Thomas Heney
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Fall 2014)
Thomas Heney is a singer/songwriter, guitarist with a love for music performance and production. He is passionate about sharing the music he loves with others and hopes to make an impact with his music while helping other talented musicians reach success. As the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the two-man acoustic act, “Tim Aven & Thomas Heney,” Heney has gained experience playing live shows in both St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri in venues such as, the Blue Note, Sky Bar, Mojo’s, Chesterfield Amphitheater, the Bridge, and the Broadway Rooftop. He also recorded and produced the duo’s debut EP, “New Season,” which is available on iTunes and in select stores. Heney is also served as a production intern at the KCOU recording studio at Mizzou where he is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. Heney’s hard work and involvement with music has provided opportunities to perform at special events, sit in on recording sessions, and collaborate with artists from a variety of different genres including soul, hip-hop, and folk. Beyond his work at the KCOU recording studio, Heney is currently working on co-writing and producing a second EP for his duo. Outside of music performance and production, he possesses skills and experience in videography/film production, and design.
To sample some of Thomas Heney’s work, you can visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/new-season-ep/id783680750 or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTgglU6Jhooy70megyPNpTw
Rachel Mallin
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Fall 2014)
A musician at heart, Rachel Mallin feels most comfortable expressing her creativity through music. She can play guitar, keys, bass, drums, vocals, and mandolin and one day dreams to become a successful independent singer/songwriter and producer.
Since high school Rachel has been rocking out in bands with friends playing gigs at venues in the Kansas City area such as The Uptown Theatre, The Beaumont Club, The Granada, and more. Since beginning school at the University of Missouri, Rachel joined the band Dangerfield playing at all the local clubs in Columbia, Missouri and even released her first EP with them before embarking on their first tour. Her first solo EP, The Persistence of Vision EP, has just been released on SoundCloud and iTunes. Along with her personal experience, Rachel also has a music certification from Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA.
Lindsey Ralls
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Summer-Fall 2014)
Lindsey Ralls is a passionate audio engineer with over 7 years of experience playing the clarinet. In addition to the clarinet, Lindsey is also familiar with piano, guitar and bass guitar. Infatuated with music’s ability to bring people together through its expressive and celebratory nature, Lindsey hopes to one day use her skills to facilitate sustainable career for musicians so they may create their masterpieces doing what they love.
In the past, Lindsey has interned at various positions throughout the music industry such as a Blue Note box office intern, Roxy’s marketing intern, Fueled by Ramen campus representative and a Cornerstone Marketing Group intern in New York where the focus is on marketing campaigns for various music brands and concert/event hosting.
Recently Lindsey is working as an Board Member for the Mizzou Music Management Group for which she is the founder. She hopes to establish this group in the area as a popular community for students to learn about various jobs in the music industry while simultaneously developing skills and gaining experience to land those jobs. Lindsey is also the current manager for a local band called Dangerfield who is in the midst of releasing their first EP and embarking on mini tour.
Tara McPherson
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Summer 2014-Spring 2015)
Tara McPherson is a saxophonist committed to spreading her love of music through music education, audio engineering/producing, and engaging performances of classical, jazz, and popular music. Her versatile skills have taken her to appear on stage with the MU Studio Jazz Band and the University Symphonic Band as well as local acts such as Pluto’s Still a Planet and Austin Kolb Band. With these groups, she has performed in settings ranging from the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference to hole-in-the-wall bars like The Blue Fugue. Tara is also interning as an audio engineer/producer at the KCOU recording studio at Mizzou where she pursues a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Tara has a strong background in classical music and equally in the "popular music" realm. She is well connected within the Columbia area music scene where she plays locally with her own band, Integrow. This diverse appreciation for music is part of what drives Tara's passion for music education. She actively teaches saxophone lessons through the university and privately to players of all ages and abilities.
Tara’s interest in audio engineering was first sparked when she met Lenny Mink, owner of LOTOWN Studios in Lake Ozark, MO. Lenny brought Tara into his studio to record saxophone for a few of his songs and in return, allowed her to explore the studio space and learn about the process. Following her introduction to audio engineering/producing, she met Adam Weber with Ninth Planet Studios. Through NPS, Tara was able to get many hours of hands on experience setting up microphones for all instruments, recording songs, and mixing/mastering them in the digital audio workstation program, Logic Pro. While working with Weber, she co-engineered a handful of projects for bands such as Enso, Squirrel Man & the Rabbit Boys, her own band Integrow, as well as a song to remember fallen Columbia firefighter, Bruce Britt.To sample some of Tara’s work, you can visit http://www.soundcloud.com/tara-capri , http://www.soundcloud.com/integrow , or http://www.TaraCapriMusic.com
Jon Belsheim
Recording Studio Engineer -- (Spring 2015-Present)
Jon Belsheim is a young musician who aspires to reach the stars one day. In addition to audio engineering, Jon also plays multiple instruments. While Jon’s primary instruments are drums and trumpet, he also likes to play guitar, bass guitar, French horn, baritone, trombone, harmonica, piano/keys, and tambourine. Jon is classically trained in music theory, but understands that music shouldn't always follow the rules. That being said, Jon is open to almost any kind of music, no matter how out there (or completely ordinary) it may be. In the studio, Jon likes to really focus on the ideas of ‘sound.’ He isn’t afraid to try new things to make whatever he records unique and interesting. In addition to working at KCOU, Jon is also a music education major at The University of Missouri and drums in two bands, The Rollups and The Exploding Fishbowls.
Stephen Voss
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Summer-Fall 2014)
A music enthusiast, Stephen Voss has always been involved in the music scene. In addition to audio engineering, he has experience in singing/songwriting, guitar and is familiar with piano. The reason Stephen was drawn to music was its ability to draw people together and its ability to add depth and emotion to a situation. Stephen hopes to one day open his own recording studio so that he can help facilitate musicians’ creativity in order to produce a piece they are satisfied with. He also hopes his studio can one-day produce soundtracks for film and television to help add depth to the emotions portrayed by the film.
Prior to working at KCOU, Stephen has interned at Central Cellar Studios as well as taking guitar and piano lessons throughout his childhood. He has also used his marketing background to further promote artists, bands and KCOU both online and offline in order to expand their reach.
Recently he has been working with bands such as The Rollups and various rappers and rap groups to help them produce their current EPs. Simultaneously, he works to promote these EPs as well as the bands and artists who produced them.
Dave Wasserstrom
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Spring-Summer 2014)
Starting with piano lessons at age 5, music has been in Dave Wasserstrom’s heart from the start. Continually working to grow and nurture his musical pallet, Dave has visited various countries where he surrounded himself in the local music scene. While abroad Dave spent 6 months in England working along side artists such as Matt Corby, JP Cooper and Lucy Spraggan as well as picking up flamenco guitar while in Spain.
While logging in over 200 hours of audio engineering time in the studio, Dave was able to engineer and mix various recordings such as a Latch Cover with Dan Philyaw, Jordan White and Andy Frasco, a touring recording artist from Las Angeles, CA. Previously Dan played as a guitarist for a band during a project that came to be known as NOVA. He was also a member of a reggae band, LYL, as the drummer.
KCOU's 2nd Recording Studio Intern, Dave Wasserstrom served in 2014 until graduating. Dave currently resides in Austin, TX and is heavily involved in the music scene in the area.
Tre Spearman
Recording Studio Alumni -- (Fall 2013-Summer 2014)
Tre Spearman is a music enthusiast who has been enveloped in the music industry since birth. From playing various instruments and participating in bands throughout his childhood to co-founding the recording studio at KCOU 88.1, music has always been on Tre’s mind. An aspiring music mogul, Tre Spearman has been known to constantly have a melody playing in his head.
His renowned production and mixing experience is what helped to make KCOU 88.1’s first album, the Pinloader Vol. #1, a reality.
“A lot of hard work was put into that CD, and it'll always hold a very special place in my heart. The artists on it were all great to work with and very cooperative. I got the chance to build a bond with each and every one of them, so that made it even more special!”
Currently, Tre Spearman is working on the side to produce a collection of his own instrumentals while further advancing his musical understanding. In addition Tre has also begun practicing the guitar and trumpet to further develop his experience and expertise with various instruments.
Brian Soetaert
Recording Studio Engineer -- (Summer 2015-Present)
Breanna Lehane
Recording Studio Apprentice -- (Summer 2015-Present)
Breanna Lehane is an artist who has always turned to music whether it's listening, or creating. With this is mind, she has a passion to help artists turn their creative expression into music that reflects their style and desired sound. Breanna is a singer/songwriter who plays guitar and is familiar with other instruments such as piano and ukelele.
Currently dual majoring is Business Marketing and Communications, Breanna ultimately desires to find a way to incorporate her majors within the music industry. Throughout high school, Breanna has had experience playing solo acts and with bands such as August Hotel in gigs around her home town in McHenry, Illinois. During that time, Breanna began dabbling in the use of recording software such as Avid Pro Tools. Once Breanna came to the University of Missouri, she became a signed artist with Interlude Music for the Spring 2015 semester. This coming year Breanna seeks to take part in collaborations with other artists as well as playing more shows around the Columbia area. Breanna is in the process of recording an EP through KCOU Recording that will be released on SoundCloud summer of 2015.
Vernon Percy Howard III
Recording Studio Apprentice -- (Summer 2015-Present)
Vernon, who goes by his middle name Percy, was born on December 17, 1994 in Kansas City, MO. Percy’s dream and ambition is to become a mainline professional music producer. As an apprentice at KCOU 88.1 Recording Studio, he has taken his first steps in doing so. Percy dual-specializes in pop dance/synth pop and Hip Hop productions but is open to all music genres. As a music producer, Percy’s main goal is to build relationships with artists and ultimately help them to express themselves and connect to the world through great sounding and emotion filled music.