_{By Joe Vickrey}

Having been involved with The Kilans, Lonely Heights, Homestyle Dinner Rolls, Hollow Hill, Suit Up Soldier, and a myriad of other incredible artists, it’s not hard to see the influence of Aggressive Audio in Utah’s music scene. I sat down with the studio’s founder, Flip Twogood, to talk about how he got into audio engineering, his passion for each project, and some of his own music too. 

Flip, who also founded Utah’s premier alternative metal band, Acacia Ridge, recounted how an early incarnation of the band paid $2,500 to record an EP back in 2018, and the final results left the group feeling disappointed. He recalled thinking, “I could learn how to do this, and be at least this good.” Flip’s determination led him to working two jobs for the better part of a year so he could afford to buy the equipment necessary to record his own band.

He recalled, “I didn’t really know what I was doing at all. But just doing the best I could with what I had learned online, we recorded a song and sent it off to get mixed.” Three weeks of anxious wondering went by before they got the first mix back, and it made all of the work worth it. 

“Every single one of us literally cried when we heard it.” The sense of accomplishment was palpable as Flip recounted the story. All of the work, time, money, and effort Flip put in to learning to become an audio engineer was beginning to bloom. 

Now on the other end of that experience, Flip often mixes for younger bands who are in the same position as he was as they’re beginning to learn to record themselves. When English Budgies were still figuring out that process, Flip was a huge help to us. His advice was invaluable, and we still talk about the work we did together fondly. 

Shortly after the release of Acacia Ridge’s miraculous “Malevolence,” the track blew up and got over 100k streams. Word quickly began to spread, and Flip was getting asked if he would record other people’s bands as well. He was still working a full-time job at the time too. He explained, “I’d come home at 5:30, there’d be a band in the driveway, we’d record until 11 at night, and then I’d go back to work at 8 the next morning. I did that for about two more years.”

This went on for a couple of years before Aggressive Audio became Flip’s full time job, and now his studio is often booked out for 2-3 months at time. Flip added, “My favorite thing about it is just how much talent there is in Utah. I really do feel like we’re in a hub that’s starting to pop off like Nashville or LA.”

For anyone who follows Aggressive Audio on Instagram, you already know Flip is always excited about sharing his ever-expanding education in the audio engineering field. He mentioned to me, “It’s not necessarily how long you’ve been doing it, but it’s how many hours you’ve put in to doing it. There’s no shortcut to that. Most people say like to be an expert in something you need 10,000 hours. I think with audio it’s at least double that.” By his best estimate, he’s currently at 16,000 hours of audio engineering. That’s a long time to be aggressive, yet his excitement for everyone he’s working with in our community is both refreshing and contagious.

“What gets me most excited is when the band for one is like willing to take advice, and they want me to actually help with the song. When they ask if I have any ideas of what can make it better, I love that.” Flip continued, “I feel like the majority of people [who work with me] would like their music to be listened to by strangers, they want it to grow, catch algorithms and all of that. That’s what I love most in a band, and I like working with people who want that because it’s more exciting and like usually we can push the song a little bit further.”

In a world where catching algorithms can seem like a bit of a pay-to-lose environment, Flip offered some reassurance for the budding artist. “It’s hard to make music a career, but if you really just keep doing [the process] over and over, and you do the best you can, there’s no way it’s not going to happen. I truly believe that if you just keep showing up, you keep doing it, and you keep strategizing… There’s not a chance that it’s not going to work. You’re going to get better at it, and you’re going to get more and more reach. I really believe that.”

I’ve always loved Flip’s optimism, and it’s always been wonderful to see someone with so much genuine care for each project he’s entrusted with. While studios can be intimidating, I know I echo the sentiment of many artists when I say that you can’t help but feel at ease and confident working with Flip. When asked if there was anything else he wanted our readers to know, he added, “I want nothing more than the bands that I work with I to succeed. Especially in Utah.”

You can find a full list of services Aggressive Audio provides as well as booking availability at www.aggressiveaudio.com. Be sure to follow Flip, Aggressive Audio, and Acacia Ridge on Instagram! Check out “Playing The Victim” from Acacia Ridge’s most recent album, The Deviant Era, below!