Help Brad Record Again: Support His Passion

Help Get Me Back Recording!

Hello,

My name is Brad Boal and I love playing and recording drums. I have made a career of it in fact!

The Backstory -

My love of music has been with me for as long as I can remember. Growing up with a band director as a father made music a part of my everyday life. After much hard work and dedicated study from some of the best educators in the Northwest, I received one of two drumset scholarships offered to attended The University of North Texas as a Jazz Studies major. While working my way up the ranks of that prestigious music program, I gained proficiency in many styles of music as well as a firm grasp of sight reading ANY music in front of me. This afforded me opportunities to work with some of the best players in the business including, The Count Basie Big Band, Jim Messina (Loggins & Messina), Shelby Lynne, Madeleine Peyroux, Abraham Laboriel Sr., Brett Dennan and many more! Today I live just north of Seattle and keep busy as music/video producer specializing in recording drums. I am also a member of Seattle based bands, Nearly Dan and the Bill Anschell Quartet.

During the COVID 19 pandemic I found myself out of work like so many others. Struggling to make ends meet, I decided to look for work in other arenas. I ended up landing a job as Head of Production at a rapidly growing healthcare staffing company. The company grew and grew, quadrupling growth year after year. But like so many things, the bubble eventually burst and the company suffered great losses. As a result our entire Media department was laid off by December of 2024.

During my time at that company, my intense 25+ year focus on drumming and recording drums was forced to the back burner. There were simply not enough hours in the day to make it all happen. Because of that, I no longer get calls to gig like I used to. I’m off everyone’s list. My “first call” status in Seattle has been dismantled. As sad as that is, I knew it would happen. It is unfortunately part of the music culture in the Seattle area. Out of sight - out of mind is an easy way to understand it. I now know that making a living as a performing musician in the Seattle area will no longer work for me.

Moving Forward - The Vision

I have come to the full realization that recording drums, creating loop packs and bespoke drum tracks are truly where my future lies. I have had some success in this arena collaborating with UK based company, Touchloops. Together we created their uber successful “Live Hip-Hop Drums” loop pack. It is currently for sale on their website and a wonderful way for me to earn money doing not only what I love but what I’m most skilled at.

I have a vision of creating an online marketplace of my own offering many loop packs in many styles. All played and produced by me at the recording studio I built at my house. The production, time management, marketing and social media skills I gained at my previous employer have given me above and beyond the trade secrets and grit to make this happen. I have everything I need to make this a success except for one thing…

The Problem -

I have lost my ability to record! Yes, you read that right… A little over two months ago, my Audio Interface (the one piece of gear a studio CANNOT live without) decided it was just going to die on me. I’ve tried every single solution to make it work and have been able to get it to record but not without pops, cracks and dropouts happening every single time. It’s simply un-usable. Without an Audio Interface, recording even one loop pack is impossible let alone an entire series that I would house on an e-commerce website. This problem has me dead in the water.

The Solution -

To get me going again I only need one thing. An Audio Interface. I have EVERYTHING else I need to record. Mics, preamps, compressors, EQ’s, drums, acoustically treated space, ability, desire and on and on…Microphones and preamps will not talk to a computer without an Audio Interface. It is what converts an Analog signal (from the microphone) to a Digital one that computers can understand. I have done a ton of research and found the best Interface to meet my needs. It’s the MOTU 16A and the cost is $1,500 before tax and shipping. I rounded up the campaign amount to $2,000 to cover the tax, shipping and the fees that GoFundMe and PayPal incur to use this service.

The Ask -

If you know me, you know I literally NEVER ask for help. I will rack my brain to find a solution to any problem and never ask a single person for help. It’s actually kind of a problem for me and I can recognize my need to be more open to admitting my losses and asking others for support. That is why I’m here. This is me admitting defeat and asking for your help. We simply cannot take on another big payment like $1500 nor a monthly payment to pay something like this off slowly. With me out of work and my wife’s sole paycheck as a second grade teacher, we just have no more we can output or sacrifice to make this happen. We have spread ourselves too thin like so many Americans today. It’s not bad money management. It’s not frivolous spending. It’s simply that our monetary input does not match our monetary output.

I know many of us are in this same position right now and MANY have it way worse! Our family of four is alive and healthy. We still have our house. My wife has a car to drive to work. We have food to eat. Our kids are able to take swim lessons and attend volleyball camps. We are among the fortunate ones and we recognize that. But this is surviving not thriving. The constant stranglehold of poverty has made it seemingly impossible to break the cycle. Regaining my ability to record gives us hope. It gives us potential for a brighter future of thriving and growing. Every little bit will help push this vision forward. Every share can help get the right set of eyes on it. Please help if you can and thank you so much.

“For it is in giving that we receive." - St. Francis of Assisi 

Thank you,

Brad