Mixing sounds for the stars: GH man tunes music for the best
Bill Chrysler’s finely tuned ear has resonated with some of the world’s most legendary music artists. As an independent sound engineer, the Grand Haven man has mixed more than 6,000 live concerts all over the globe for world-acclaimed musicians — including Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Rush, Def Leppard and Van Morrison.
Chrysler is currently touring with John Mayer, who performed at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Sunday night.
“I love their music, and putting it together and helping combine all the creative elements,” Chrysler, 56, said last week from his hotel room in Boston. “I love the creative side of this.”
Depending on the artist, Chrysler uses an array of equipment to adjust the instrument and vocal sounds the musicians hear on stage — as opposed to what the audience hears from the speakers — in order to cultivate their performance. For Mayer’s band, with whom Chrysler will tour through sometime this fall, Chrysler uses in-ear mixing devices.
“I customize each mix for the person I’m mixing for,” he said.
Chrysler said his passion for music began when he was young. While growing up in Grand Rapids, he would listen to his mother sing and his Baptist minister father play the saxophone.
“I always listened to my dad’s records,” he said. “I just loved (music) so much that I wanted to be a part of it.”
As a teenager, Chrysler played various instruments in local rock bands. In 1976, he headed to Los Angeles to mix music and eventually landed his first major tour gig with Blue Steel, which opened for the Eagles.
During the last 30 years, Chrysler’s ear for sound perfection and his devotion to his clients have earned the respect of many of the nation’s hottest musicians.
“I’m very blessed,” he said.
When Chrysler is on tour with a musician, he could spend as much as 10 months a year on the road. While he has enjoyed the ride of his ever-mobile career, Chrysler said he is eager to get back inside his Grand Haven studio — Chrysler Audio — and tune into West Michigan’s musical soul.
“That’s my passion,” Chrysler said of recording in his 1,000-square-foot warehouse studio. “I love to get really raw music, and make it and polish it, and help it to be what it wants it to be. The Grand Rapids area is loaded with really good talent. There’s a lot to offer from the surrounding areas — like Holland, Muskegon and Grand Haven.”
Chrysler has worked in-studio with several West Michigan musicians, including Muskegon-based Four Finger Five. For the past year, he has worked closely with the band to produce its second album, “2:22,” which was released in February.
“They naturally come up with memorable licks,” Chrysler said of Four Finger Five’s songs. “… It’s lyrics that have meaning and are not just words that rhyme. There’s a story behind it.”
The band’s lead singer and guitarist, Joe Sturgill of Grand Haven, calls Chrysler a “real modest, humble guy” who has “really good ears.”
“He’s a great engineer and knows what he’s hearing,” said Sturgill, 31, who manages the warehouse studio while Chrysler is out of town. “He knows what frequency he needs to fix and what’s good.”
When rehearsing inside the local studio, band members feel at ease with Chrysler’s relaxed demeanor and positive attitude, Sturgill said.
“It feels like we’re hanging out with friends — no pressure,” Sturgill said.
Grand Haven studio drummer and clinician Scott Pellegrom said he was “blown away” during his first recording session with Chrysler and Sturgill a year ago.
“He’s one of the greatest live sound engineers in the world and he’s in Grand Haven,” Pellegrom said of Chrysler. “It shows that we have a talented community and you can conquer the world as an artist — even from right here in West Michigan.”
Neither Chrysler nor his wife, Binnie, deny that the nearly year-long stretches while Bill is away from home is difficult. Modern technology — with video, picture cell phones and Skype — has certainly made communication easier and more accessible while Bill is on the road.
The Chryslers, who have been married for 21 years, attribute constant communication as the mainstay to their unconventional life. With multiple phone calls a day, the Chrysler children — Dustin, 15, and Sarah, 11 — never miss a day to say good morning and goodnight to their dad, Binnie said.
“Our kids have a great relationship with their dad,” she said.
Binnie, who grew up in Grand Haven, knows first-hand the demands of the music industry. As a former music production assistant, she said she gained insight of the hard-working days musicians and their crews put into for a live show.
“That has helped our relationship and it has helped me understand the road life — because it is a different life that comes with its own set of rules and regulations,” said Binnie, 45.
While the Chryslers could live in the bustling centers of the music industry, they chose to raise their family in a community where they feel safe and trusted. When the occasion arises in meeting a celebrity, they said they try to keep their kids grounded to the life they know in Grand Haven.
As a family, the Chryslers — who all share Bill’s passion for music — said they rely on an extensive support system of family, friends and church that reach beyond Grand Haven to help them through some of the more trying times.
“It’s just our life — we don’t know any different,” Binnie said. “We’re blessed to have incredible people who we consider family when we’re on the road. The kids have a lot of ‘uncles’ out there that they can call no matter what.”
Still, Bill’s fatherly presence is missed in the daily life at the Chrysler household, and vice versa.
“I miss watching my kids grow up,” he said. “In the last year, my son grew 7 inches — you can’t see that on Skype.”
When Bill is home, however the duration, the Chrysler clan glues together and cherishes those moments.
“He loves to be home, and he’d rather be here than be out there,” said Sarah, a fifth-grader at Mary A. White Elementary School. “It doesn’t really bug me. I’ve grown up with that, so I’ve gotten used to it.”
Dustin — who describes his dad as a “great guy,” while also being “goofy” and “playful” — has already begun learning the ropes of his father’s trade.
“I think I’d like to do what he does when I’m older,” the Grand Haven High School freshman said. “I’ve learned a lot from him.”
Following the conclusion of Mayer’s show on Sunday, the Chrysler family gave a tearful goodbye as three of them headed home to Grand Haven, while Bill and the crew packed up and headed to the next stop on the tour, Milwaukee. Their next reunion will likely be in April before the tour heads overseas.
“It’s going to be a hard goodbye,” Bill said before Sunday’s show. “It is every time.”
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