BIO | Tony Hernandez
Music has been the core of Tony’s life from an early age. At the age of six years old he started what was to become a life long passion of playing the guitar. From that point on, and through the early years, much of what he learned about the instrument came from his father who was also an
inspiring guitarist, learning old rock standards by The Ventures, Chuck Berry, The Beatles and other groups of the day. Tony’s other early influences where Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, George Benson, Al Di Meola, Pat Metheny and many more. The early years also brought interests in the trumpet and audio recording with the aid of a quarter inch 2-track reel-to-reel recorder.
“During my teenage years, I must have recorded hundreds of hours of guitar playing while working with that machine”, says Tony, which introduced him to the world of audio recording.
In addition to performing in clubs and festivals around the Midwest with various Rock bands including: The Project, Ukiah, and The Edge, Tony received his Bachelor’s degree of music at the University of Oshkosh Wisconsin. While there, he studied music theory, composition, classical guitar, and recording technology. During his college days Tony worked at the local music store in his hometown of Fond du Lac, WI, Mike’s Music, where he became a guitar instructor, and live sound engineer, mixing sound for jazz groups: Supersax, and The Tonight Show All Stars Band, and blues legends: Junior Wells, and Jimmy Rogers.
In 1995 Tony moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he worked sessions as an independent engineer at many of the areas top studios, eventually ending up at Angel Beach Studios where he became studio manager and staff engineer. By 2005 Tony, with the help of his father, built a recording facility which became Spanish Castle Studio. While involved in countless hours of recording as an engineer, session guitarist, producer, and composer, he started to offer clients a wide variety of services.
Today, outside of music production, Tony is a guitar instructor for the Northwestern College Academy of Music, and also is involved with many corporate audio production projects. Many travels now take him to the capitol cities in the United States where he works with the State Regional Libraries for the Blind. There he helps integrate their digital talking books program with installation, training and consulting services.
Utilizing his composition skills, he currently writes music for some of the leading production music libraries, and his instrumentals can be heard in TV shows, documentaries, and commercials aired around the country. “After all these years, I am still driven to become a better musician and engineer, and hold the same enthusiasm as I did when learning that first 'D' chord."
In addition to performing in clubs and festivals around the Midwest with various Rock bands including: The Project, Ukiah, and The Edge, Tony received his Bachelor’s degree of music at the University of Oshkosh Wisconsin. While there, he studied music theory, composition, classical guitar, and recording technology. During his college days Tony worked at the local music store in his hometown of Fond du Lac, WI, Mike’s Music, where he became a guitar instructor, and live sound engineer, mixing sound for jazz groups: Supersax, and The Tonight Show All Stars Band, and blues legends: Junior Wells, and Jimmy Rogers.
In 1995 Tony moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he worked sessions as an independent engineer at many of the areas top studios, eventually ending up at Angel Beach Studios where he became studio manager and staff engineer. By 2005 Tony, with the help of his father, built a recording facility which became Spanish Castle Studio. While involved in countless hours of recording as an engineer, session guitarist, producer, and composer, he started to offer clients a wide variety of services.
Today, outside of music production, Tony is a guitar instructor for the Northwestern College Academy of Music, and also is involved with many corporate audio production projects. Many travels now take him to the capitol cities in the United States where he works with the State Regional Libraries for the Blind. There he helps integrate their digital talking books program with installation, training and consulting services.
Utilizing his composition skills, he currently writes music for some of the leading production music libraries, and his instrumentals can be heard in TV shows, documentaries, and commercials aired around the country. “After all these years, I am still driven to become a better musician and engineer, and hold the same enthusiasm as I did when learning that first 'D' chord."