Interview With Sterling Sound's Mastering Engineer Idania Valencia

Meet Idania Valencia – the exceptionally talented Mastering Engineer from Sterling Sound who is behind many of pop's hottest talents such as Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes and many more.

Here, Idania shares the craft behind mastering live songs, the special nature of listening to records on vinyl and more. 

In 2020, Sam Smith released their third album 'Love Goes' on which Idania mastered Track 7 "For The Lover That I Lost". 

"Working on the track "For The Lover That I Lost" from the 'Love Goes' album was really special because it was the first time that I mastered for a really big artist. I felt a lot of responsibility to honor the song and the mix by Steve Fitzmaurice. Most of the time I don't know the work of the artist I'm mastering previous to working on it but this time I was a fan, and it was a dream come true to put my touch on one of Sam Smith's songs."

In the same year as the Sam Smith record, Idania also worked her magic on Shawn Mendes' aptly-named record 'Wonder'.

"In the case of the 'Wonder' album I worked on the deluxe version tracks. It was a little challenging to work on this tracks because they were live performances and the mixes couldn't be as polished and clean as the studio versions. My goal here was to make them sound clear, with enough separation, with special focus in the vocals and letting them be as dynamic as possible so the listeners could feel almost like they were in the concert themselves. I really love the cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" because it's a really good classic song, and Shawn Mendes killed it while keeping it in the theme/sound of the album."

We now time-travel back to 2011 when Of Monsters & Men released their indie-rock gem 'My Head Is An Animal' on which Idania worked on the Cabin Sessions version of it.

"This was the Cabin Sessions of a huge album. I loved working on an album that I have heard many times in the past, and already loved. Trying to bring it close in feel to the original material was my biggest goal. I have many memories of when I was younger, listening to this album on the radio or at a music festival. I would have never guessed [that] I would be working in the live version of these songs years later – it was a really warm feeling. My favorite song to master was "Little Talks". That song, it lives in my brain rent-free – any version of it."

We asked Idania if there are any albums she worked on that she is really proud of. It's clear that she is widely respected in the biz with these amazing accolades;

"I'm really proud of a few smaller indie albums/EPs that I've worked on. To this day I listen to all these a lot:

• Moyka's 'The Revelations of Love'
• Josef Salvat's 'Islands'
• Fiji Blue's 'I Loved You, What Happened'
• Francis Karel's 'Crash & Burn'

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, we also queried Idania to name an album she didn't worked on, why she loved the way it sounded, and how it makes her feel when she listens to it.

"Olivia Rodrigo's 'SOUR'. I love the rebelliousness, the grief, the contemplation it expresses. It really makes me feel like I lost my first love all over again – all the feeling and stages of trying to cope with that. I love how dynamic some songs are. In contrast I also love how intimate Olivia's voice sounds in other tracks. It's mixed beautifully by Mitch McCarthy and mastered to perfection by the best – Randy Merrill."

As we came to end of our interview, Idania also delved into the unique beauty of listening to music on vinyl – a special joy that we share too.

"There is just something special and unique about playing vinyl, part of it is the conscious act stopping to listen and enjoy music in a way that we don't do much anymore."

(Photo: Supplied)