What a Comedian Can Teach You About Building a Mix Career
Watch the full episode: Tiger Belly #500 - Mad TV Reunion
I've watched this podcast episode three times now. Not because it's funny (though it is). Because it's one of the most honest conversations I've ever heard about talent, success, and what happens when you spend decades chasing the wrong version of both.
Tiger Belly's 500th episode brought together Mad TV cast members for a reunion: Bobby Lee, Mo Collins, Deborah Wilson, and Aries Spears. What started as nostalgic storytelling became something else entirely when Aries Spears—one of the most talented comedians of his generation—admitted where he's really at.
And if you're a mix engineer who's ever felt like "I'm this good, so why isn't it working?"—this is for you.
The Setup: Talent Without the Outcome
Aries Spears is objectively talented. Everyone in that room agreed. Grammy-nominated engineers he worked with. Castmates who've watched him perform for decades. Even Bobby Lee, who admits he was intimidated by Aries on Mad TV.
But here's what Aries said about his career:
"I've been described as bitter... I sat back and I went 'Jesus, the people that really built the show made it,' and now it's like... Ike Barinholtz, Key and Peele... and I'm just like, I don't get it. I it's a head scratcher."
Later:
"When I go to comedy clubs and people go, 'Yo man, you one of the goats. You a legend,' and I go in my mind, 'No, no, no. Eddie Murphy's a legend. Richard Pryor is a legend.'... But then they go, 'Yo, you top five. You up there with Cat Williams, Dave Chappelle,' and I'm just going—if my talent is that, then why isn't my bank account showing that?"
Sound familiar?
Replace "comedy clubs" with "studio sessions." This is the exact story I hear from talented mix engineers who can't figure out why their career isn't matching their ability.
The Three Traps That Kill Careers
1. The Comparison Trap
Aries' dream was Saturday Night Live. Not Mad TV. He wanted the Eddie Murphy path: "Two, three years on SNL, hit movie, and the rest is history."
When he got Mad TV instead, he was "indifferent." He spent years on one of the most successful sketch shows of the '90s feeling like he was in the wrong place.
The mixer version:
You went to Berklee. You studied under great engineers. You know you're as good as the people getting the placements. So why are they working with major label artists while you're still mixing for local rappers who ghost after revisions?
The answer is the same for both: You're measuring success by someone else's path.
Aries wanted SNL because that's what Eddie Murphy did. You want the Grammy credits because that's what the top engineers have. But Eddie Murphy didn't have SNL when he started. The established engineers didn't have Grammy credits when they were learning.
The reality check:
Deborah Wilson—one of the most successful people in that room—said this:
"I don't call myself having a career. I have creative opportunities that I can say yes to or no to, bottom line."
She does massive video game voiceover work. She has money. She has freedom. But she stopped measuring herself against some imaginary version of success years ago.
2. The External Validation Trap
Here's where it got uncomfortable.
Mo Collins asked Aries point-blank: "If tomorrow you got that mansion and that big bag of cash, you think a switch is just going to flip on for you and you'll be happy?"
Aries responded:
"I would be happy if I got that plus the things that really matter... I'm not a great father to my kids... As much as I love the woman who I want to marry for the third time, I cheat. I fuck other women. So I have a problem."
Then Deborah Wilson said what needed to be said:
"You have holes in your body that not a mansion or a bag of cash will ever fill... You're bankrupt. You're bankrupt emotionally."
The mixer version:
How many engineers do I work with who think:
"Once I get those monitors, I'll feel legit"
"Once I hit 10K followers, labels will notice me"
"Once I get one major credit, everything will change"
Meanwhile:
Your website hasn't been updated in two years
You haven't followed up with the last three clients who went dark
You're spending mixing income on plugins instead of savings
You haven't sent a single professional email to a potential client this month
The gear won't fix the follow-up system. The follower count won't fix your client acquisition. The credit won't fix the fact that you don't have a repeatable way to book work.
3. The "I Deserve More" Trap
Aries kept circling back to one idea: His talent level should equal his income level.
"When I hear that and they go, 'Yo, you top five,' and I'm just going—if my talent is that, then why isn't that reflected in my bank account?"
Mo Collins responded with the hard truth:
"Your equation—you'll never be satisfied. I'm just going to tell you right now... You always have some shit after that to say, 'No, no, no.' You focus on everything that is not you, everything you want, but not what's in your present space."
The mixer version:
"I went to school for four years. I've mixed hundreds of songs. I know my mixes are better than half the stuff on Spotify. Why am I still at $200 per song?"
Because the market doesn't care about:
Your degree
How many songs you've mixed
How good you think your work is compared to commercial releases
The market cares about:
Whether you solve a specific problem for a specific person
Whether they trust you'll deliver on time
Whether working with you feels professional
Whether you make the process easy
"I deserve more because I'm talented" is the fastest way to stay stuck.
What Actually Works: The Reset
Aries is 50. He's spent decades chasing external validation. The mansion. The Kevin Hart money. The recognition.
But watch what happened in that conversation:
Bobby Lee—who's built a multi-million dollar podcast empire—said this:
"I look back at Mad TV as I learned so much on that show. I relapsed on that show, but then I got sober on that show... I got to work with all the generations because I was in the middle... I look at that as a really fond memory. And I wish I appreciated it."
Bobby didn't get SNL either. He got Mad TV. Then it got canceled. Then he got sober. Then he built Tiger Belly. Now he's doing exactly what he wants.
The difference? He stopped measuring success by someone else's scorecard.
Here's how that applies to your mix career:
Calculate Real Numbers, Not Fantasy Outcomes
Stop asking: "Why don't I have what they have?"
Start asking: "What do I actually need to live the life I want?"
If you need $75K/year to live well, that's 250 mixes at $300 each. Or 150 at $500. That's 12-20 per month. That's 3-5 per week.
Is that realistic? Yes. Is that easier than getting one Grammy credit? Also yes.
The action: Write down your actual annual number. Divide it by a realistic per-song rate. That's your target. Everything else is just math and systems.
Build Systems, Not Waiting Strategies
Stop waiting for: The big break, the perfect client, the right connection
Start building: A system that puts you in front of artists every single week
Mo Collins mentioned that Mad TV didn't promote them. No billboards. No merch. "We were the bastard child of Fox."
But the cast members who thrived? They built their own systems. Deborah Wilson dominates video game voiceover. Mo Collins has a one-woman show. Bobby Lee built a podcast empire.
The action: Pick ONE client acquisition channel. Instagram DMs. Cold email. Local studio partnerships. Do it systematically for 90 days before judging if it works.
Maintain Relationships, Especially When It's Hard
Aries ghosted Deborah Wilson when he was going through hard times. Changed his number. Disappeared. Didn't reach out.
That's not a career strategy. That's self-sabotage.
The reality: Every successful mixer I know built their career on relationships, not talent.
Following up with clients
Staying in touch when things get hard
Showing up consistently
Being someone people want to work with again
The action: Text three past clients this week. Not to sell. Just to check in. "Hey, been thinking about that project we did. How'd the release go?"
Define "Enough" Instead of "Everything"
Deborah Wilson said it perfectly:
"There's a certain level of acceptance that after decades you have to go, 'This is my path. This is my journey. This is what my journey is going to be, not what I thought it was going to be.'"
That's not giving up. That's clarity.
Stop building: The career you think you're supposed to have
Start building: The career that lets you do great work, support yourself, and not burn out
The action: Define what "enough" looks like. Income number. Client types. Working hours. Then optimize for that, not for what you think success is supposed to look like.
The Bottom Line
Aries Spears is objectively talented. He's also—by his own admission—emotionally bankrupt, comparing himself to others, and chasing external validation at 50.
You don't have to do that.
You can be talented AND happy. Skilled AND paid. Good at your craft AND good at business.
But only if you stop measuring your career by someone else's scoreboard.
Mad TV wasn't SNL. Your studio isn't a world-class facility. Your clients aren't major label artists.
And that's exactly why you might actually build something sustainable.
The compass doesn't point to where you think you should be. It points to where you actually need to go. And sometimes, that's in a completely different direction than you imagined.
Now the question is: Are you willing to follow it?
