When he left the military in 2006, Anspach had no real goals. After attending CRAS, he interned and then worked full-time at EastWest. Now, Anspach is a freelance producer.
Gilbert, Ariz., April 13, 2016 – When Wil Anspach was in high school, he played with some local bands and was always involved in music, but he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Shortly after graduation, though, his whole life changed. The 9/11 attacks took place and the young man from Reading, Pennsylvania, knew he had to do something.
Anspach came from a military family: his grandfather was in the U.S. Navy, and his sister and older brother were both in the service. So Wil joined the U.S. Marine Corp and became part of the first units to enter Iraq in June 2002. He would see three deployments in the Middle East, and was shot in the leg while patrolling Najaf, Iraq.
When he left the service in 2006, Anspach had no real goals. He went to college, traveled around the country and settled in Texas where he got back into music. The band he joined wanted to stand out from other local bands. To accomplish that, they decided the best way was to cut a record and present it to local record producers.
“When I got into the studio for the first time, I had no idea what we were doing,” he said. “This was a whole new world and I was fascinated by it.”
(After their sessions, Anspach wanted to learn more about producing. He spoke with several engineers and learned about) in Tempe/Gilbert, Arizona. He spoke to a CRAS admission representative and learned that his tuition could be paid through the G.I. Bill as vocational rehabilitation. The representative helped him complete the required paperwork and when he was accepted, Anspach also received a subsidy to manage his living expenses so he could concentrate on coursework.www.cras.eduthe Conservatory for Recording Arts and Sciences
CRAS provided Anspach with everything he needed to further his education: top instructors who are experts in the field, the most modern equipment that is also being used by the leading studios, exposure to successful alumni, and a rigorous curriculum that challenged him to learn and improve his skills.
and finished classes on campus at the top of his class with a 4.0 average, but he still needed an internship. “I researched several studios around the country and I really liked the reputation, the quality and music coming out of EastWest in Los Angeles,” he said. “However, everyone told me that EastWest has little turnover, only takes the best of the best, and it’s real difficult to get in the door.Anspach worked hard
before leaving campus, the CRAS Intern Coordinator called me and said EastWest had a assistant engineer who was leaving the company and there would be an opening for an intern, as well. He arranged for me to interview if I could get myself to L.A. by Monday.” The actual interview took place on Tuesday, but Wil was hired on the spot.“The day
EastWest interns perform entry-level duties, such as getting food for clients, then move on to learning about the rooms, setting up and tearing down sessions and working with assistants. Interns who perform such tasks well will build up trust with the studio staff – especially when they know to ask for help before doing unfamiliar jobs. Sometimes the interns will work for months learning the ropes before moving up or moving on.
For Anspach, timing was everything. Within three weeks, he was hired full time. Six weeks after that he became a staff manager and three months later he was assisting on major projects for artists including Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Metallica, One Direction and Nelly with major producers such as Alex da Kid.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Anspach said. “I had the luck to be there when things were changing and the good placement at EastWest to take advantage of the changes. I believe that my military background served me well when dealing with the changes. Most interns are treated as, well, interns, but when artists and staff found out that I had served three deployments with the Marines in the Middle East, that earned me some respect. A lot of people may not respect the politics of what happened, but they do respect the reasons why I enlisted and my service to this country.”
After working with Alex da Kid, Anspach was hired as his personal engineer, working on studio recording sessions. Anspach left in late 2014 to become a freelance producer, working with new and upcoming artists who inspire him with their words and music.
“I really enjoy working with new people who are passionate about their art,” he said. “There is a lot of gratification that comes from helping that person where you can unlock the most potential. I’m a firm believer in the 10,000-hour principle: that to be real good at something you need to put in 10,000 hours at it. Sometimes it means working 16-hour days for days at a time, but sometimes you also need a second job to take care of the responsibilities. But if you have the passion for this work, then you immerse yourself in it. The thing is, I never felt like I was really working.”
CRAS structured programs and highly qualified teaching staff provide a professional and supportive atmosphere, which is complemented by its small class sizes allowing for individual instruction and assistance for students in engineering audio recordings. The 11-month program is designed to allow every student access to learn and train in all of the Conservatory’s studios which are comprised with state-of-the-art audio recording and mixing gear, the same equipment used in today’s finest studios and remote broadcast facilities, including Pro Tools 11, API Legacy consoles, SSL AWS consoles, Studer Vista consoles, and much more. All students must complete a 280-hour industry internship to graduate from the Master Recording Program II that may ultimately lead to industry employment. Recently, two CRAS graduates won 2016 Grammy Awards, and, in addition, 13 graduates received credit for their work on 17 Grammy-winning categories. Overall, 38 CRAS graduates worked on numerous 2016 Grammy-nominated albums and songs across 36 categories.
