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Meet Steven Cortez of Signal Six in Central Phoenix

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Cortez.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Steven. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up surrounded by music from my dad. He was a musician and played the trumpet. It was his first passion and he had always hoped to do it professionally. He exposed us to a wide range of diverse music growing up and it inspired me. I was very artistic and loved to draw. My dad bought me a guitar and I taught myself how to play. That was the start of it all. One day I was at my cousin’s friend’s house when I was around 13 or 14. He had Fruity Loops on his computer and was messing around with it. I went home and downloaded it and started to experiment. My neighbor happened to be a rapper and I started making beats for him. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved creating things and making something from nothing.

Eventually, I learned more, joined a group, left the group and throughout the time I started exploring the music scene. I learned the piano shortly after, started working and kept saving to buy more and more equipment. Once I did that I put everything into getting better. I would lock myself in my room and play or make things for hours. At that point, I ventured off and did my own thing after leaving the group. I didn’t want to keep doing hip/hop and realized that I really loved R&B and classical music. Once I found my sound I started reaching out to people. I found a lot of people on Myspace, kept experimenting and the clientele kept building up. Once I met my fiancé, who was a singer, I refined my sound and it opened up more opportunities. I worked out of several studios for a long time and finally decided to invest in my own studio through a collaborative partnership. I got to a point where I fully mastered music and sound and wanted to see how else I could challenge myself or evolve as a creator. A lot of my friends are photographers and videographers so I started learning and teaching myself about field sound to be on shoots with them. I also started doing live sound for the church. Now I’ve branched out into photography and videography.

Back in 2012, I was in between jobs, a normal 9-5 kind of job and pursuing music on the side. I wanted to separate myself from my services or be an “artist”. I started brainstorming ideas and came up with the concept for Signal Six. Six has always been a significant number for me. I would wake up at 6:00 am random. My first, middle and last names have six letters in it. Something about it always stood out to me. I searched the meaning and what resonated the most with me was that God created the Earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th so it was known to be the perfect number. I tried to think of different words to go with it. I thought about the word signal and it is a sound or gesture used to convey information to another party. So my information to people is sound and when you combine them it’s the perfect sound. After several years of investing time and money, I am now to the point where I can live off my passions while still learning new things daily.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road. It’s an extremely difficult industry. There were big sacrifices made along the way. You lose a lot of time with people and yourself. It’s scary to pursue a passion that people believe doesn’t make money or result in a full time job. I failed at certain things because I was self-taught. Those same mistakes I made also ended up teaching me the most. Doing everything on my own was also difficult because I had to wear 15 different hats. You’re so many people in 1 when you have your own business. It was all funded by myself and had to build up my equipment. A lot of what I made was reinvested to get more quality gear. I was working two part-time jobs to lift my business off. I would work all day and be up all night. I finally leaped and left both part time jobs completely. It took a lot of faith to leave that comfort and go for it but that faith is what brought me here today.

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Signal Six started as a sound production company and has now evolved into a multimedia production company. I do sound engineering, mixing, mastering, recording, artist production, live production, field production, sound design, music composition, audio/video production, post production. I specialize mostly in sound production. I am known for an ambient/dreamy sound. A lot of it is R&B and smooth. I do a lot of different types of genres. I also create music for documentaries. I’m most proud of the people I’ve worked with as a company. Looking back at what I’ve accomplished from insanely talented artists to major corporations. I think what sets me apart from others is the versatility. Being able to adapt to so many different types of sets and fields of sound. My company offers a one stop shop for all that you need. I try to provide a unique experience to people who come to me. They are a part of the process, I build it from scratch and I try to tell their story whether its through music, sound or visuals.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My fiancé has played a major role in my career path. She was my singer and writer. I trailed a lot of different sounds with her and she trusted me fully with the directions I stepped in. It gave me a lot of confidence in creating music for other clients. She also sent several outside artists my way. Each and every artist I’ve worked with have also contributed to my success as well. Whether the process was good or bad it was still a process that helped me evolve as a creator and service based company.

Pricing:

  • Studio Rate: 50.00 HR

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