Never Pass Up a Hundred Bucks | Let's Talk Christ in Audio with DJ Evon

Hello World! Welcome back to Let's Talk...Audio. Remember to join us on Discord!

Evan Smith wears many hats. He's a DJ, an audio repair tech, a producer, and an evangelist. He went to school at MediaTech Institute in Dallas, TX, to learn audio.

Tangela points out in the opening statements of the show that, while Let's Talk...Audio is about minorities in the industry, she views that umbrella as including things outside of the usual talk about identity. For instance, outside of the church, it is abnormal to find audio engineers who profess a Christian perspective.

Evan says "I've seen God work more outside the church, than inside."

Tangela: "I don't typically see audio engineers who are as forward with their faith ... I think that's something ... that would be nice for people to hear about ... to know that if that's something that matters to you, you can do it and be successful in it."

Evan also works under the name DJ Evon. He uses the request for an introduction to talk about how he presents his Christian perspective in the context of his work.

Evan does front-of-house sound for his church. He is also in training for audio repair with Audio Electronics in Dallas.

They spend some time talking about the joy of watching musical artists become successful, and being able to remember the tiny local gigs they used to play.

Tangela: "How do you maintain that balance of being in the secular world ... with your beliefs ... that are at the forefront of your business model?"

Evan: "We're not called to judge people outside the church; we are called to judge people inside the church ... what we need to do is stop, take a breathe ..."

Tangela asks if he gets push-back against his desire to play clean music when he DJ's shows. Evan says most of his clients respect his preferences and roll with it.

Tangela finds a need to clarify for her guest that, while Audio is in the title, it's meant as a starting place, rather than an end goal for interviews. This show is more about how do people function in the world of audio. Tangela points out that there may be members of the audience who follow Jesus, or there might be members of the audience who struggle with sobriety. So she sees this talk as an opportunity for discussing how to handle situations of excess when what you need is restraint.

Tangela expresses a takeaway from Evan's thoughts. "You're talking about setting healthy boundaries with people ... being up front with [expectations]." So how do you set up healthy boundaries? It's one thing to say, you should have healthy boundaries. It's another thing to grow and develop healthy boundaries.

Evan points out that having deliberate and consistent communication with trusted friends is a key strategy for keeping yourself accountable. He shifts to talking about maintaining rules in a studio situation. "Also, 9 out of 10 audio repairs are because of food ... so don't bring stuff into your studio ..."

From there they talk about sound treating your work space with sound panels and bass traps.

And then the gear talk starts, and "O my gosh, Evan just went to his closet ..."

Evan shares an array of microphones he likes to use, and we find out he is a fan of Slate Digital. Evan takes another opportunity to praise the MediaTech Institute. This podcast interview is being recorded (on his end) with an Universal Audio Apollo X4 interface. His headphones are the Slate VSX.

Tangela: "Would you say that you make the gear, or does the gear make you?" She wants to know what Evan's overarching philosophy about the relationship with gear.

He says that he started out believing that he needed the best gear, and that over time he realized it doesn't matter, and the important thing is do your best work and to serve