“When it comes to music it’s so easy to let your ego take the wheel and have it be my way or the highway,” says Jack Harrington, a junior studying sound recording technology at Syracuse University. “But I think it’s one of my biggest strengths to listen to someone and not just have my opinion in mind.”
Harrington is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and mix engineer from Middletown, New Jersey. He has received recognition across campus as one of the most talented musicians on campus, playing bass and piano in numerous bands including NONEWFRIENDS., Shallow Alcove and WinterBeach.
It has only been recently that Harrington has stepped into his new role as a producer for many up-and-coming artists in Syracuse.
“As a producer I basically take someone’s creative idea and serve as an assistant to help artists see their vision through.”
Harrington is producing for four different groups right now, including his two bands NONEWFRIENDS and Shallow Alcove. He is also producing for solo artist Peter Groppe and for Katphunk, a funk fusion group from his hometown.
Additionally, he is also engineering for these groups which means he is not only producing the sound, but he is mixing and recording the actual songs as well. Harrington does this primarily from the comfort of his own room. He uses sound covers and mattresses to soundproof the walls and he can run up to 16 tracks into his own computer.
“There are so many things that go into it how you record, and the process of producing gives the most life to a song other than the actually writing of it. It’s tough though because the more that I believe in myself the less I believe in myself, as I get better at what I do the spectrum of how I feel about what I am making broadens, the bar is consistently being raised.”
This quote speaks to Jack’s drive and will to make the music the best he can make it. As far as where this will take him, Harrington is trying to take it one day at a time.
“I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t have a plan of how I am going to live on this, but I know I am going to figure it out. Over the past couple years with producing and mixing I have become much more than just pianist or bassist.”
Follow Jack on Instagram and Soundcloud @jackharringtonworld
Story by Jackson Siporin ‘22, LaunchPad Global Fellow; photo supplied