Meet Glenn Sawyer: Music Producer/Owner of The Spot Studios

We had the good fortune of connecting with Glenn Sawyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Glenn, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk has played a large role in my life and career. I think growth requires taking risks but I’m a big advocate of knowing what you’re getting into and making sure that the risks you take are calculated ones. When I started The Spot Studios I had never managed a business and it was a serious leap of faith on my part. I had to find financing to get the business off the ground, and if I had failed I would have been in a financial hole for the foreseeable future. At the time this was a fairly terrifying idea but I knew that what I ultimately wanted lay on the other side of that risk. I believed in what I was doing though and when I found myself stressed about making everything work I would use that as motivation to work harder. As the years have passed risk has remained a constant but my ability to recognize it and prepare for it has improved. This year has been a great example of this. With all of the changes from the COVID situation I’ve done a lot of thinking and planning about what risk is out there and the best ways to combat them. Rather than crossing my fingers and hope for the best I’ve done a lot of work to prepare for the risks that COVID has introduced so that we are prepared if we have to face them. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a music producer that does a ton of writing in a variety of styles. I think what sets me apart from other people is my wide-ranging interests and my willingness to try new things. I’m proud of a ton of the work that I’ve done over the yeasr but some of the highlights include the work I’ve done with Kayla Marque, Backseat Vinyl, Britney Jane, Kash Ryder, and Mike Heuer. I feel like we’ve been able to create unique sounds for all of them and I love their desire and willingness to try new things. I could go on and on about other artists as well but you get the gist. Getting to where I am professionally today has been the opposite of easy. It’s taken a ton of work and dedication and equal amounts of sacrifice. I’ve had to confront and work through my weaknesses and there’s been a lot of unforeseen challenges along the way. I think the biggest thing that helped me to overcome the challenges was the knowledge how much I enjoy what I do. Everytime that things were difficult I thought about what I would be giving up if I didn’t do the work and that was ample motivation to keep me going. The biggest lesson that I’ve learned along the way is that you don’t always have to know how to get to where you’re going but that you do have to have the desire. A lot of times in the past I would hold off on pursuing opportunities or reaching out to artists because I wasn’t steadfast in the knowledge that I could do what I wanted to. I was fearful of failing and that lead me to not even try. Over time I realized that if you have the desire to learn and to do the work you can always get to where you’re going and that the path will slowly but surely become clear as you walk down it. This idea is something that I use in my artistic, business, and personal life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The longer I’m in Colorado the more infatuated I become with it’s natural beauty so I would probably haul them into the mountains for either hiking or skiing/riding. If it was the Summer I’d take them hiking in either the James Peak Wilderness or the Mt Evans wilderness and then we’d head to Casa Tequilas in Evergreen for Margaritas and delicious Mexican food. If it was the winter we’d head up to Loveland, Keystone, or A-Basin for some turns and then follow that up at either Tommyknockers or the Breckenridge Brewery. If we were hanging out on the front range we’d definitely get breakfast from Lookin’ Good in Lakewood and then we’d be stopping into the Cherry Cricket, Steuben’s, or La Loma for lunch/dinner. Would probably have to bring them up to walk through Boulder and Fort Collins too and we’d definitely be stopping at New Belgium at some point since I’m a sucker for their Voodoo Ranger.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There have been a lot of people in my life who have been hugely instrumental in helping me to get to where I’m at but there are 4 in particular who I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to. The first are my parents, Paul and Jonette Sawyer. Even though they couldn’t always see my vision they’ve always been supportive of what I have been doing and I’m eternally grateful to them for that. There’s no doubt in mind that I wouldn’t be where I am today without their love and support. I’d also like to shoutout one of my best friends, Joey Audie, who has always believed in me as well. He and his business partners helped us to get off of the ground financially when other institutions were unwilling to extend help to us and for that I’m eternally grateful as well. Finally, I’d like to shoutout another of my best friends and my production partner Rich Veltrop. Rich is an incredibly talented producer/engineer and is the Peanut Butter to my Jelly in the studio. His talents are a perfect complement to mine and has helped me to realize the quality of work that I have always strived to achieve and would not be able to on my own. He also took a leap of faith in deciding to start this business with me so I’m eternally grateful to him for that as well.

Website: www.thespotstudios.com
Instagram: @thespotstudios
Twitter: @thespotstudios
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSpotStudiosCO

Image Credits
Glenn Sawyer – Color Photos Joel Rekiel – B&W Photos