Trebas grad guiding Grammy-winning artist’s career
by Ron Rogers

on the set of "GIMME THE LIGHT" 2002
Sean Paul Grammy Award Winner Recording Artist	Jeremy Harding Manager, Producer, Songwriter Sound Engineer for Sean Paul Trebas Graduate	Little X Music Video Director

The idea of forging a career in the music industry must seem almost inconceivable for most young people. But those who do try to succeed in the entertainment industry are often surprised at how fast the success can come…assuming that they
provide the hard work and dedication that is necessary to generate that success.

Jeremy Harding, producer and manager of multi-platinum reggae artist Sean Paul, combined a lifelong love of music and a lot of hard work into a successful career that has surpassed even his expectations.

Harding, a native of Jamaica, fostered his love of music at an early age, learning guitar and singing from the age of 7 onward at the Jamaica School of Music in Kingston. He eventually left Jamaica for an Ottawa boarding school, and later attended university in Montreal. During that time, he became a DJ in the local college and club scenes, and hosted a show on a university radio station.

After realizing that university was not necessarily the best venue to pursue his musical ambitions, Harding took a friend’s advice and enrolled at Trebas Institute in Montreal to learn more about the music business, and audio engineering. The
experience opened his eyes to the possibilities within music and recording.

“For the first time,” says Harding, “I actually understood the recording process and the structure of the music industry. In addition, my classmates all had diverse musical tastes, so I learned a lot about other genres of music. The staff always
nurtured personal relationships with the students as well, so you never felt like you were in "school" - it felt more like you were an apprentice or an understudy.

“What I gained (at Trebas) put me 10 years ahead of other young professionals when I started off in the workforce.”

After leaving Trebas, Harding worked with various urban artists in both Montreal and Toronto, before eventually returning home to Jamaica. A chance meeting with an advertising agency representative convinced him to convert his small home
studio into a radio and television jingle production house, which he also opened up to local reggae acts looking to make demo recordings. Harding also offered up his services as an engineer, doing mixing, editing and pre-mastering.

“At that time (1993), nobody in Jamaica was using computers to sequence or record music, so I garnered a reputation as a wunderkid in digital recording. Everyone was still walking around with 2-inch tape and, soon after, ADAT tapes in
their car trunk. So I got a lot of work because I was using software to edit and record and burn to CD. In the meantime, I was still planning my return to North America as soon as I shopped some demos and made enough money.”

It was Harding’s brother who spotted Sean Paul at a local open mic night, and suggested the aspiring reggae artist visit Harding’s studio to record some demos. Harding eventually formed his own record label to record and release a series of
singles, which was still the primary format for reggae music at that time. The first Sean Paul single, Baby Girl, was a huge radio hit in Jamaica, and cemented the working relationship between the two.

“People started calling my phone number listed on the record label to get in contact with Sean for other recordings and for live performances, and I started making all the arrangements,” says Harding. “Within a couple of years, I had morphed into his
producer, manager, and booking agent, all in one.”

The Baby Girl single was released in 1996. In the summer of 2000, Sean Paul’s first album (Stage One) was released via VP Records out of New York.

The album outperformed any other release on the label that year, selling more than 100,000 copies. It also spurred on something of a feeding frenzy within the industry, as offers came in from various major record companies to distribute the
next Sean Paul album, with Atlantic Records ultimately putting the best offer on the table.

Harding became Mr. Everything in the development of Sean Paul’s career. He owned the studio, and did all the engineering and the majority of the production work on the album. When the touring started, Harding was the on-stage DJ, as well as being the backstage manager, getting flights and hotels organized. He also worked on developing Sean Paul’s image and persona, organizing photo and video shoots, giving the artist advice on how to conduct interviews and improve his public speaking, and helping him focus on his writing abilities.

The hard work has clearly paid off. Sean Paul’s second album, Dutty Rock, became a monster hit, selling more than six million units worldwide, and earning the artist a Grammy for Best Reggae Album, amongst many other awards (MTV, The Source, Juno, MuchMusic, and World Music Awards). His latest release, The Trinity, recently reached #7 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, and has already sold more than one million units in the U.S. alone. The album has already produced a #1 hit (on the Billboard Hot 100) in Temperature, following the top ten success of the debut single, We Be Burnin’.

Sean Paul’s success has naturally translated into even busier days for his manager. Harding’s days are a mix of business and studio work. The business side involves numerous phone calls and emails to attorneys, booking agents, road managers and publicists regarding Sean Paul’s career, not to mention the many calls and emails from those offering new business opportunities. Plus there’s also the abundance of paperwork that is a part of managing a successful artist’s career.

While the daytime hours are reserved for the business side of the industry, the evening hours are spent in the studio: building beats, mixing or editing new songs, experimenting with new plug-ins or software, and later in the evening, working on recording sessions. As Harding points out, reggae artists like to take their time in recording sessions, which means that he rarely leaves the studio before four or five in the morning. After a few hours sleep, it’s back to business the next day. Harding says that the long-range plan simply involves maintaining Sean Paul’s current success, and proving that he is not a one-hit wonder. He would also like to produce and manage more top-drawer reggae acts, and see reggae become a larger part of the musical mainstream.

“We've got to prove consistency and fight for a place at the table with all the other genres of music in the marketplace. Kicking the door open is one thing...holding it open long enough for other reggae artists to squeeze through is the bigger challenge. Reggae attracts a lot of international music industry people to Jamaica, so keeping the production level up to date as well as the business acumen is also important, whether it's helping producers and engineers understand digital technology, or helping young artists understand what a publishing deal is, or teaching prospective managers how Soundscan and Mediabase work.

“The dream is to turn on MTV or BET one day and see four, five or six reggae artists in the top 20, and the same with Top 40 radio in North America as well. Right now, we're seeing one or two at a time every six months or so. We've got to get those
numbers up.”

Harding feels that young people aspiring to a career in the music industry need to learn as much as they can about every facet of the industry. Which means that prospective managers need to learn how records are made, and engineers and
producers need to understand how music is marketed and sold. He urges young people to keep up with what’s happening in the industry, and to understand and embrace new technologies. And he also encourages young managers and producers
to keep being music fans.

“It's shocking when so many engineers or producers spend so much time making music and stop listening to music,” Harding points out. “You'll end up sounding like the last CD you bought, and for some people that's years and years ago.”  Harding’s versatility helped him make significant strides in the business. Starting off as a guitar player, he eventually became a DJ, then a producer/engineer, and eventually, an artist manager. As a guitarist, he’s able to put together a backup band for his artist, and able to relate to the musicians in the band. As a DJ, he’s able to engineer and produce records that work at the clubs, and understand how they will affect an audience.

In an industry where record company mergers and shrinking recording budgets are now the norm, Harding feels it’s that type of versatility that will allow young up and-comers to thrive. But always, above everything else, there must be that love of the music.

“Most producers nowadays play instruments themselves, and can run a recording session without a dedicated engineer. A lot of mixing engineers can do overdubs to enhance lackluster recordings. Many managers know enough to negotiate basic contracts without attorneys. And many attorneys, by virtue of their contacts, are doing A & R work for the artists they represent. So versatility adds value, and that will keep you in demand for a long time to come.

“But do it all because you love music. Everybody needs money, and many of us love the spotlight and the celebrity that come with success. Many of us will never win a Grammy or sell 10 million records. But if you strive to create and promote
great music, the music will never let you down, and wherever the music takes you, the journey to get there will be the greatest reward.”.

Trebas Institute provides the pathway to success in the digital media world. Industry professionals regularly review the content of our programs, giving graduates a competitive advantage.

It's no surprise that major entertainment companies, studios and artists around the world employ Trebas graduates.

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