A quiet force behind the scenes, Gabriel Schuman thrives on bringing music to its full potential, knowing exactly when to lean into imperfection. Recently, you may have heard of him as the man behind Bladee’s Cold Visions, but he has been producing and mixing since 2014. The GATA team caught up with him in his Brooklyn studio, tucked away in the basement of an industrial warehouse. It’s raw and gritty, just like his music.

GABE: The reason I like this studio is, because it kind of has a Nine Inch Nails energy to it. I feel like people come in here and they're like, man, all I wanna do is take fit pics.

GATA: Haha, perhaps I need one. Okay. I'm going to start with some silly little questions.

Describe yourself in 3 words off the bat.

GABE: Chill. Attentive. Hardworking.

GATA: Low key or high key?

GABE: Very much low-key.

Bladee's latest Album Cold Visions was executively produced by Gabe.

GATA: Best time of the day to work for you?

GABE: 10 PM. I generally get mentally activated late at night. For better or worse.

GATA: How did you end up in NYC?

GABE: I grew up in LA, then I moved to Washington DC for a year to study History at Georgetown. That wasn't a vibe, so I came here and studied music. So I had a brief academic route, and then I realised, I like music more.

GATA: Why History?

GABE: I mean, I still love history. It’s my little passion. I read a lot of history books and watch history documentaries and listen to podcasts. Georgetown University was very academic and hardcore. I liked the classes, but that was the first time I ever saw East Coast preppiness, just an energy that I was never exposed to. It was a very socially alienating year. And then I came to New York, and I realised this was more my style. But I don't regret thedecision to go to DC. It was a formative year, kind of figuring it out, on your own kind of thing. So then I came here and studied music production at NYU. That was nice. I feel if I had come out of high school and just done that, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I did. After taking a year away from it, I was like doubly excited to work hard on music.

As a producer, is New York your favorite city to work in ?

GABE: I like New York. It’s more like, I live here now rather than, I'm trying to do a lot in New York. I go out a lot less and I’m kind of just here at my house. But I wouldn't really live anywhere else. I was thinking about moving earlier this year, but then, I came back after being in Europe for 2 months. I was like- I like America. I feel good in America. I'm patriotic haha. America. we can make this work. I'm American.

GATA: You worked on Caroline from Amine, right? What a throwback.

GABE: Yeah. So while I was studying, I was working at a studio called the Space Pit in Greenpoint, and there was a group of us who were in college or just out of college, that were all kind of interning or working in a few adjacent offices of Mixpack Studios. Just like kids running around. So one of the people, who I was hanging out with there recommended me to Amine's manager. I had never really mixed stuff before.

It was so random - I then worked on his album in the summer of 2015 or something. And then he had that single and then I mixed the singles. Then all of a sudden it just started blowing up and Republic Records was calling me saying we needed stems because there was originally a Maybach music sample in it that we had to take out. That was my hard-learned lesson in the music industry. The song became like a triple platinum song or something and I barely got paid anything for it, which is like my bad because I didn't know shit. But I don't think anybody knew that that song was going to pop off. Dude, it was surreal though, I remember being at parties or random bars and it was playing on the radio. It was so mainstream.

GATA: What's one piece of gear you can't live without?

GABE: Just my computer.

GATA: If your production style had a theme track soundtrack, what would it be?

GABE: I don't know. I try to make things a little not perfect sounding, having a little more of a grit and a physicality and not so pristine. I like music that's not perfect. And I like to work with a lot of people who have that style, it's more interesting to do things that are kind of wrong in the right way rather than just like, oh, this sounds good and everybody is happy with that. But ultimately, I'm always just happy to work with whatever they want the sound to be like.

GATA: Who's an artist that you want to work with or are currently excited by?

GABE: Aphex Twin. That's a question I've been asking myself a lot. It's cool, because I am able to go with the flow of a lot of things and I keep on looking and finding new stuff. I'm fortunate because I get to work on music that I listen to.

GATA: How did you start working with Drain Gang?

GABE: So, originally there's a producer named Oli XL, who I had reached out to, in like, 2017, 2018. I found his music and we briefly chatted. Out of that, we mastered his project. He's Swedish. He recommended me to Year 0001, and everything unfolded naturally from there. I worked on the Bladee/Mechatok record, and it all clicked from that point.I didn’t know much about Drain Gang or Sad Boys at first, but once I started diving in, it became really interesting. When I mixed Bladee’s album, The Fool, I had to do some research to understand all the references, like asking, “What’s up with this 9 stuff?” There's so much lingo.

GATA: And now you executively produced Bladee’s Cold Visions.

GABE: Yeah, it’s been great. We started touring together, which helped us connect, because before that, we only communicated through email and text. It was funny to finally realize we’re all real people. We have this running joke that whenever he has a microphone, I’m there on the other end, making sure it sounds good.

GATA : You also mixed Earth Eaters' new album?

GABE:Yeah, I mixed a few tracks on there. I’ve known Alex for a long time, and I actually went to NYU with her engineer, Kiri Stensby, who’s incredibly talented. They’ve always had their sound pretty dialed in, so I was happy to help finesse a few things. Kiri is an amazing engineer, and their chemistry is fantastic—it’s similar to my dynamic with Bladee.

When you have an engineer who understands your vision, you can just work seamlessly together without needing to explain everything. It’s like you can finish each other’s sentences creatively. That’s what makes collaborating over multiple projects so rewarding; by the time we got to Cold Visions, it all just flowed beautifully.

Eartheater - *Powders* (2023) [Chemical X] - Mixed by Gabe

GATA: So you prefer working with artists where you kind of build a relationship more than just a single EP or something?

GABE: Definitely. I’m always trying new stuff, different genres. There's just a handful of people that I'm always working with. It's just more of an ongoing conversation, but sometimes it's also nice to just do something, that's very clinical and see how good I can get something to sound. Some people just have things really dialed in and I'm just there to kind of finesse it. For example with Bladee, I'm often times getting everything raw and I'm doing all the vocal production and edits. Whereas with other artists, everything is really finely tuned, and I'm just there to kind of add an extra 10%.

GATA: What's one project that pushed you out of your comfort zone?

GABE: I’m always trying to push myself because I get bored easily. Right now, I’m focusing more on production—not just mixing and mastering, which is my bread and butter, but really diving back into producing music. That’s where I started, and I’m trying to find my way back into it.

Cold Visions was probably the most fun and challenging thing I’ve worked on. It pushed me because I could help Bladee fulfill his vision while also figuring out where I fit in. I love being behind the scenes and working with a small, tight-knit group. I make my own music too, but I don't share much of it—sometimes I prefer following someone else's lead.

One day, though, I'll drop a 100-track deluxe box set—watch out for that.

Cold Visions kind of came out of a live show change. They usually have a DJ, for the Bladee shows, but we didn’t for the summer 2023 shows. So I ended up doing “fake DJ” stuff with backing tracks, creating transitions and mixing. That experience evolved into, “What if we did that for a record?” Everything is connected. When you push yourself and learn new skills, you start to see how it all fits together.

GATA: What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about being a producer?

Gabe: The term "producer" is interesting because it can mean different things. In the '90s, producers were more hands-on, like Flood, who worked with Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. He shaped their demos into polished tracks by changing elements like drums and bass, helping articulate the band's vision while adding his unique sound.

Today, a producer might just make a beat and then step back, which doesn’t capture the full essence of production. Choosing the right beat is crucial, especially in rap, which has its own unique parameters that differ from other music genres.

The first studio I worked at, The Space Pit, had an owner, Nick Hook, who said, "rap is a sport, not music." I love that perspective because it highlights how distinct rap is. I'm more drawn to the traditional style of production, which is why I appreciate my role as an executive producer for Cold Visions. I may not create the beats from the start, but I enhance them and contribute creatively.

GATA: So do you have do you have a tag? No.

GABE: I have a tag. I've never really used it - only one time. I actually have a few. I make them for fun. But I kind of prefer to just stay low key.Be in the background. That's kind of my vibe.

GATA: Do you find inspiration in other visual arts or movies?

GABE: Movies are great because they combine so many elements—image, sound, composition—everything. They’re not necessarily the highest form of art, but they involve huge budgets, tons of people, and massive distribution. When you compare music budgets to Hollywood, it’s just a different ballgame.

GATA: What’s your favorite movie?

GABE: That’s tough, but there’s this 80s cult classic called Repo Man. It’s weird and tied to the LA hardcore punk scene with a killer soundtrack. My dad showed it to me when I was around 15, and it just clicked. It’s bizarre, but not so weird that you need to be high to enjoy it. It’s still grounded, but definitely out there.

GATA: If you could go back to before you started producing, what advice would you give yourself?

GABE: Or to anyone starting out? I feel lucky to have grown up during a cool transition—from CDs to finding music on the Internet. When I was younger, I’d search for Aphex Twin tutorials, and there were only a few. Now, there are pages of people trying to recreate his sound, and some are really good at it.

It's hard to fully understand what it's like to be a kid today, with things like Instagram hustle, especially in rap. But for me, it’s always been about meeting people. Growing up, I didn’t know many who liked the same music as me. Moving to New York was amazing because I found others who shared my interests.

I had a smooth entry into the city, thanks to studying. It wasn’t just about surviving; it was about interning and experimenting. While student loans aren’t fun, I’m glad I did it because it let me live in New York and connect with like-minded people without the immediate pressure of making money.

So, my advice: find people who are into what you're into. Passion is key. If you're having fun and excited about your work, money becomes secondary. It won’t matter as much, and your best work will come out when you’re truly enjoying what you’re doing. That’s what makes life fulfilling.

GATA: What’s the wildest thing that ever happened in your studio?

GABE: This studio is still pure—it hasn’t been ruined yet. But my old studio, that was legendary. It was owned by Michael Potvin, who runs a lighting company in New York (Nitemind). The place was this DIY warehouse—super janky, you could hear everything from next door, but the rent was cheap, and it had a community vibe. A lot of people came through, it was this iconic spot for the New York 2010s scene.

On my birthday last year, we had to vacate,because they had to unwillingly close it down, and it turned into full-on demolition mode. Guys started smashing walls and ripping down staircases. It was like watching grown men turn into kids—pure joy, smashing things. It was wild, but the next day I realized I hadn’t moved everything out yet, so there was drywall everywhere. Definitely should've waited a day, but the demolition was a great farewell.

GATA: How was your experience doing live sound in Tokyo for ARCA?

GABE: It was amazing! It was my third time in Tokyo, and I’ve always loved Japan. I grew up with a Japanese friend who got me into manga, food, and gaming, so visiting Japan was a big deal for me. The first time I went, I was 14, and it was during my peak BAPE phase. Visiting all the BAPE stores was like a tour of the city. Tokyo’s so dense, you can explore for months and still feel like you’ve barely scratched the surface.

This time, the ARCA tour finally happened after years of delays. It was surreal, like a fairy tale. Every time I leave Tokyo, I wonder if it was even real—it’s such a magical place.