Collin Pastore | Class of 2007

High School:

Appomattox Regional Governors School

College: Studied Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music

Current Location: Nashville, TN

Tell us about what you’re doing professionally these days.

I am a music producer. I wear a lot of different hats, and my job can look very different depending on the scope of the project I’m working on, but essentially I work with artists and songwriters to record and mix their records.

What has that journey been like?

I started when I was in high school — writing songs, playing guitar, and playing in bands. Somewhere in my junior year or so I began to take an interest in actually recording the music my friends and I were making. Our high school had a recording tech class and we spent most of our time just messing around and trying to learn how all of the gear worked. I didn’t really start taking music production seriously until I went to college and realized how well the work suited me. I pivoted out of being a songwriter and started focusing almost entirely on producing and recording other artists. Since then, I’ve moved to Nashville, TN where I’m lucky enough to do it full time.

What skills or knowledge did you learn at Seven Hills that has helped you along the way?

Seven Hills did a wonderful job of creating an environment where I was encouraged to think critically and do a ton of problem solving. Those are tools that are highly valued as a producer. Sometimes you’re going to walk into a recording session and the song’s not very good, or the bass player doesn’t show up, or a critical piece of gear stops working in the middle of your session and it’s your job to figure it out. Being comfortable thinking on the fly and improvising is essential in situations like that.

What is your favorite memory from Seven Hills?

To be totally honest, my 8th grade year we had one of the most intense periods of school-wide dodgeball fanaticism that I’ve ever experienced and I loved every second of it.

What advice would you give to today’s Seven Hills boys?

Try to have as much fun with your work as you possibly can. If you can find a career that matters to you, that is truly fun for you, you are going to be so much happier in your day-to-day life than you would otherwise.

Collin has produced albums for numerous artists, including Lucy Dacus, boygenius, and Julien Baker.