Gina Fant Simon
COMING SOON
COMING SOON 2026
Studio
Blue World Reborn
2022 – now
Since creating Blue World Austin in 1997, this room has been through 4 iterations. The latest one is my favorite.
In 2021, I decided to simplify. I sold most of the gear I had collected for 30 years. I kept a few favorite mics and mic pre’s and 2 outboard compressors and am now doing 100% of my recording and mixing and editing in the computer.
I just recently upgraded to a loaded Mac Studio M1 connected to a Universal Audio Apollo S6 interface. Pro Tools is my DAW of choice but I dabble in Ableton Live and other software apps.
The magic of my latest studio is a combination of the standing desk with the 3 built-in touchscreen monitors and the amazing software I’ve collected over the years.
I am a bonafide software and plug-in addict. More specifically, I love software instruments. With one mouse click, I can get any piano sound in the world, a full orchestra, a funky bass, any drum set etc etc etc…
I do not miss the days of having to set up drums with tons of microphones and work for hours to get one sound for one song. I love my drum plugins and being able to change sounds and patterns with one click. I don’t miss the huge Fender Rhodes keyboard that took 2 people to move. I don’t miss the heavy, buggy retro gear that so many people are enamored with these days. I lived through the years of the Wurlitzers and B3’s and Mellotrons and 808 and 909’s and stacks of amplifiers. It was a pain. Compared to the latest software, for me, there is no comparison in convenience, sound quality and ease of use.
I spent from 2019 – 2022 immersed in doing media for politics but as of 2023, I took a step back from the stress and came back home to start writing music again for the first time in MANY years. It feels REALLY good.
Worked With
rights in 2018
Political Activism
2017 – 2023
My political career pivot started during Trump’s 1st impeachment in 2017.
My first project was called The Two Minute Take and I created short and humorous educational videos explaining a current event.
At the same time, I started a political social group called Vino & Voting, with a fabulous chef and amazing wines, I created an interactive, fun way for women to learn about politics.
In 2019, I co-founded, Texas2020.org, a non-partisan statewide voter guide sponsored by RepresentUs and Common Cause for the Texas 2020 election. We had over a million users at Texas2020.org.
During my political years, I had the honor of working with and for many candidates, clubs, organizations, county parties, etc etc etc…
My last position was as Head of Communications for the Hays County Democrats. I helped lead an amazing team and in 2022, we made history by flipping every seat in Hays County to Blue.
In 2023, we won numerous international Pollie Awards for the website I created and for our digital marketing campaign for the 2022 election.
MY SOFTWARE
STARTUP
launched in 2007
As I was running my studio business in Texas, it was the late 90’s and technology was evolving more every year.
What used to costs hundreds of thousands for studio gear was forever changed as more and more writers and musicians started creating home studios.
There were very few people who knew the latest trend of recording to disk, so I started helping my studio musician friends and artists and engineers around the country create home studios.
I consulted with them on gear and software and started to gradually create my own network of engineers and musicians.
As internet speeds increased, I started teaching them how to work remotely.
So, in 2004, I decided to create a new tech startup; a network of world-class talent and create a website that allowed anyone to hire and collaborate with professional musicians.
I built a software team with my friend and renown engineer, Kevin Killen, and in 2007 we launched eSession.com.
We had a few pretty good years and I learned so much. But in 2013, I decided to sell the site and move on to my new passion
SINCE 1991
Blue World has been my world since 1991 when I was living in a small town outside of New York City, named Blauvelt. It was actually my father who informed me that the name of my town was German for “blue world”… hence the name….
Blue World #1 was in Blauvelt with money I won in a jingle contest as a student at NYU and fed my gear addiction working a brief stint as an Apple Education Consultant finishing my masters in Interactive Telecommunications at the Tisch School of the Arts.
Blue World #2 was in the back room of my apartment in Greenwich Village. I put an ad in the Village Voice and was quickly engineering for a roster of very colorful clients. It was during these years that I started my lifelong love affair with digital audio.
When I wasn’t out chasing a record deal with my band as an artist, I was constantly in the studio. Looking back, I enjoyed my engineering much more than rehearsing and performing. I prefer to be behind the scenes.
Blue World #3 was in a commercial building in Chelsea. It felt like my first real studio. I started getting hired for some amazing projects. Everything from jingles, film scores, artists, bands, a few broadway demos and any time left, I was writing and producing my own work.
In 97, I decided to move home to Texas, bring all of my big city digital audio gear and create Blue World #4. I decided to build an all digital studio in the very analog music town of Austin.
It took me a while to get the Austin boys to embrace recording without their tape machines, but I hung in there. For 10 years, I have loved this room in the Texas Hill Country and had the honor of working with so many brilliant artists, producers, musicians, bands and songwriters.