Recording Arts grad Leslie Brathwaite traded the swaying palm trees and clear blue waters of his tropical home in the St. Thomas Virgin Islands for Atlanta’s sizzling music scene. And he has no regrets, because working as a Mix Engineer for well over a decade has taken his professional career to places he never could have dreamed of.
“I really love it,” he shares. “I just love the whole recording process, and friendships I’ve made with a lot of great artists along the way. It feels like me versus the music when I’m mixing, and you can’t beat that!”
Leslie’s passion for music and recording developed at an early age, as he'd spent hours in his bedroom absorbing album after album. That passion turned him into one of the city’s hottest young mix engineers. Leslie’s credit list now reads like a roll call of pop music’s biggest stars, including multi-platinum artists Boyz II Men, Outkast, Cher, and Mary J. Blige.
“When I was a kid I always knew I wanted to do something behind the scenes in music,” he explains. “And I was so over school, but I knew I really wanted to go somewhere that focused on what I wanted to do. So I found out about Full Sail from my guidance counselor, and after I came out to visit the campus, I realized where I could go with this career.”
And much like his Full Sail experience, his transition into the real world after graduation was a smooth one. His intense drive and professionalism got his foot in the door at one of Atlanta’s top studios, eventually landing him a position as a mix engineer—one of the most vital slots in music production pipeline.
“What I do is take recorded music in the form of Pro Tools files and blend them together to make them sound the way they sound when you hear them on CDs and radio,” he explains. Leslie takes tracks of separately recorded instruments, makes the levels sound right, tweaks the singing to the perfect key and makes sure to apply “all those tricks that make the finished product sound great. I just love the whole process of it, because there’s no artist, and there’s no A&R person—you do your thing. It’s just me and the music!”
His studio work has been honored by the industry on more than one occasion—beginning in 1998 with the Brandy/Monica GRAMMY® winning single “The Boy is Mine”. In addition to the professional recognition, Leslie says his drive has paid off personally too.
“I’m proud of myself [for winning a GRAMMY®, but I don’t focus on it,” he shares. “A better moment for me is when I’ve got somebody like Mary J. Blige or Cher calling me going, ‘I want you to mix my record. Mary J. and Cher were artists that came to me because they wanted my sound. And for me, there’s no better feeling. That’s the real GRAMMY® moment for me right there!”
As an achieved yet humble professional, Leslie has managed to make a name for himself in the business he loves. But, no matter what success brings, Leslie admits, “you can’t ever feel like that you know everything, or have made it.”
The music industry is constantly changing, and Leslie says part of being a devoted industry professional is keeping up with those changes. “I’m always online learning about new gear. You’ve always got to keep the mindset that you’re a student! You never stop learning in this business, and that helps keep me grounded.”
