Meet Fernando Aponte | Sound Engineer & Producer/DJ

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fernando Aponte and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fernando, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Ever since I was a little kid I always had a creative mind, I would play with Legos , me and the neighborhood friends would be building all kinds of stuff. I love to color , I played saxophone in the band all through middle and High school. Being creative and atristic has always come so natural to me , I figured might as well focus my energy into my artistic talents and go full time with it !

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my musical journey in 6th grade , I played the alto saxophone I loved it , learning how to read music and play an instrument from a young age really helped me in the future when it came to learning how to produce music , because I understood the theory behind it so well, it helped me put sounds together so easily , My art is unique because every sound im laying down is an expression of my feelings at the actual moment. When im creating what you hear is definitely how am feeling or what im going through, you can hear it in the way the vibe of the production turns out. When it comes to music everyone is talented and creative in their own special way, every creator has his/her method of madness when they are creating art. I think what sets me apart from others is the time I’ve spent working with grammy award winning producers, writers, engineers , and Artists. I believe the time I spent as a studio engineer at Circle House Studios whether it was as an intern, assistant or actually engineering is you really get to see the method of madness of established master creators and when you have that luxury you are able to take some things from each master creator and throw it into your own creative process and that sets you apart just having the knowledge of a master creator that most creators might not ever get a chance to see a Scott Storch or Supa Dupz in action. What im most excited about is my progression in learning how to DJ , I’ve only been Djing for 3 years but in that short period of time I’ve grown so much and seeing all this great progression in such a short period of time, if I keep working hard and grinding imagine what the next 3 years has in store for me ! I got to where am I professionally because I’ve had a great team behind me that has pushed me to be great and my work ethic is non stop , I grind, grind and work hard every day ! this road hasn’t been easy when I started chasing this musical endeavor i was 22 living in Hawaii at one point in my journey I lived I a van while working for Whole Foods and that was demoralizing at times because I felt stuck but I knew if I just kept fighting things will just have to get better there was no option! I had the no excuses mentality , whatever had to get done was going to get done, I didn’t feel any pity for myself didn’t give up when things got hard , I just battled day in day out and God would always send someone in my path to remind me what I was doing was right. I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way , but the most important lesson I have learned is not letting others put a time table on your journey , there’s no rush for anything, everything in Gods time , I think we get caught up listening to people saying things like oh your too old to be chasing this , or if you can’t make this happen in a certain period of time its a failure, I believe if you really want something and you work hard and do everything possible to push towards your goal your time will come! What I want the world to know about me is I do everything with love and passion , if you do everything in life with love and passion it will take you far!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My my best friend was visiting for a week, each day I would have something different planned to show them how unique Miami is where it just doesn’t have to be about clubs and partying the whole time! Miami offers so many different attractions , I would take them to the Frost Museum of Science , the frost museum is a super dope attraction especially the laser shows are awesome! I would definitely take my best friend jest skiing thats a must thing to do if you’re in Miami ! I would say in the middle of the week I would drive them down to John Pennikamp in Key West so we could go snorkeling off the reef , I feel like thats an experience my best friend would appreciate and its a side of south Florida no one really talks about! for food im definitely going to take my best friends all through little havana, little Haiti , and wynwood for all the great local food spots! to cap off the week well go down to Wynwood and downtown Miami for some night time action, definitely go to 1800- Lucky, Le Rouge , SHOTS, Centro and for sure end up for some early morning dancing at Club Space !

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is going to be a tough answer , I have to make sure I include everyone that has been essential on my journey! The first person I want to shoutout is my little brother Kyle Hanzow ! when I was 22 years old, I always had a dream to pursue music and I was scared to chase this dream because the people I loved told me it I shouldnt waste my time trying , Kyle was one of the few that really believed in me and told me day in and day out I have what it takes to make it to the big stage! so he moved me to Hawaii , so I can get away from all the nay sayers and took me to the only place in the world that the people actually believe in your dreams!I think living in Hawaii for an extended period of time, really helped me charge up a type of energy that you only feel when you are there to propel me to another level when it came to pursing my dreams nobody could tell me im not doing it I didn’t care how long it would take me I just knew I would make it as long as I worked hard , believed in myself and surrounded my self with the right people , it is because of this moment in life, is what fueled me to be here at this present moment in the winning position with my dreams! The second shoutout is my brother in law Van Dunmore if there’s one person who has been there with me in my ups and down has been him , no matter how many times I hit rock bottom he was always there to listen to me and support me in any way that he could , he never let me quit on myself and to have someone like that in your life is truly special! its like I had a guardian angel with me at all times. I owe him my life for all my success up to this point! The next 2 people I owe so much credit too in my story are my best friends Adam Ways and Jeanine Goberna , this might have been one of the lowest points in my life where my life, i had no direction, I had no money , I was spiraling, until my best friend Alan received that magical call at 4 am , Adam and Jeanine offered to pay for my weekend expenses for EDC, if I drove Alan to Orlando just because they really wanted him to come ! I thought to me that was the most selfless thing anyone could do, spend a couple hundred dollars on a stranger they never met, just so they could have one of their best friends with them for a magical weekend! that was a unicorn moment for me they never even asked me to pay them back which was the most mind blowing thing for me!! inside the festival I was standing next to the sound engineering booth and thats where I had an epiphany, that this was supposed to be what I was meant to do ! it would give me an in into the music industry !after I returned home from that trip that same Monday , I took a ride with my brother in law to SAE Miami (School of Audio Engineering) and I enrolled into the school! and the rest is history !! These are the people that I want to dedicate my shoutout too ! that deserves recognition in my story because without them I don’t think I would’ve made it to this point !

Website: https://fernandoxaponte.wixsite.com/music?fbclid=IwAR0AYejGSEPJXdIhHnJFmJ8EZsGLncSHgHzXgbblVq2bBR7ZTzc2PRl-CIo

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