Today we’d like to introduce you to John Behrens.
Hi John, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I moved to Nashville in 2010 to engineer and produce music, after leaving my original career of chemical engineering. I was really fortunate to be able to join an existing studio partnership whose engineer had just taken a different job out of state. One of the clients he passed on to me was a digital media producer who needed an engineer for a few audiobooks a year. Over a few years that grew from a low paying side gig to a more busy and involved part of my engineering work, and in 2017 I founded Nashville Audio Productions and set about producing audiobooks under my own auspices. I had a great relationship with a major publisher located in Nashville, and the first few years of NAP were a whirlwind of finding, training and supporting a team to handle the work that was coming in. I quickly shifted from being in the studio myself to spending my days training proofers, auditioning narrators, coaching engineers, and eventually assembling an admin team to help me keep the plates spinning. These days we have a full roster of narrators, director/engineers, manuscript preppers and post-production editors, all focused on the peculiar craft of producing great audiobooks. I’ve also been able to get “on the other side of the glass” as a narrator myself, and now have over 50 titles to my name. The company has produced hundreds of books, and these days we find ourselves more focused on working directly with authors who want to record their own books, coaching and directing them to bring out engaging performances and execute their vision for their audiobooks. It is a joy and a privilege every time we’re trusted with someone’s “book baby!”
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The early years were smooth in that work was pouring in, and also challenging for the same reason, as I kept hitting the limit of my capacity and needing to delegate more and deeper aspects of the work. Through some of the books I narrated I have long been aware of the temptation for a business owner to cling tight to their work, and have consistently embraced the risk, challenge and reward of training and trusting teammates. I am so grateful for the folks I am working with now, but even after years together there are still complexities, intricacies and nuances that challenge me to communicate thoughtfully and thoroughly. We have also had to navigate some significant changes as audiobooks grow double digits year over year and the publishing landscape evolves its posture toward them. Two years ago our primary client went through a massive restructuring that upended our well-worn workflows, and retaining my team, reworking our production process, and building new client relationships have been the primary challenges since then. Another peculiar obstacle in audiobook production is the fact that proofing audiobooks requires a level of skill and focus that means most excellent proofers move onward and upward after a year or so. So finding and training new proofers is a staple challenge that is both time consuming and also rewarding, as I have yet to meet an uninteresting person who’s interested in proofing audiobooks 🙂
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Nashville Audio Productions?
We’ve been producing audiobooks for 8 years now, and for many of those years we were the top audiobook studio in Nashville by volume. From the very beginning we have been obsessed with quality. Quality of the sound, obviously, but also other less-obvious details of audiobook production: getting pronunciations correct, matching clients with the right narrators, handling hours and hours of audio efficiently, and one of my most important values: honoring our clients’ time. We will always be the production partner who takes ownership of project momentum and gets things done without bugging you, but who will also involve you whenever we face a creative decision where your input is needed. I consider it our job to discern those inflection points and explain the options in an accessible way so that the client (whether an author or a publisher) can share their vision and direct the final product to be what they want. We all know it’s hard to find a trustworthy contractor who will show you the questions you don’t even know to ask, and we love being that partner for everyone we work with. People spend a lot of time and effort writing or publishing a book, and it continues to be a total joy to join forces with them and make that text into a vibrant audiobook that delights listeners and represents their work fully and winsomely. Coaching authors when they choose to read their own book is always an honor and privilege, and everyone we work with comes away deeply grateful for our commitment to excellence and our guidance along the way. I have also sought to be a good employer who pays contractors promptly, communicates clearly, and helps everyone I work with deepen and sharpen their skillset. In the media creation industry that at times can be flaky and frustrating, I take a lot of joy and pride in treating my people well, and experiencing the camaraderie and loyalty that comes with that. I’m also very proud of the studio space I found after years of searching: the B Room at Farmland Studios (formerly The Rukkus Room). Audiobooks pose a unique challenge because there is typically no music or sound effects to cover background noises in the recording, and you’re capturing audio for hours on end. We have a warm, comfortable, professional studio that is a sonic bunker (it’s where you want to be during a tornado warning!), and I am proud to bring clients big and small into such a welcoming and capable space.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Networking is one of my growth areas for sure, but I can say with absolute certainty that being a person of integrity and honesty is the best currency in the land. As someone who trains/mentors a lot of younger engineers, I know that I am always looking for someone who doesn’t pretend to know it all, who takes ownership of any responsibility given to them, and who does what they say they will do (or communicates promptly and directly if something changes). Being genuine is also key for networking from what I’ve experienced, and I think it’s the easiest and most significant way to stand out and be memorable.
Pricing:
- Studio + Engineer: $125/hr (for audiobooks, podcasts, music, etc.)
- Audiobooks are custom quotes per project
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nashvilleaudioproductions.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nashvilleaudioproductions
