Darryl Swann

Darryl’s first session as second engineer took place in 1986 with famed production team LA and Babyface as they produced the hit song “Rock Steady” for R & B vocal group The Whispers. Within a month, he became night manager and first engineer at Silverlake Recording Studios, literally living at the studio while conducting round-the-clock sessions and learning the Trident Series 80B console.

After a break to earn his bachelor’s degree from UCLA, Darryl returned to engineering full time at Straight Arrow Studios in Van Nuys, where he wrote, produced, and engineered his first major label release with Motown group Pretty in Pink (featuring Chaka Kahn's daughter Melini Kahn ).

Then, Darryl's own group, Cultural Revolution, signed with Sony/Epic/New Deal Records and released the single “Nite & Day” on the soundtrack to the John Singleton-directed film Poetic Justice. 

In 1997, Darryl began writing and producing with Macy Gray, resulting in the multi-platinum album Macy Gray "On How Life Is" as well as producing her follow-up album, "The Id". He also had the pleasure of working side by side with producer Rick Rubin who acted as Executive Producer on this record. Darryl has also worked closely in the past with Will-I-Am and the Black-Eyed-Peas, among many others.

During the latter part of 2010, Darryl has been composing a soundtrack for the soon to be released feature film "From The Rough" featuring actors Michael Clarke Duncan, Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame, and Taraje' Hensen.

Darryl is currently completing a comprehensive Music Production how-to book to be released summer 2011.

His other recent projects include developing a music-related video game for Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft X-Box 360. At Musician's Institute in Hollywood, he teaches Music Production and Track Programming. He also teaches Record Production at UCLA extension in the Entertainment Studies department.