’m really enjoying having a little more structure around the two sides of my career like I mentioned earlier.
I recently built out a Studio B/mixing room at home, which gives me more flexibility to work close to my family while the primary studio is being used by other people & projects. I’m trying to invest in that ever-elusive work/life balance I hear so much about!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.barnfirecreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnfirecreative/
