Donald Mohr

Donald W. Mohr is a mastering engineer and guitarist in Austin, TX. Originally born in Omaha, Nebraska, he grew up in Peekskill, New York, a stone's throw away from New York City. After a brief stint in New York, he attended the Berklee College of Music and studied under Dave Tronzo. He produced his first record in his dorm room, Tim Salter's "And to My Surprise" where he discovered how much he enjoyed mastering. While he still produces and plays, the majority of his credits are for mastering. He is also a filmmaker, producing Jesse Thunderwake: American Icon.

At one point in my life, I seriously considered myself a singer/songwriter. It was like late high school through starting Berklee. I was playing bass with a local guy and he got me turned on to the art. The problem is, I'm just not able to write serious lyrics that aren't just terrible. Greg and I co-wrote the entire Jesse Thunderwake soundtrack which is hilarious but that's parody stuff. Then, while I was living with my father, he had a roommate who played guitar (none of my family has any music interest) and was way into jazz. I played trombone in highschool, was first chair both in orchestra and jazz band by the end, but I really just didn't like big-band. He turned me on to Bitches Brew (Miles Davis), Shakti (with John McLaughlin), Heavy Weather (Weather Report) and New Chataqua (Pat Metheney). From there, I found out that jazz isn't just swing and bop. I was sold. I sought out a very good local player and he taught me the beginning theory, how to do the chords, how to read a lead sheet, we worked on my improvising. It was pretty pricey considering my parents weren't helping out with that, eventually, my dad split the cost but I was working full time and living at home rent-free. In hindsight, it really wasn't that bad. Then I wound up transferring to Berklee where I almost gave up playing entirely. I mean, I'm an OK player but there's just so many fantastic cats coming through there, I just couldn't hang. I took a slide guitar class where I met Tronzo and he taught me that there's more to music than technique. It wasn't until about a year after leaving was I able to pick up the instrument and start writing seriously again.

I play from time to time but I'm not actively booking right now while I finish up this record.

That's a hard thing to pin down but in no particular order, Minimalism (Steve Reich, John Cage, Philip Glass). Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai. Miles Davis, especially the late 60s stuff. John Coltrane. John McLaughlin, Shakti and the Mahavishnu stuff especially. Quentin Tarantino soundtracks. Bill Withers. Peter Gabriel. Simon and Garfunkel. The whole 90s NY avant-garde scene (Chris Buono, the Bad Plus, Medeski Martin and Wood, Wayne Krantz, Dave Fiuczinsky, Dave Tronzo, Lounge Lizards, Spanish Fly, Kazi Oliver, Leon Parker). Pink Floyd (I'm told.) And really, everything I've ever heard or listened to has an impact on me.

It really depends, but there's about 3 guitars that are my main go-tos. A Dano 63, which is a re-issue of my 1969 Silvertone 1457L, and my 99 Fat Strat. Pretty much any pedal I can get my hands on that'll make a funky sound. I recently got a vocoder/harmonizer. I have a pair of boss loopers, a transistor radio, Casio VL-1, theremin, various mallets, sticks, paper clips etc. I use pretty much whatever amp is right for the situation, the smaller, the better. If there's a PA, sometimes I'll actually just drop a straight DI.