Rising Stars: Meet Gavin Shea

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gavin Shea.

Hi Gavin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hmm… I suppose my story starts like many musicians… playing loud music with your buddies in your parent’s garage, and trying to be awesome lol. This was in Sarasota, FL, where I’m from. I stuck with those dudes for ten years, and had an absolute blast trying to “make it”, but the industry was in flux then (around 2006), and this became annoying. Soon after, it was obvious that bands weren’t going to be a thing for a while, so we parted ways and I began my “solo” career as a writer, art fella, whatever haha.

After moving to Montana for a year and not doing music, or art (or anything, really), I moved back to Florida in secret to write and reset at my Grandma’s house. I had set up a studio, and a weird little apartment in the living room there (no one lived there, and no one knew I was there besides my immediate family), and so I lived for a few months.. made a bunch of songs/demos/etc, for no reason other than I felt like doing it again lol that felt good.

I sent the songs to my friend Chris Gill (whom, as of today, is my best bud, business partner, writing confidant, and everything in between) and he helped book me a showcase at the Florida Music Festival in Orlando the following year.

I had never played alone before, it was packed and scary, but I crushed that shiz and won a record contract that sent me to Nashville to build my debut EP “Alive and Well”. Crazy. Chris was set to be the producer on this, which was kick ass because we had already worked together and trusted one another. We worked for about a month at his place and, during that time, I went and picked up my things and moved to Tennessee. This would be 2012, I think.

We didn’t know we were forming the foundation of our production partnership, but we knew we were making something fun and different. When the record was done, I got a band together and played those songs for a year, or so. People really seemed to enjoy it, but I wasn’t finding it as exciting anymore. I was fine with this, and it led to my transition into producing for other artists/bands and making records and stuff.

In January of 2016, Chris and I had done enough work together to realize we wanted to continue pursuing it in a more professional structure, so we rented this strange two-story suite behind some construction company’s offices and set up shop… called it “HandMade Productions” and still do, I guess, but people just sort of call one of us, so it’s basically just an LLC at this point haha.

I feel like I need to jump time a bit, so I’ll put 2016 – Pandemic in a nutshell real quick lol.

We worked on hundreds of songs, with tons of new pals and really got a program together that people seemed to trust and enjoy. Our process usually centered around solo artists, so we would help them with their songs and lyrics, arrange and play all the instruments, mix and master the tunes.. do music videos and web content, and whatever really.. almost like an “artist development” company, except that connotation is whack lol After a while, it was really just “holler at Gavin or Chris and go make fun jams and find your style”. We were having a ball.

We moved through 3 different spaces in that time, the last of which was a beautiful studio on the east side where we had downsized into a small production suite upstairs. Our “business model”, and space requirements, had changed so much with pop music and “working in the box” (computer), that it made more sense to rent time in the larger studio below us and scurry back up to our lil’ Hobbit hole to keep working. Those were really fun days, but the pandemic left us with no choice but to split the rig and move out to work separately, from home, as most folks did.

Fun side quest: Towards the end of that time, and into today, a new artist persona began to form for me. I now make art as Richard String and am usually credited as such on productions and whatnot for others. Although working for all those years on other people’s songs was growth-inducing, and fruitful, I began to dislike that idea, as well. It wasn’t like it wasn’t fun.. just not as challenging, or something? I think it was the fact that I made a great living doing albums for people who had the budget, but not the drive, and I no longer have the heart to let people spend too much money on a heart-broken whim when I know they’ll need later lol.

Sad, maybe, but so so so true as you get older and your goals solidify. I make less producing, and tour more now, but this has greatly improved my relationship with music and moved me into more of a “mentor” role for many artists. I still work as a producer for some things, but I mainly just write and make songs with Chris in our new studio behind my house.

Actually, the new studio is sort of the only high point since the pandemic began, so I’ll touch on that and I think that’ll be my story so far…

Just before the lockdown, my wife and I had been looking to buy a house, which we found in Madison, TN just outside of Nashville. Cool house, cool life.. but there was a derelict garage behind it that I intended to remodel into a permanent studio for whatever I wanted to do. (Store all our gear, at the very least haha) Welp turns out it was in far worse condition than we thought, so my dad proposed building something from scratch in its place.

So insanely daunting, but a few weeks later we tied a rope around it and pulled it over with about 13 friends lol what a day. In the following weeks, we kicked around some designs, but eventually, my dad delivered an absolute banger, and over the next nine months, the 3 of us built it together by hand. We certainly had some help from friends, as my dad was in the middle of some really intense Chemo at the time, so we couldn’t always work day after day as a squad.

\He would come down, and train us, and guide us, then Chris and I would be lil’ contractor pals while he would come and go. So much learned, and so much gained (like massive debt, for instance, lol) but, this will live in my memory as one of the greatest experiences of my life.. take risks, reap rewards… I can’t really find the words to continue that part (and this has become extremely long-winded lol), but so grateful to have shared in such an adventure.

Jump to today… My wife left, and my dog is old AF and that’s tough, but I do whatever I want making songs, and singing and having fun with friends at the new “HandMade Productions” whatever it is now. What a ride. I should proofread this lol.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
“Art is hard” – all of us lol.

I would say the biggest challenge is interpreting someone else’s art, or vision, and establishing a connection to it that feels personal. I find myself being specifically methodical in building a confident trust with an individual faster than it might happen organically over time.

This approach varies from person to person, and personality to personality.. honestly, that might be my favorite part of all of this. That challenge of connecting to someone in a set amount of time. Reckon I’ve grown to be pretty good at it over the years, and I think that helps people feel comfortable/vulnerable pretty quickly.

From there, you can bring out the best in someone, or someone’s idea, together as a lil’ family haha.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The majority of my focus these days goes to Richard String, which is my current creative outlet. Having a separate moniker started as a joke, but then I adapted it as a vessel to release new music that could do whatever it wanted to do.

Aside from my most recent work “A Love, Disconnected” (A batch of tunes I made alone in the new space immediately after construction was completed), the Richard stuff has mostly spawned from collabs with friends. This got me stoked on music in a new way and advanced my technical skill and approach exponentially with each tune I did.

I released one every month before Covid stuff, starting with a 12-minute song I called “Proper Snacks”. This music is for me, but other people seem to like it which is nice. It’s weird, I rap sometimes lol it’s pretty… it’s free. Have a listen or follow me @richardstring for whatever it is I’m getting into.

Currently, that is a bunch of sad acoustic songs because “why not?” lol write what ya know.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I don’t really listen to music, but it’s what I do. It’s bizarre and runs the risk of making me seem like a doofus, but I just prefer peace and quiet when I’m not working. It helps me feel more impulsive and less redundant, maybe? Honestly, I just like to think and work through songs in my head, and I just find music distracting.

It detracts from juggling 15 songs of others and 3 of your own. I also find this with podcasts, etc. Like, I don’t wear headphones at the gym. Is this a surprise? Lol, am I weird? I sincerely love music and listen to recommendations from friends and new albums from bigger artists at least once, but I don’t know from there haha

I also cook food and never taste anything as I’m cooking… I think that might be the same thing. Typing this out actually makes me feel pretty strange, come to think of it lol

Contact Info:

• Email: gavin@handmadenashville.com
• Website: www.handmadenashville.com
• Instagram: @richardstring
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX2J6mceWic

Image Credits
Seiji Inouye