Chris Stangroom and the Joys of Creative Challenges

Chris Stangroom is a multi-award winning and Golden Reel-nominated sound designer and re-recording mixer based in New York City. His expertise has elevated everything from viral video campaigns that have captivated online audiences to films showcased at the world's most prestigious festivals.

Chris is passionate about the emotional impact of sound, believing that the right audio can truly transform a story. Using custom sound effects recording and innovative hardware tools, Chris helps clients deliver unique and powerful sonic experiences.

His collaborations with creative teams have garnered recognition through prestigious awards for sound, including the Webby, Clio, MPSE, Telly and AICP Awards. Notable clients include industry giants such as Google, Coca-Cola, MasterClass, Sundance, Netflix and HBO.

LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response

Chris> Questions, questions, questions! Get as much backstory as possible. This not only answers the direct problems that might be right in front of you, but also gives the understanding of what efforts may have already been attempted and didn’t pan out. Learn from each project’s early lessons and you’ll be able to place your focus where it matters to make the biggest impact.

If I am sound designing and mixing a commercial, then I will almost always tackle the voiceover and dialogue first, so that the majority of my time with the client can be spent trying to build the sonic world of the spot. If the spot has no voices, and has a heavy focus on sound design, then I’ll do a quick coverage pass through all of the sound design to share with the creatives, to make sure we’re headed in the right direction. It’s important to note that in both music and sound these days, even your rough passes need to have some sense of mix balance and finished quality to them. Gone are the days when we are passing ideas back and forth just for ideas’ sake.

LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity – what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang – and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?

Chris> Collaboration is the most important aspect of what I seek with every client. Whether it’s with brands, agencies or individuals, passing ideas back and forth is what pushes creativity to new limits. Although I handle most of my projects solo due to the nature of schedules and budgets, each of them inherently has a group of creative minds in the directors, copywriters, art directors, producers, etc. Since I’m typically one of the last steps in a project’s lifespan, the questions I ask help to direct what decisions I make, and if I want to try something a little different from the brief that I think will work, then it’s always possible to create a few options to play with.

Some of my favourite collaborations have been the projects where the agency or brand has come to me before diving into picture editorial, to construct the world first using sound. I’ve done that for Spotify, Jeep and Crown Royal, and every single one of those projects has been a positive experience that has reinforced to everyone involved how impactful sound is when it comes to marketing and advertising.

LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?

Chris> Getting to solve puzzles! I love creative challenges, and I can find one in every single project that comes through my door. Sometimes, it’s figuring out how to unlock a photographer’s passion during a voiceover record describing their work. Or, how to get a pop song to still have intensity and excitement during a commercial that is jam packed with voiceover. Or, digging through my custom SFX library for that perfect fart (see my work with Poo Pourri from a few years ago!). There are so many fun problems that I get to work on, and I am truly satisfied when I can be a part of each solution.

LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?

Chris> I think it’s more important now to bring a creative mind to what we do, rather than focus on technical perfection. Hone your technical skills so that you don’t have to think about them when a project is running at full speed. That way, you can work creatively and turn around ideas as quickly as possible.

We’ve also become more mobile, both in our operations, and how we consume content. Learn to adapt to what your clients need and provide flexibility when it’s needed.

LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?

Chris> Ludwig Göransson has to be on the top of this list. In addition to being an incredible composer that has bounced between so many different styles of films, he has pushed the boundaries of music alongside Donald Glover’s musical personality, Childish Gambino.

They’ve taken Glover’s early passion of rapping and evolved it into a true musical experience that can commingle with any genre they want, and it all comes out amazing. They push the limits of what music can be and how it can be delivered and promoted, and that is incredibly rare in our current environment.

Göransson has also been upfront about the fact that sometimes, when he starts a project, he has no idea what it is going to be, or even that he has no real experience in that specific genre. I find those creatives who are new to a genre or style to sometimes be the best candidates for it, because they come without all of the tropes and muscle memory that can be the culprit of stale ideas.

LBB> And when it comes to your particular field, whether sound design or composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?

Chris> If you are managing a team, as you assign the roles of each creative partner, allow them the freedom to add ideas to any sections that inspire them. It helps encourage creativity and inclusion, especially for those that want to push their own boundaries. I think I heard that one from an interview with Johnnie Burn.

I also often reflect back on the creative talent that made movies and albums before the digital era – when the number of tracks that could be used were limited and you couldn’t click undo. The simple act of making a decision is so important in our industry, and often I find that less is more. One strong sound is always going to have a more profound influence than a dozen ‘meh’ sounds.

LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (lets say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?

Chris> OMG, I’m literally sitting in silence right now while I answer this question. It’s honestly 50/50, but I have to actively remember to turn on background sound or music since I’ve become so used to working without it. If I do have music on, it’s typically either very rhythmic and beat-oriented, like Run The Jewels and Aesop Rock, or it’s super chill and mellow, like Nils Frahm and Bon Iver.

LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music/sound in has changed over the years. There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?

Chris> Every choice and every decision I make is based on this exact question. I’ve always been excited about new tech, but when it comes to practicality, it’s important to go back to the basics. I’ve sound designed and mixed projects using Dolby Atmos whose end goal was always going to be a stereo mix, but there was absolutely a depth in those stereo mixes that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve without Atmos. However, I think we’ve absolutely become a society built from accessibility, so headphones have probably become the most widely used device for listening. I’m honestly excited about that though, because the amount of detail that can be heard on headphones is extensive!

LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?

Chris> The crazy sounds my kids make, and subsequently the crazy sounds my wife and I make in response. In all honesty though, I love change, so on any given day, I could be sitting in silence, simply listening to the environment around me, every thinkable genre of music, podcasts, Neil deGrasse Tyson lectures on our universe… you name it, and I’ll be excited about it.

LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised spotify-er…)?

Chris> As an avid field recordist, I love getting out of the studio when I can to record ambiences, vehicles, and new unique sounds. I regularly participate in SFX crowdsources in order to keep myself inspired and to find new ways to record and hear sounds. This has built up an incredible custom SFX library that I enjoy organising and scrolling through when I have downtime. Knowing the tools and libraries that you work with goes a long way when it comes to quickly finding the right sound for a project.

In regard to music, I’ve always been an album-focused listener. Even if I love a single, if it’s on an EP/LP, then I’ll at least do one full listen through the album. Curation is an artform, and a well-constructed album becomes an experience that can alter someone’s journey through life. I only buy vinyl when I know that album will stand the test of time, otherwise I build my music curation through Apple Music because it statistically has better per-stream payouts to artists.

LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music

Chris> I wish I was a better chef/baker, but I’ve always found the comparison of cooking to music and sound design a perfect analogy. You could add a dozen incredible ingredients together, but if they don’t complement one another, then the dish could taste off. Sometimes, only one or two complementary, good-quality ingredients are all you need to make someone stop in their tracks.

I also think video games have been teaching us the future of immersive sound for years. Dolby Atmos is a testament to that, as it’s essentially taken the basic concept of video game sound mixing and applied it to home theater and cinema.

LBB> Let’s talk travel! It’s often cited as one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do – I’d love to know what are the most exciting or inspiring experiences you’ve had when it comes to sound and music on your travels?

Chris> New Orleans is really all you have to mention when it comes to travel and sound! When I travel, I love to walk everywhere, and in Nola, you can’t walk more than a few blocks without running into some form of local music playing out of a home, restaurant or shop. As you approach and feel the energy growing, there’s an excitement about it all. It’s inviting us into their community and there’s no better feeling than being accepted by a group of strangers who just want to appreciate good music together.

LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth – how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?

Chris> If anything, it’s grown! Choosing sound and music as a career obviously helped reinforce that. I remember there was a period of time where I almost never played my instruments, and I worried about it. However, I came to the conclusion that I could only manage a finite amount of interests simultaneously. I stopped reprimanding myself for not playing, which relieved me of the stress it was causing, and a few years later, music came back into my life with a sense of excitement again. Now, I have my kids to teach music and sound to, and my passion for both continues to grow every day.