MB Redfined

Pedro Sá-Chaves (RIT ’99)

|    Jan 01, 2005

For Pedro Sá-Chaves, moving from Portugal to attend RIT was the perfect way to boost his career to a new level. Pedro relates his story as follows:

“After being a professional musician for twelve years I decided to take a further step in my career and I went to L.A. to study the art of sound. What a good decision–.LA is definitely the center of the universe for the music business and the gate for those who have the drive to be the best.
“At MI, I had the chance to meet fabulous musicians. One of them was Rafael Moreira [GIT grad, guitarist for Christina Aguilera, Pink etc. – ed.] who invited me to mix his bands in gigs all around town. At RIT I had the best grades in my class and due to my performance I was invited to be assistant engineer for [GIT grad/instructor] Scott Henderson’s album, Tore Down House.
“After finishing RIT, I had the chance to meet Roger Gibbons, who was the lighting engineer for Whitesnake, Bon Jovi etc. After analyzing my resume, he hired me at A-1 Audio, one of the most important audio rental companies in the world. At A-1, I helped prepare sound systems for such artists and events as Van Halen III World tour, Liza Minnelli, Fiona Apple, KD Lang, Motley Crue, Luis Miguel, Eric Clapton, movie premiers for The Game, Godzilla and Mulan, Barbra Streisand´s wedding party, Frank Sinatra´s funeral–man I was lucky or probably I am good! A-1 Audio was nominated for a TEC Award for Aerosmith`s Nine Lives tour sound system, and I participated in the building of that system from scratch.
“Due to the expiration of my internship visa, I had to return to Portugal where I immediately started to mix live for several artists as Lucia Moniz (produced by Nuno Bettencourt) and Paulo Gonzo, a Sony Music artist with eight platinum albums. Paulo has a song in the 2002 World Cup of Soccer album featuring Anastasia and others. Right now, I’m the FOH engineer for "Musicais", the best venue in Lisbon, and continue to tour with some of the best bands in Portugal. All the luck for everybody at MI!”

As his story illustrates, luck is only part of it–when skill, drive and opportunity meet, great things result. Congratulations, Pedro!

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“More and more of the auditions I’m having for recording artists are turning out to be MI class reunions. The graduates of MI have been dominating the new, young music scene in LA”.

- Barry Squire
  Music Industry Talent Coordinator
  MI Hiring Hall Manager



MI alumni are working on stage, in the studio and behind the scenes around the world, with new stories arriving nearly every day. A sample of former MI students who have achieved industry recognition also includes:




Alessandro Cortini
Nine Inch Nails

Kalen Chase
Korn

Dave Kushner
Velvet Revolver

Rafael Moreira
Pink, Christina Aguilera,
Rock Star: Supernova

Mike Ward
Wallflowers, School of Fish

Kevin Hastings
Liz Phair

Pete Griffin
Hanson

Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell,
Scott Shriner
Weezer

Curt Bisquera
Elton John, Mick Jagger,
Bonnie Raitt

Pete Anderson
guitarist, producer

Paul Gilbert
Mr.Big, Racer X

Norman Brown
recording artist

Scott Henderson
recording artist

Oscar Cartaya
Jennifer Lopez, Spyro Gyra

Alex Al
Tupac Shakur, Stevie Wonder

Keb’ Mo’
recording artist

Fred Clark
Chaka Khan, Ray Charles,
Stevie Wonder

Dave Weiner
Steve Vai

Jennifer Batten
recording artist, Jeff Beck,
Michael Jackson

Toss Panos
Steve Vai, Mike Landau,
Robben Ford

Frank Gambale
recording artist, Chick Corea

Kevin Dukes
Don Henley, Boz Scaggs,
Jackson Browne

Chad Smith,
John Frusciante
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Clayton Gibb, Les Falconer
Keb’ Mo’

John Shanks
Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt

Allen Hinds
Randy Crawford, Natalie Cole,
Crusaders

Jeff Buckley
recording artist

Ray Luzier
Korn, STP, Army of Anyone,
David Lee Roth

Matt Laug
Alanis Morissette, Slash

Ash Sood
Sarah McLachlan

Joacim Cans
Hammerfall

Leah Andreone
recording artist

Irene Gutierrez (DJ Irene)
DJ/producer/remixer/recording artist

T.J. Guger
Göla

Valerie Vega
Zomba/JIVE recording artist (France)

Ernest Tibbs
Alan Holdsworth, Natalie Cole

Toshi Hiketa
David Lee Roth

Travis Johnson
Dickies, TSOL

Jimmy Herring
Allman Brothers, The Other Ones,
ARU, Widespread Panic

Josh Sklair
Etta James, Jeffrey Osborne

Dan Caron
Clifton Chenier, Charles Brown

Jimmy Scott
Little Milton, Solomon Burke

Steve Kerscznic
Tom Jones

Brian Allen
Virgil Donati, Greg Adams

Meja
recording artist

Jesse Gress
music editor, Guitar Player Magazine

Sarah Hudson
recording artist

Chris Maloney
Dweezil Zappa, Lisa Loeb