The Global Media Site for Entertainment.
Menu
Fernando “Fico” Hoyle is a Peruvian Sound Engineer (live and studio), Audiovisual Producer and Musician. He studied music and electronics and was a drummer in some pop and rock groups in Peru. He worked as a recording engineer in prominent recording studios in Lima, such as SonoRadio, Estudios Elías Ponce and Publimusic. In the 90s he created his audiovisual services company Sonata Video y Audio.
For more than 30 years, Fico has been the sound engineer of Susana Baca- Peruvian singer and researcher, and 3-time Latin Grammy Award winner. In his career as a sound engineer he has worked live and in the studio with artists such as Alex Acuña, Eva Ayllón, Ramón Stagnaro, Hector Veneros, Jorge Madueño, among others. His sons Mikel (audiovisual producer) and Paul (musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist) live in Barcelona and Berlin respectively. Currently Fico’s headquarters are in Lima, where he lives with his wife Ana María and has his sound laboratory for mixing, mastering and post-production.
Lets get to know some more about Sound Engineer Fernando “Fico” Hoyle.
Fico: I live in the San Borja district in Lima, Peru, in my apartment I have a recording and mixing studio where I do sound work as well as audiovisual post-production work for my company Sonata Video y Audio.
When I’m not recording or mixing in the studio, I’m doing live sound at a show, or I’m with my partner Jorge Panfichi, with our cameras, lights and sound equipment, filming a video for a client of our company Sonata, or I am traveling with my family through Peru.
Fico: From a very young age I liked music, when I was 8 years old I built a drum set with empty paint cans and the drumheads were plastic bags. My mom used to get upset with me because I took her knitting sticks to use them as drumsticks. During high school I became very interested in electronics and began to study it with the books I could get. There was no Internet so getting material to study was difficult. Then I realized that the perfect meeting between music and electronics was sound engineering, and that was what I wanted to dedicate myself to.
Fico: I have no direct experience in sound for theater works, however I have worked doing sound in many theaters around the world, including the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall (London, UK), Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany), Luxembourg Philharmonic (Luxembourg), Howard Theater (Washintong DC), Lincoln Center, SONY Hall (New York, USA), among others. I like challenges and in every theater and every small or large venue there is an electroacoustic challenge to solve.
“It would seem interesting to me to venture into sound for theater works if the opportunity presents itself, previous experience in managing electro-acoustic solutions in theaters would be very useful to me.”
Fico: I have worked with Susana Baca since the late 80’s. I met her when she went to record at the studio where I worked at the time, Publimusic, a studio where we made music and sound recordings for advertising. We hit it off immediately! I loved her freshness and naturalness in singing and living music. She also liked my work so Susana and her husband Ricardo invited me to work with them as a sound engineer on their live concerts.
“During all these years working with Susana, the experiences, learnings and satisfactions are countless. Susana has performed in theaters, auditoriums and clubs in almost every corner of the world. I am a witness to the affection they have for her in every place she goes, even where they don’t even understand Spanish.”
A memorable moment was the day Susana won her first Grammy. We were on tour, we were in a van on our way to Boston when Susana received a call from an important TV channel from Peru to interview her because she had won the Grammy, there we found out that she had won the award. That same night we had a presentation at a venue in Boston and the joy of the people was overwhelming, the shouting and dancing lasted all night, to the point that it was difficult to hear Susana sing.
Apart from how wonderful it is to know so many interesting places and people, it is a great satisfaction to be able to put my art and my knowledge so that Peruvian music in Susana’s voice reaches audiences around the world with clarity and quality.
Fico: In addition to Susana, I work with other groups of different musical genres, mainly world music, pop and rock, making live sound as well as mixing and mastering in the studio.
Fico: I have many beautiful memories during my career. More than a moment I would say that a memorable stage in my career was the transition from working with analog equipment and moving to digital systems, it was a process of great learning and satisfaction.
Fico: In Peru there are very few women who dedicate themselves to sound or technical work. Historically in Peru these are jobs for “men”, a result of a sexist culture in our country.
“I would like to see more women enter the sound field. I have had the opportunity to work with several around the world and their work has been excellent. I don’t see why the works should correspond to any particular genre.”
Fico: I always say that 85% of the work on a show is done before the show.
It can take months to plan properly, but that way unforeseen events are minimized and we can dedicate ourselves to what is most important during the show: making an artistic and balanced mix.
When I go to make sound for a group that I have not worked with before, I try to talk with the members and go to a rehearsal, that way I get involved in the human part, which is the essence of their artistic project.
Our work during the show is a combination of art and technology, our mission is to ensure that the artist’s message and personality reach the audience clearly.
At a concert during a tour in the USA, the console broke down in the middle of the sound check, several channels stopped working. It was during the analog era, so effects like reverb and delay were external so they couldn’t be accessed through conventional sends either. The audience was already in the Foyer waiting to enter the stalls when the promoter approached me to ask if the console could be repaired or else they would cancel the show. I answered: The console cannot be repaired, but we do not cancel the function either.
“What I did was use other inputs and outputs on the console to complete the inputs and to access the effects. The handling of the console was not the conventional handling but I was able to deliver a balanced mix with the necessary elements.”
Fico: I have just finished a jingle for an important insurance company, while I am recording a package of voiceovers in special formats for an international bank. At the same time, I am editing the videos of interviews conducted by an eminent Peruvian creative director with other prominent creatives in the medium, as well as other audiovisual projects with my company Sonata Video y Audio.
Soon I have private and public events where I will work on live sound for several musical groups of different genres. And while I wait for the next tours, I’m getting mixing and mastering work for musical groups.
Fico: What an interesting question, I would say:
“Don’t worry about deciding now whether you will dedicate yourself to music or electronics, keep researching and studying them separately, everything we do in life are like vectors that added together give a great final resulting vector, which grows and changes throughout all our lifes. Keep walking, always.”
Michael Cherrie Stars Alongside Regina King in Netflix Film “Shirley”
Megan hails from the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. She is a musician, singer/songwriter with a vast technical theatre background and can be called a rockstar of the creative world. Boasting a holistic understanding of multiple Creative Arts spanning a roughly 16 year career, while being an activist who is passionate about the empowerment of girls, womexn and the LGBTQ+ community, Megan exists at the intersection of the Creative and Cultural Industries and social change. She considers herself a citizen of the planet, having traveled considerably during her career, and is energized by her chosen family and professional networks that span the globe. Megan holds a Certificate in Digital Media Studies with a focus in Music Technology, BFA in Performing Arts with a focus in Theater Design and Production, a Master in Arts and Culture Management (hons) and has a vocation for coaching creatives. Megan also loves writing music, gigging, connecting with people of all cultures and prioritizes having the ocean waves underscore her daily life.
Read Full Profile
© 2021 TheatreArtLife. All rights reserved.
Thank you so much for reading, but you have now reached your free article limit for this month.
Our contributors are currently writing more articles for you to enjoy.
To keep reading, all you have to do is become a subscriber and then you can read unlimited articles anytime.
Your investment will help us continue to ignite connections across the globe in live entertainment and build this community for industry professionals.
