Hearing My Music On MTV

Terry Carter

In this podcast I'll discuss how and when I got my first composition on MTV.

Around the time I was graduating from the University of Southern California with my Master of Music in Studio/Jazz Guitar, I was working around Los Angeles as a professional musician.

One of the things I wanted to get into more than anything was studio recording work. At the time I was mainly playing guitar but I was also working up my skills as a lap steel, dobro, banjo, and mandolin player.

I was also studying country guitar with the great Steve Trovato and loving anything that had twang, like Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, Albert Lee, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Buck Owens, and Les Paul.

I was doing any kind of recording sessions you can imagine. Some in big time studios and some literally in people's bedroom studios. I just wanted to get experience recording.

One day I answered an ad on Craigslist from a songwriter named Chris Frame who was looking for a multi-instrumentalist to play on 4 of his songs for his upcoming album.

I remember my first day I went to his studio, also a bedroom studio, but he had all the professional gear, including one of the first Pro Tools systems called the 888.

Since I didn't know what to expect I took every instrument I could fit in my car including a Gibson ES-335 (which was a recent birthday present from my wife), a Fender Telecaster, a Recording King Lap Steel, and a Dobro and Banjo I got from my grandpa.

Chris and I hit it off right away. Our personalities, style in music, and work ethic were very similar and our friendship began.

We spent the next few days recording for his album, which was a mix of country, rock, and southern rock. We did lead guitar, banjo, lap steel, and even a little mandolin.

Although Chris was a very demanding producer, he was also very talented musician, songwriter, and could work Pro Tools better than anyone I had ever seen.

Around this time I found a guy on Craigslist that was the music supervisor for MTV and he was looking for some tracks to place in some of their shows.

I had always wanted to write tracks for TV and since Chris and I were done with the album I suggested that we do a few and submit them and see what happens.

Chris was excited about the idea and was ready to get started.

The process is that first the music supervisor gave us some popular radio songs and told us to "copy" them. When I say copy, it's really more of make them sound like these songs but don't infringe of the original artists copy write. This is a very standard procedure in the film and TV world.

Some of the bands he wanted us to sound like were The Killers and Weezer.

The way Chris and I worked was that I would go and listen to the songs, and write chord progressions that sounded like the original tracks. In the studio Chris would help with the arrangement and then program the drums and play the bass. After I would lay down the guitar parts, we would add any keys or special sound effects, mix it and it was done.

The energy was really flowing and we did 10 tracks in the matter of a few days.

We submitted them to our MTV guy and waited. A few weeks later I got an email from the guy saying that we placed one of our tracks on an MTV show called Wild Boyz. Wild Boyz is a "Jackass" style show that featured Steve O and friends in different parts of the world doing stupid stuff.

Anyway, he says that the show will air on a Wednesday night. I set up my TIVO during band rehearsal that night so we wouldn't miss it. We both forgot about the show and after rehearsal Chris started to drive home to Santa Monica.

When I went to my house I remembered that I had recorded the episode of Wild Boyz. I sat anxiously watching the show waiting for the familiar sound of one of our songs.

Sure enough during the middle of the episode I hear one of the tracks that Chris and I wrote. It was so cool that I got goose bumps hearing my music on TV. I immediately called Chris and he got so excited he turned around and drove back to my house.

We must have watched it over and over again, sitting there smiling like two school kids. It was an awesome feeling.

This began a long string of tracks that we got placed on MTV, but also lead to music that I have written for Scorpion (CBS), Pitbulls and Parolees (Animal Planet), PUMA, and even a theme for a professional hockey team.

All the music you hear in this video are tracks that Chris and I wrote.

The picture in the middle of the video is The Chris Frame Band taken at my studio Carter's Coyote Pass Studios. Chris is the tall guy on the right and I'm the cool guy with the dogs.

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