Interview with Award Winning Music Producer Engineer Scott Frankfurt

By Gary A. Johnson – Founder (Calculations Talk Show)

Last year I came across a fantastic artist on YouTube. Her name is Vi Jordan and she is great. Trust me, she is the next “big thing” as she is the real deal. Vi credited Scott Frankfurt, her Producer and one-time employer and mentor as one of the people who deserved credit for her success. After doing my research on Scott, I was convinced that he was more than just an award-winning sound engineer and producer. This dude is a tremendous evaluator and developer of talent. The more I learned about Scott the more I wanted to learn about the “calculations” that he has to make to develop talent.

Scott Frankfurt has an eye for talent, a golden ear and a platinum touch when it comes to developing and getting the most out of the talent that enters the studio bearing his name.

Scott Frankfurt Studio (SFS) is a state-of-the-art recording studio with an innovative workflow and instantly welcoming atmosphere. Located in the Los Angeles community of Woodland Hills, SFS has provided world-class, full-service recording, mixing, mastering and sound design services to top-notch artists for over 25 years.

Scott Frankfurt has enjoyed a diversified career as drummer, songwriter, synthesist, producer and recording artist. He also served as VP of Design at Spectrasonics for 13 years, which required audio precision at the highest level. Scott’s background has driven the design details of the studio—which combines the soul of a classic recording outfit with the accuracy of an audio lab.

SFS serves a diverse clientele—from up-and-coming indie bands to the biggest names in music, film and TV. The studio offers an innovative hybrid audio path, giving artists the choice of working ‘in the box’ in the digital domain for convenience and collaboration or in the high-resolution analog world with ultra-high headroom and virtually unlimited tone choices during mix-down.

Left to Right: (Photo 1) Verdine White & John Paris (Earth, Wind & Fire), Kool Moe Dee and Scott (Photo 2): Sharon Frankfurt, Common and Scott

Scott has had input or creative genius on thousands of recordings in almost every genre featuring Barbra Streisand, John Legend, Whitney Houston, The Temptations, The Khardashians, Sergio Mendes, Kool Moe Dee, Earth, Wind & Fire, Ashlee & Evan, Alphonso Johnson, Yo Yo Ma, Mervyn Warren (Take 6), Joe Brooks, Grant Fonda, Billy Joseph, Savannah Burrows, Chaka Khan, JP Saxe, The Manhattan Transfer, Christopher Cross, Vi Jordan, Smokey Robinson, and more.

I reached out to Scott and he was gracious enough to consent to this interview.

More on Scott Frankfurt

As you heard in the interview, Scott had the honor of working with The Temptations founder Otis Williams and fellow Motown legend Smokey Robinson, on the Temptations 60th Anniversary album, “Temptations 60.”

Leaderships starts from the top. Studio co-founder Sharon Frankfurt and the SFS staff believe every recording session should be an outstanding hospitality experience. Scott and Sharon have created a safe environment for working, learning and having fun. Watch this “2018 Year in Review.” If you ain’t smiling and bobbing and weaving’ while watching, you ain’t alive.