Damian Kearns has been one of OIART’s proudest supporters and a great resource for the school since he graduated in 1994. Currently employed at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Damian has a Pro Tool- based studio on the 8th floor of CBC’s broadcast centre in Toronto where he edits, mixes and records sound for the Fifth Estate and numerous other CBC programs. Damian often finds himself mixing shows for Gemini, Peabody and Pulitzer Prize winning producers and directors. He always tries to be prepared and ahead of the technical curve by putting hours of his own time in each week, researching and investigating the latest relevant technology and trying to improve his methods.

For his work, Damian has been honoured with two Gemini Award nominations this year - for Best Sound in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program, and Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program. Previously Damian was also nominated in 1999 in the latter category for his work on the CBC Life & Times program on the life of Lorne Greene.

Damian’s experience and thirst for knowledge are matched by his willingness to share with us, and when he speaks, we listen. It’s fair to say Damian is outspoken, but he is most outspoken about audio professionalism and quality. A couple years back Damian wrote out a short paper entitled “Seven Keys to Assisting” which is essential reading for our students each year – and staff too because we all need reminders!

Bob Breen: Hello Damian, thanks for talking to us. Congratulations on your two Gemini award nominations.

Damian Kearns: Hi Bob. I’m a little too awkward with the award things to really know how to respond. Thank you for your kindness, I guess.

You’ve been a Gemini nominee in the past, do you think winning would really be that much better than being nominated? I would think anyone that’s nominated clearly produces work of a caliber that merits a win regardless of whose name actually winds up in the envelope.
I think it’s a plot against the Irish, actually. They’ll never let me win. Seriously, I sat with a table full of winners this year and I wasn’t bothered. I love public speaking so I would have liked the opportunity to talk, but the trophy wasn’t much of an issue to me. I was nominated for a show I recorded, edited, and mixed in eight days. The other guys in the category each had more than a month for their shows. Tell me: Who’s the loser here? I’ve often thought the way things are these days, they should give out awards based on what one can achieve in the same time frame as her/his peers. You’re right about the merits of a nominee’s work though. All of us in that category deserve to feel as though we won that night. I can tell you as well that there were a few other people in the 5th Estate unit that felt they owed me a debt of gratitude for their respective wins. The awards reveal the strength of the production team as a whole.

How do you like attending the awards show? Do you rent a tux?
I got to take a beautiful woman to the show with me whom I hadn’t seen in an age. She was a Dialogue Editor at one of my former studios and it was a thrill for her to meet many of the players in Toronto’s entertainment scene. For me, these shows remind me of just how connected I’ve become to so many people here. F**k the tux, I own an expensive suit!

Can we talk a little bit about your history? How did you discover OIART in the first place?
I used to take a couple of guitar courses at Saunders Secondary School, in London, Ontario. The teacher, Rick Piche, had done some work at SRS, now known as Soundworks. He took our class through what became known as OIART a couple of years before I actually attended. I was supposed to go to university, but I dropped out after spending an hour on campus, the first day of classes. I remembered the school and enrolled the following September. Until then, I worked in a guitar store and taught music on the side.

What kind of career were you hoping for at the time?
I think everyone in my class wanted to be a music engineer, including myself. The thing of it was, I hated other musicians. As a solo classical player and writer, I found these sorts of bar musicians and road musicians to be uncouth and grubby. I was a major snob back then. I never would have made it as a music engineer. I have to assist the odd session or mix the odd tune and I still hate working on other people’s music.

How did you like the program? What do you think the most important thing you learned here was?
I loved the program. Right from the first day when Paul Steenhuis started to talk about dynamic microphones, I was hooked. I consumed audio knowledge and spent many a happy night studying and tinkering. The most important thing I learned at OIART…hmm. Personality has to go hand in hand with talent or no one will work with you. I was the most unpopular guy in class the first day. By the end of the year, there wasn’t a group I hadn’t written, recorded, or performed with.

What was your first audio job and how did you get it?
My first job was a real joke. A local “Fence” had a whole bunch of hot audio gear he wanted me to throw together so I could start recording him. He paid me pretty well… but not necessarily in cash. Unknown to him, his wife was getting ready to turn him in and make off with $200,000. I showed up the day after he got pinched and helped myself to some of his gear since it was all going to be seized anyway. The wife had no idea I had made her for a thief and he was looking at seven years. That gear ended up coming in handy later, when I needed some cash to move from my third job to CBC Toronto.

Can you trace your career path before the CBC for us?
Sure. I started at Sounds Interchange as a Post Production Audio Assistant (title was General Operations, actually) working nights. It was a grueling grind and there was no one to hold my hand. I spent all my free time reading every manual for all the gear in--what was at the time- the largest recording facility outside of Japan. I was new to Toronto and only had a couple of friends, so it was manuals or manual stimulation, if you follow. That last part was a joke. I didn’t read that much!

After that, I left for 'deluxe' Toronto. They hired me to learn and train their mixers on the Euphonix 2000F hybrid mixing console. It was an excellent opportunity to put all of that reading and late night experimentation to use. I was the first operator they ever had come down from the machine room and stay exclusively on the theatre floor with the mixers. The guy I trained to replace me continued that trend and now it’s standard, I’m told.

Next was Pinewood Sound in Vancouver. They really didn’t want to hire me but I went back every day until they did. They had me running cable for an office telephone line the first day, and by the end of my third week, I’d mixed my first show. That’s where I met my date for the Gemini Awards.

I hated the granola-eating, tree-hugging, pot-smoking, lazy vibe out in Vancouver, so I hocked my stolen gear and bought a plane ticket back to Toronto. Irish luck being what it is, CBC was looking for someone with Studer Dyaxis editing experience and I’d managed to gain that in Vancouver so they hired me. They’ve regretted it ever since, I can say with pride.

What did you learn about giving a good job interview? What’s your advice to someone trying to land their first job?
I believe that people hire the person more than the skills. I’ve always made pretty lasting impressions and someone once asked me “What makes you think you’re any better than any of them (pointing to a foot-thick stack of resumes)?” I said “ Mine belongs on top, that’s why. All the other’s can stay underneath, where they’re meant to.” That was the first of three interviews I did for 'deluxe' before they hired me.

In “Seven Keys to Assisting”, and I’m reading between the lines here, you seem to be implying you learned a few things the hard way and you’re trying to save a few students from some painful lessons. Am I reading that right?
I’ve managed to learn a lot the hard way. Moreover, I’m a person that likes to rub someone’s nose in it when she/he screws up. I wrote that piece to give our people the edge over other schools that don’t stress subservience. You see, the greatest recording engineers on the planet are still just a service to the client. One bad mistake, and business will go away. I’ve seen it first-hand, but I’ve never lost a client personally. I’m really tired of having to “break” people and rebuild them. Just learn that stuff and listen to your superiors.

You also say outright that, in your opinion, OIART graduates are different from those out of all the other recording schools. What’s different about OIART grads?
The OIART attitude is “Can DO!” The students understand no questions until it’s appropriate, and learning is not a chore for them.

Why do you reckon that is?
This is the legacy of Paul Steenhuis. He’s a man who had to cut a few corners and learned a lot in a variety of studio settings and is probably still discovering new things about audio, wherever he is. I want to be like him and so does everyone I’ve ever met that’s learned from him or his school. His spirit makes the school what it is, I’ve no doubt.

You mention in your “Seven Keys” article that your independent streak burned a bridge with a former employer to the point where ‘they would not hire you back…’ Can you elaborate on that a little? What was the lesson you took from that experience?
I alienated everyone who wasn’t a maintenance tech or mixer at 'deluxe'. I’m a problem solver beyond anyone of my age and I was very arrogant back then. I managed on many occasions to fix or solve technical dilemmas that had eluded them for months, in a matter of minutes. As a result, I wrongly assumed I was the only assistant with any real common sense. If I could, I’d go back in time and punch myself in the face for that mistake. They wouldn’t hire me back when I returned from Vancouver because a couple of my “punching bags” had become mixers. Lesson learned. I will say though that almost none of those people now have a steady job in this business so though I was an ass, I was right on the money.

As much as you might say “don’t do what I did” about some aspects of your career, I think looking at what you’ve accomplished as a whole we have to conclude that your tendencies and personality have had a much more positive effect on your career than negative. Would you concur?
Indubitably, my good man. I can tell a joke and I drink and I flirt with any woman who comes into contact with me (even the old, ugly ones). I know how to relax people and make them want to pay me money. Even my bosses have let me off my leash on a few occasions to intimidate people into paying, or to entertain a client or talent. I’ve been called the “devil himself” many times and a “necessary evil” a couple of times by squeamish employers. The truth is: people have to want to spend up to 24 hours a day with you. That’s the biggest part of the job, after the technical is mastered.

Do you think over time you’ve been able to channel your energy in a positive way? What do you think gives you an edge in this business?
My musical background is a plus, though I haven’t played now in years. I’m also pretty handy with a pen, so a lot of time people will use me to record their voice over and count on me to catch wrong word usage and suggest ways to restructure sections of script. It’s an asset to be able to spell and write in this job. Ten years of a lot of varied experiences at four top facilities in this country definitely pushes my edge further than some of my peers. There’s no way to impart all I’ve learned from all my jobs. Some of the gear doesn’t even exist anymore.

How did you get your job at the CBC?
As I stated earlier, they were looking for a specific skill set. I thought it was a joke to apply there, as I knew no one on staff and hadn’t heard anything but rumours about the place. None of the rumours I heard were true, however.

How did you work your way into your current position?
I slept with the boss’s ugly daughter of course. She’s not that ugly and I didn’t sleep with her either. She wouldn’t have me. I just set out to be the best at my job and I learned I have to schmooze to push myself ahead. It’s that simple really.

What gear do you have in your studio?
A digital Betacam, A Betacam SX, a Digidesign mic pre unit, a DA88, a Sony 7030 RDAT, a Mackie console, microphones. You know… the basics.

What’s your favourite or most essential piece aside from the Pro Control/Pro Tools?
The Mac keyboard. Honestly, as a diehard Mac guy, I use it more than any of my coworkers and I’d say 90% of my job can be done by hitting the right keys. It’s what makes me the fastest guy in my department.

I know you have a small, tight department. New people have come on board that never quite fit in. Could you sum up what you think they did wrong?
One guy used to get high on Ecstacy and he thought he was better than some jobs. That was a problem with another guy too, and that broke my heart because he was an OIART grad and quoted one of my jokes to me when I started at CBC. (you know, the one about the 8 track mind that collapses to mono). There was a guy who started the same day as me and took a lot of notes and left it to me to ask the questions. I got good and he got canned. I tried not to laugh when he told me. I saw it coming from the moment we met. His work ethic sucked. I think that’s it really: We work awfully hard and if you don’t we’re merciless about turfing your ass.

What would be the best advice you could give them if they had another chance?
You’re not my friend if you make my life harder on the job. Pull your weight or I’ll scheme to have you fired. Of course, I say that kind of thing out loud too. So really, there’s nothing to say to any of them. They’d never get another chance with my boss. He doesn’t tolerate failure and I think he feels a little betrayed when it does happen.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
It’s a difficult job and I’m asked that question a lot. The shows tell me what they want me to do to them, sonically. It sounds weird, but I already know exactly where I’m going to go with a show when I look at it while I’m mixing. For a lot of shows, I don’t bother watching before hand. This mystical bond I have with my track is what I love. I consider what I do to be an art form, and the best artists of any sort feel their way through the medium in which they work. Thinking is for people who haven’t yet mastered their craft.

Some of the people you work with are acknowledged worldwide as the best in the business. Is there anyone in particular you feel especially honoured to work closely with and why?
I once worked with A.R. Rahman. Anyone reading this who knows who he is will tell you I met India’s answer to Elvis. He’s a god to the peoples of India and Pakistan, and I spent two whole days with him one on one. It was a Deepa Mehta film, Fire, that brought us into the same room. She was great too. I was honoured to sit next to her and hold her hand as we screened the first answer print. Neil Docherty is another person I’m very fortunate to work with. I do all his films. He’s won an Emmy, multiple other awards, and just won the Gordon Sinclair Award for the body of his life’s work. I’m proud to call him friend, even though he’s a Scotsman. Haha.

You do a lot of professional development on your own time. Why do you feel that’s necessary?
No one’s going to take food off my plate without getting a fork through his hand.

Tell me about a time when you knew it really paid off.
There have been so many times. The latest thing was probably when I got to help set up all our new Pro Tools rooms, as I have been working in the OS9 and OSX environments years longer than anyone else in the technician’s pool in our building. As a result, we chopped down the turnaround time for our systems upgrades from three weeks per room, to one week. I saved the Corporation tens of thousands of dollars, all while my boss was in hospital undergoing surgery. I really did impress everyone with that display of initiative.

Let’s talk a little about the two shows you were nominated for this year. The Canada Day Evening show was live to air? What was your role?
I prepackaged a bunch of mixed items for the broadcast. Additionally, I made a few CDs for playback in the live truck. I did a few transfers and some remastering stuff. Pretty basic and forgettable if you ask me. My boss had to call and tell me I got that nomination. I really didn’t care. I didn’t bother showing up at the Gemini Awards that night because it would’ve been two nights in a row and my date and I had other ideas about how to pass the time. Besides, I didn’t want to pay for two tickets for her.

You have templates set up in Pro Tools for various scenarios; can you tell us a little about those?
I have all the tracks split to various stems and different mix sums sent out different outputs to feed various machines. I also have a set of inactive tracks in my session that can be used to record internal mix stem bounces, which I can then print to a variety of mediums, to meet various delivery requirements. I have an Aux input track that is fed from my mic pre so I can compress and equalize my signal before I record it on one of several prefabricated record tracks. I have a number of memory locations that are built to show/hide specific groups of tracks, as well as resize the tracks. I have groups for everything and a bunch of reverb tracks with multiple inactive plug-ins assigned to each, so I can pick and choose which one or combinations to use. My main template is a work of art, but always a work in progress. My others are adequate, by my standards. I’ve actually designed a very good commercial template that’s been in use by two other guys for over a year now.

What’s the most important consideration mixing for television?
Levels. I have to be aware of broadcast standard levels and how different broadcasters differ. A lot of people new to mixing are surprised that I compress my mixes for this reason alone. I like to play my stuff back through a crappy television while I make fine level adjustments as well. Know your medium!

The other show you were nominated for was a Fifth Estate segment entitled “Dead in the Water”. That’s an interesting story about the marketing of the world’s water supply. We don’t think much about that around here, being surrounded by more fresh water than anywhere else in the world. Can you tell us a little about that show?
That’s a Neil Docherty special, to be sure. So much of the audio was unusable that I recut 85% of the audio from CD or other sound libraries. It was the first 5th Estate I did in stereo and it finally (after all these years) pushed a CBC current affairs program to be stereo and got them an audio Gemini nomination.

You must find yourself getting interested in the subject matter of some of the shows you’re working on.
Maybe that’s an understatement. I am a crusader on 5th Estate. They love me on that show because I’m a news junkie and I care about every story I do.

How did you prepare for that show?
For “Dead in the Water,” I actually bought some new sound libraries of my own. I loaded in a bunch of sounds based on a rough cut I saw and I told my former girlfriend not to bug me for a week.

You keep a personal sound effects library don't you? How long have you been collecting sounds and how often do you add to it?
I’ve been adding to my library at work for seven years. Also, I’ve been buying up CD sound effect libraries since “Dead in the Water,” as I’ve had offers to do other things outside the CBC forum.

Are the shows distributed and broadcast beyond the CBC? What do you need to do to ensure they’re compatible elsewhere?
I’ve actually had my shows play in over eighty countries around the world. I know a lot about timecode and PAL versus SECAM versus NTSC and I have a map of what countries broadcast what. The split tracks are really the most important thing. Most buyers want to change the show somehow, so I have to keep all my elements as split as possible, without giving up my artistic claim to the product. A lot of times, they only want the narration stripped off the mix. Professional Betacam formats have four audio tracks, so I always print one of these mix minus narration stereo pairs to tracks 3 and 4.

What are you working on nowadays?
I’m mixing a documentary for CBC news at the moment. I also do some items for an afternoon kids show. It’s kind of fun stuff.

Can you comment on how the current lack of professional hockey is affecting the CBC?
No.

I know all the Faculty here really appreciates that you take the time to update us on what’s going on in your industry. Why do you feel so strongly about “giving back”?
I’m not really sure. I think it has something to do with me wanting to make everything I love a little better. It’s a good quality to have in my job and I’m not sure if the job gave me that quality or I gave it to the job. Hmmm.

Do you have some advice for someone who is currently taking the program or thinking about it?
After it’s all over, forget about friends. Friends don’t put food on your table, or clothes on your back. If you enter this course with that in mind, you’ll stay hungry for success until it’s yours.

Thanks Damian! Continued success in the future!