Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Henderson.
Hi Chris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been a musician for basically my whole life, playing piano since I was young but then adding bass guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar over the years. In high school and early college I played in many of the Houston venues with several bands but then college consumed my life. Somewhere down the road I returned to music and focused especially on recording and mixing audio in both live and studio applications, relying on my musical background to guide my steps as best as I could. As my ears became more and more refined and my knowledge and skill increased I began to notice that I was beginning to search for certain sounds and tones that I was largely unable to find in the world of audio production gear and as a result I endeavored to teach myself the ins and outs of audio gear (from guitar amps to mic preamps, eq’s, compressors, mixers, etc) in order to satisfy the “tone in my head” that I was always searching for but never finding. I probably have a disorder – ha! – but as the years passed I slowly began to unravel the puzzle of how this equipment worked and started the forging of my own path in this industry.
Soon Hendyamps was born and before I knew it I was designing and building audio gear for not only my own needs but also taking orders and building for others as well who were seeking what I was creating. Fast forward to today and now the gear I design and build is worldwide and being used for records and live shows by most of the biggest artists in the industry (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, Ringo Starr, Muse, Party Next Door, Megan Thee Stallion, Kendrick Lamar, etc).
An unexpected addition to my work actually showed up as artists began asking me to master their albums (mastering is the final step in the process of releasing a record where you do the final EQ and compression, trying to make everything sound as it should before releasing it to the public). What started out as a fun little side gig turned into a near full time job along with building gear and I have been fortunate enough to work with just about every major label out there (Warner, Universal, Sony, BMG, etc) as a mastering engineer for a variety of projects.
As well, my former studio manager and I formed “Hendyamps Studios” a few years back and have been releasing music we write and record (dark cello and Piano focused) and it has been a blast. Having our own creative outlet has been amazing and watching it grow as others appreciate our work too has been incredibly exciting and fulfilling, especially when we receive comments about how our music has helped them through some tough times in life. It is an incredible feeling to know your passion about music is helping others and it feeds the desire to continue.
I have continually been humbled and amazed by how blessed I have been to be on this journey and still have no idea how a simple obsession with music has turned into a career! But I will forever be thankful and plan to be working with music for the rest of my life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has been bumpy at times, for sure! Much of those bumps have centered on trying to go from zero to fully ready to produce everything at a high grade professional level instantly and I have utterly failed at that mission a thousand times. But as we have all been told, persistence and refusing to give up were the things needed to move forward. I have always been a life long learner and at the end of the day, I just want to make music and help others reach their goals.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In my industry I am known as someone that goes against the grain. I am often at odds with other audio gear builders and accepted “norms” but the reason for this is that I started as simply a guy looking to make his ears happy and the gear that everyone else was building and standard for the industry were simply uninspiring to me and sonically displeasing. Thus my entire career has been a quest to fulfill the needs of my ears and just make everything sound like a bigger and better version of itself.
Most gear has a tendency to impose its sonic signature upon the source it is fed (aka – a guitar running through a Fender amp usually sounds like a Fender amp instead of the guitar), but my happy place is when I can take an instrument, vocal, mix, etc., and simply make it sound like the best version of itself, and that requires a different philosophy and approach than what is typical. As such, I often find myself sitting in a different world than others in my industry, but the musicians usually respond with amazement as they finally can fully hear what they too are searching for.. Without a doubt, that is the most fun part of what I do!
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Be obsessed with your passion and never give up. You may have to work 4 jobs to help fund what you truly love to do but if you refuse to give up then you will absolutely become the expert in the field you love and eventually people will pay for that expertise. Making a career out of what you are most passionate about is something you will NEVER regret!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hendyamps.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hendyamps
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HendyampsStudios
