Yahweh Collective Encourages You to “Speak Loud” at GoBU
Same night, same theme, different set. Yahweh Collective took to the same stage as with fellow label mate Chans Thomas to provide song responding to social justice for GoBU’s thematic Creative Liturgy event.
Personally I couldn’t believe Keeso was in the front on his feet after being shot at work just 4 weeks ago! Read that story here.
YC want you to know that this song is an answer to pain and frustration often found at the epicenter of the subject. True hope can be found even at the eye of any storm, the gospel provides sufficient answers that unifies. They believe that you will find true harmony in community if we speak up for peace instead of being silent with indifference.
In the video below YC perform an acoustic version of an original song called “Speak Loud”. I’m certain that you would love to hear a studio sometime in the future...and neither can I.
Yahweh Collective have their EP released planned for March. To get in on the news, events and exclusive content feel free to subscribe to their mailing list below. For those who comment, share like and more, thank you in advance.
Aiight, Im out
FOOD
Moments ago, I had an odd feeling in my stomach—this strange question that’s been haunting me all year: Would I still be mixing and mastering music in five years? Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the creative world faster than any of us expected. With a click of a button, an artist can “create” lyrics, shape your voice and creating a choir for a industry competing arrangement, no studio, musician, arranger is necessary, and it can “master” a track in seconds. So the question naturally pops up:
“Should I keep mixing and mastering when AI can do it instantly?”
My answer — grounded in 25+ years of ears, instinct, and craft — is simple:
Yes. Because AI cannot replace me.
Here are the seven reasons that I could find…and boy was it reassuring….maybe it will be for you will too.
Photos by @josuemlopez17
Every now and then, a song walks into the room revealing the journey an artists has been on.
I know the song, but hearing it live with just the piano…reassuringly familiar yet, It felt fresh for some reason.
Before the preamps warm up, before I could settle the mics in position, before we even count off—
we were present. This was going to be all in one take!.
Episode 2 of Live From A SafeHouse lives in that space.
This session wasn’t about chasing complexity or proving anything.
It was about an alignment—a heart posture set to melody. An engineer ready to capture it all.
Every day I open the door to A SafeHouse Studio, I’m reminded how blessed I am to create in a city as musically rich, culturally layered, and relentlessly inspiring as Houston. Having 1,200 square feet dedicated to pure creativity is a privilege — but having it in this city, surrounded by these artists, is the real gift.
And truthfully… collaboration here just comes easy.
There’s something about Houston’s mix of stories, traditions, and sonic identities that makes every session feel like an open invitation to explore. My own journey — from London DJ to Houston engineer, professor, and founder of ToneCrafters — places me right in the epicenter of that creative energy. If you’ve read my bio, you know I haven’t taken a straight path to get here. But that path led me to a city that moves with rhythm in its bones.
A great drummer doesn’t treat a song like a grid—they treat it like a conversation.
They pull and push. They anticipate and respond. They tuck the kick just behind the beat to make you lean in, or snap the snare on top to make the whole track breathe differently.
Every fill has intention.
Every ghost note carries personality.
And every tiny imperfection is what actually makes the song feel alive.
That’s something you can’t download.
You can only capture it.
There’s something about a dedicated room—real air, real reflections, real vibration—that elevates both the player and the final record.
When a B-3 or A100 spins up in this room, you feel it in your chest. You feel the wood resonate. You feel the heritage of every gospel, soul, and jazz session that shaped modern music.
A plug-in can give you convenience.
But a real Hammond—captured through real microphones, real iron, and real hands—is where the soul lives.
A room intentionally built for sound, storytelling, and soul. A place where nostalgia meets modernity, where swing brushes up against Latin grooves, and where vintage standards share a stage with modern neo-jazz fusion.
And I had the honor of tone-crafting its very first night of sound.
What I am drawn to is the moment when an artist walks into A SafeHouse Studio and brings something real. A voice with story still in it. A lyric that hasn’t been polished for perfection. A performance that feels like a conversation more than a show.
For years, I’ve had a front-row seat to these moments. And I couldn’t shake the question:
What good is all this beauty if it never leaves the room?
Within minutes, we were catching a little lightning in a bottle: a raw, unplanned brass cover of OutKast’s SpottieOttieDopalicious. Soulful, loose, and exactly the kind of vibe that reminds me why I love working with artists like these.
My name is Calvin Venus; I'm an Englishman living in America, a Houston-based producer/engineer with a full-service, 1200-square-foot private recording studio called A SafeHouse. I specialize in weird and wonderful music, ranging from rock to hip hop, jazz to gospel, and country to folk and more. My passion has given me the opportunity to collaborate with clients from all over the world.
I was on the phone when I heard this… “With AI and art, I feel that there is no end game”.
I feel like a songwriter or author that got haunted by a phrase that makes run to a piece of paper. For me, it’s my computer and this blog you are reading. For the record, I'm not anti-AI. I’m not arguing against it.
I’m simply questioning the reality of the times we’re in.
Will it bother you if the voice moving you isn’t real?
If the lyrics that bring you to tears weren’t born from someone’s lived experience, but from a prompt?
It’s not like we’re 3D-printing chicken or letting AI father our children.
It’s just a tool, right?
Maybe.
But for me—yes—it does matter.