Mobile Sessions: Hufenbecher and Moran on a Studio on Wheels (Episode 124)

Make Music Your Business.

Christine Hufenbecher is a music manager. Kenny Moran is a sound engineer. In 2018 they founded Mobile Sessions, a Los Angeles remote recording and production studio built into a custom-designed 30-foot RV. It can take a full session to any drivable destination, from the oceanfront in Malibu to the Mojave Desert, and it also produces livestreams and live music productions for brands and artists.

Episode 124 of The Career Musician was recorded right inside the RV's control room. Nomad, who goes back years with Kenny from sessions together, talks with both founders about how they turned a studio idea into a sustainable music business. Here is what stood out.

Two careers, one business

Christine grew up in Germany, classically trained on piano, and moved to the US as a teenager. She studied international business, then music business at NYU, and moved into artist and songwriter management in Los Angeles. Kenny grew up in a jazz house. His dad, a bassist from Barbados, played in a big band in England, and every kid in the family played something. Kenny started on trombone, landed a record deal as a young artist, moved into producing, went back to school for engineering and became a go-to engineer and keyboard player in LA.

What makes the partnership work, Christine said, is that they complement each other. She knows management and marketing. He knows engineering and production. And they trust each other.

They skipped the five-year loss

When a studio room they used was about to close, they started looking for their own brick-and-mortar studio. The research said it would be a five to ten year proposition, with five years of losses. They wanted a real studio, not a laptop and a mic. So Christine had the idea: she already owned an RV, Kenny already had most of the gear. Put them together.

Nomad loved this, because the TCM message is sustainability, and for a self-employed musician that is hard. Instead of taking on huge overhead, they used what they had and built something nobody else in town was doing at that scale.

There was a creative reason too. Christine had watched songwriters and producers stuck in the same rooms, chasing placements, doing two sessions a day and burning out. Writing became a job, not an inspiration.

"Take it somewhere where you're inspired, and you're writing from inspiration and not because it's a job."

Christine Hufenbecher, 12:00

Ask the people who did it first

Kenny did the build himself over about nine months, wiring in between tour legs. The hardest part was power: electrical in a vehicle is not the same as in a house, and audio gear hates bad grounding. So he called someone he knew from school who runs a mobile recording truck company. The advice: build a separate power grid just for the studio. Today the whole studio runs off a standard outlet, with battery backup so a hot take is never lost.

Nomad's lesson for young musicians: don't be afraid to go to the people who came before you and ask questions. Be inquisitive. Kenny added that the career musician has to do whatever it takes: play, record, sell, market. You can't be shy about it.

Don't panic, eliminate

On their first session, by the beach in Malibu, with a big producer seeing the rig for the first time, an expensive vintage mic would not turn on. Kenny pulled out a different mic and kept the session moving. Fix it later, in the downtime.

His troubleshooting method came from his older brother, a very logical thinker: first, rule out everything it can't be. If the console is metering, it isn't the console. Try another DAW. If that works, it's the computer. He applies the same calm to a hard chart: nose to the paper, figure it out while everyone else is chatting. That is Low maintenance / no drama, and it is what gets an engineer called back.

The business plan never stops

Christine built the brand while Kenny was on tour: the name, logo, website, social media, audience and advertising. She is still building it. They planned on songwriters and bands. Now they do events, festival experiences, multi-camera livestreams and work with brands. Kenny made the point that a business plan is never done. Next month it may have to adapt.

They also learned to speak different languages. Musicians ask "what's the bread?" Brands and agencies want decks, ROI and value. Knowing how to talk to each is part of the job.

That is Diversify or Die, applied to a company.

Be ready, don't get ready

Their best advice for bands booking studio time: rehearse your brains out first. You don't come to the studio to learn the song. If you know your songs, a few hours is enough to cut an EP. If you are still deciding on parts in the room, you are burning money.

"Rehearse your brains out before you hire Mobile Sessions... Be ready, don't get ready."

Christine Hufenbecher, 48:12

It is the same reason session players get hired: they show up prepared. Luck = preparation + opportunity.

The takeaway

Christine defines success as a balance between work and passion, and fulfilling your purpose, which is an ongoing process. Kenny wants the business to pay for itself, then pay other people to do what they do. Both landed on the same words of wisdom.

"Your work ethic is more important than your talent, because everybody here is talented."

Christine Hufenbecher, 50:17

Persevere, expect nine no's before a yes, don't take it personally, and get out of your own way. See what they do at gomobilesessions.com. And before your next session or audition, prepare like a pro with the free Audition Secrets guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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