Meet the new head of Millikin’s audio recording facilities, Kevin Guarnieri. A cheery fellow as well as a veteran of the professional world of music, he will undoubtedly bring a new level of quality and vibe to the music industry studies programs at Millikin.

At this very moment, he has projects in the works to expand the functionality of the recording facilities and even interact with the entirety of the student body through his own radio show on WJMU.

Guarnieri has worked with many big names in the industry, including Mariah Carey, Run DMC, Sting and even Bruce Springsteen. Most of his experience has been turning any and every space into a recording studio, including hotel rooms and yachts. With such an impressive resume of what he calls “commando recording” for touring artists such as these, most important to him is sharing what he has learned with his students.

On Millitrax, Guarnieri Kevin said that he “inherited an extremely well maintained studio” from former head Ronnie Dean, an amazing engineer in his own right. Guarnieri has taken to add groovy looking carpets and lights to the studio to improve the vibe. The studio, Guarnieri found, was built from the ground up to be ready for even bigger things.

Millikin’s recording studios have something called “network audio protocol,” which can allow the studio to be even greater. Imagine this: a live act using Kirkland’s sound capabilities, sent live to Millitrax to record and edit, as well as stream live on WJMU, or using all of the studio rooms at once to record up to 128 individual sounds. The possibilities are vast, and time with Guarnieri will only bring us closer to the top.

I asked Guarnieri the age old question, “Why Millikin?” It turns out that in 1998 while in Los Angeles working with a colleague, he was surprised to find out that he found a Millikin alum in a sea of Berkley and Full Sail graduates. In 2014 then, while trying to find a new teaching gig and having been dissatisfied with his previous excursion, he stumbled upon the ad for the position here. Most of all, he was impressed with the students here, and says they are “of a different caliber than many other universities.”

Calling Guarnieri a music fan would be an understatement. His love for music has directed most of his life and career from an early age. During his time at college, he was a DJ for the local radio station. He said he would like to do something like that again here, and has been in talks with the head of WJMU, Sam Meister, to figure out a time to do so. With a chuckle, he said it may not be any time soon.

On his craft: “I love limitations. I want to push past them.”

On Los Angeles: “Everyone should experience the circus… and then move away.”

On Food: “I’ve spent thousands in label money on sushi.”