Hamstank: Shaping Culture Through Music Production & Education | Ian Morris | 2-2025

Tony “Hamstank” Hamoui is a professional music producer and educator based out of the Greater Boston area. With the goal of positively shaping culture, Tony is driven to study, teach, and experiment with the art and science of sound, one track at a time. He currently teaches and designs music production programs at Boston Public Library’s Teen Central. As a Boston-bred music producer, Tony works in many genres, such as pop, hip-hop, rock, folk, and various indie subgenres. Regardless of genre, Tony works with artists to fulfill their creative vision. Hamstank has worked with artists such as Rex Mac, Mick Banks, This Bliss, Cliff Notez, Fire in the Field, among many others. Tony runs Stank Factory Recordings, a Somerville-based music production studio.

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The Interview

On your website, you mention that imagination is your "superpower." Can you share an instance where your imagination truly transformed a project or experience?

One of my favorite parts of my career is that I get to use my imagination on the daily in so many different practical or abstract ways! Ultimately, I have to envision the final product, whether it be a song, album, story, etc. By having this image in my head, every step of the process works toward shaping this goal. I’m currently working with a singer-songwriter who has an acoustic demo of their song. Through talking with them and listening to references, I can picture what they’re really looking for in the end result. In their initial demo, they haven’t included drums, synths, vocal harmonies, percussion, etc. The superpower comes from being able to hear and place all of these instruments before committing any sound to the recording. The song can still evolve and change as we build it out so it’s important to understand that this final vision is dynamic and malleable. 

You've worked with various notable brands across different industries. How do you adapt your creative process and style to cater to the unique needs of each client?

My creative process always begins in the same way. I picture the final product, and from here, work backwards. Once I have the program pinned down, my role is then defined. It’s a lot easier when the artist/client does this for me! How can I contribute to the project? What can I do to make this the best possible product? If I’m needed as a producer, my responsibilities look a lot different than if I were needed as a mix engineer. I find it extremely important to specify my roles and responsibilities before even starting.

Once the roles are defined, the real fun begins. Whether I’m working with a group of teens at an after-school program or a retired lawyer who wants to finally get his songs recorded, one of the most important things is to meet them on their level. They are inviting me into their process and allowing me to influence their art. The last thing that I want to do is tell them, “no, you’re doing this wrong, you should start with drums first,” or whatever. I want to see and hear their workflows and figure out how to painlessly insert myself into their creative process, kind of like the Venom symbiote from Spider-Man without being evil. I want to enhance their powers. I don’t want to halt any momentum, but rather, refine what’s already there.   

You have a passion for creating "tangible realities." How do you ensure that the final product aligns with the client's vision while also maintaining your artistic integrity?

I often joke that producing records is like 50% therapy, 40% coaching, and 10% music. I love speaking with creatives, hearing their stories, and being trusted with helping their stories come to life. In my experience, trust and empathy are absolutely critical to ensuring that the final product is something that we’re proud of. I have to trust the artist to be the primary storyteller. The artist in turn has to trust me to shape this story with them. When initially speaking with the client, I like them to convey as much information to me as they can. This all goes back to imagination! I want to live in their stories. Once I’m there with them, or at least as close I can possibly get, the creation writes itself.   

What is your production space like and how does it impact your work? 

I feel extremely grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful and creative people. Stank Factory Recordings is located within the New Alliance Gallery. I learn so much just by chatting with everyone around me.  It’s really inspiring to be around like minded artists and small businesses. If I need a hit of inspiration, I can wander the gallery and immerse myself in the art. I can saunter over to Nick Zampiello, an extremely gifted producer, over at New Alliance East for a quick check in. I can pop into New Alliance Audio and see what Ethan Dussault is up to. He’s easily one of the best engineers in the city.

Stank Factory Recordings is this cozy little room with an old safe that’s been converted into a recording booth. It’s very much oriented to sort of draw artists in and to facilitate creation. All of the instruments are within arms reach. The control room is set up to double as a live room. I want to talk to artists and be able to connect with them on a human level. Face to face communication is very important to me!  

Your work often features bold and captivating imagery. Can you share your process for selecting and creating visuals that effectively communicate your clients' stories and values?

The visuals are actually the most difficult part of the process for me. Whenever I’m writing music, whether for myself or for/with other artists, I always picture whatever is happening as a scene from a book or a really hazy movie. This really helps to identify the color spaces and visuals that fit the media. The real challenging part comes from turning these abstract ideas into tangible images. I’m very lucky and grateful to be around such amazing artists, such as the fantastic visual artist Nick A.R. Martin, owner of The Art Box Custom Framing in New Bedford, MA. When I was writing Rise of the Giant King, he was absolutely pivotal in bringing this creation to life. He even went so far as to build this massive model of the Giant King where a lot of the imagery came from for the project. I’ve recently been working on a musical project with Rex Mac, a really talented producer and songwriter. Working with him has been great because we’re kind of working in the opposite manner: the imaginary scenes and visuals are well-thought out and the music is being made to fit these scenes. 

As a multi-disciplinary creative, you've likely encountered a variety of challenges and opportunities. Can you describe a project that pushed you out of your comfort zone and led to significant growth as an artist and professional?

Oh definitely. I feel like I’m still being pushed, or at least pushing myself, outside of my comfort zone. I love to learn and to hone my craft, firmly believing that I cannot grow if I never challenge myself. Early on in my career, I tried to intern at a studio. The engineer just relegated me to this small closet and had me updating software and logging data into Excel. This was so dull yet comfortable. The growth was nonexistent. I decided to leave this nightmare, which set in motion a series of events that brought me to where I am today. At the beginning of this Rube Goldberg machine of life, I started out solely working on hip-hop and pop. This was a great starting point for me, as there’s usually just one microphone to worry about at a time. I still loved working in these genres, but I wanted to expand into different styles of music as well. Coincidentally, there was this rentable studio with this janky Mackie mixer. At this point, I had never worked with an analog mixer. Thankfully, in this day and age, manuals are easily accessible. Once I had a decent grasp of it, I decided to try recording bands. In this period of my career, I spent countless hours researching recording techniques, experimenting with microphone placements, and just generally learning how to act as a producer. I was uncomfortable like 90% of the time, constantly on edge and waiting for something to go wrong. It wasn’t totally unfounded either, most of the time, something did go wrong! After hundreds of hours of this, I had the experience and knowledge to run these sessions in my sleep.

When starting out, everything was novel and challenging. I really miss that. I try to recreate this by issuing myself challenges. As an example, for my upcoming album, HoS, I recently worked on a song where I challenged myself to use only acoustic sounds without any traditional drums. This led to some really interesting textures. I ended up building a harp for melodies and sticking a microphone inside of a dryer for the kick drum sounds.

Along with my more self-directed challenges, I’m also enrolled in a master’s program for music production. The program also helps to push me outside of my comfort zone and give me insights into other ways I can recontextualize my craft.      

Music is a powerful medium for self-expression and creativity. Can you share with us some of the artists, songs, or even literary works that have inspired and shaped your unique voice in music and art?

That’s a really tough question! I feel like my voice is constantly evolving and my “creative well” drains at a staggering rate. I have to actively work on replenishing the well. This could be filled by anything! I really enjoy reading, particularly sci-fi, fantasy, or anything with good prose really. The Old Man and the Sea and Slaughterhouse-Five are two works that really opened my mind to the idea that writing doesn’t have to be complicated in order to be beautiful and poignant. So it goes!     

In terms of music, I’m all over the place! Recently, my awesome friend Max (shoutout Zip-Tie Handcuffs) introduced me to “Slushwave” and I often find myself listening to this quite often. At my core, I tend to gravitate towards pop punk, post-hardcore, and emo. The songwriting is just so dramatic and in your face. I love bands like Saves the Day, The Wonder Years, Owen, Turnstile, and Sleep Token. At the same time though, I also seek out songs and albums that are well produced, like from St. Vincent, Imogen Heap, Jon Bellion, and Björk. Over the years, I can definitely point to some albums that I consider milestones, in that they opened my ears to new concepts. In Rainbows by Radiohead blew my mind into a million tiny pieces. Blonde by Frank Ocean showed me the brilliance of minimalism. 

I’ve gotten better at identifying my current voice. When working with clients, I see this as half of the battle. The core is always there, but I just want to mold my voice so it better services the artist’s vision. I generally ask for a reference playlist. For the next few weeks, I’m only listening to music from this playlist or related artists. This helps me to internalize the artist’s influences and calibrates my bearing for the current project. 

During our phone interview, you mentioned your involvement in educating and working with underserved communities. Can you tell us more about this initiative—what does your work entail, and is there a way for people to get involved and support the mission?

This is probably my favorite aspect of my career path. I conduct music production programs at the Boston Public Library. I’ve been doing this for about 8 years and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built there. We have a computer lab equipped with microphones, keyboards, and even an audio booth! The Lab serves as a hub for teens from all backgrounds and musical (and non-musical!) proficiencies. It’s such a joy to see them catch the music bug and to help them find their creative voices. Alongside the library program, I also run workshops with the Department of Youth Services. I love being part of the STEAM initiative and try to focus on the intersection of art and technology. Many of the teens here are talented writers. My role here is to bridge the gap between writing poetry and recording/producing music, using various software and technology to do so.

For those who are looking to help, any sort of donated music tech goes a very long way. Donations are also always appreciated. If you have any underserved communities or ideas in mind, please reach out to me! 

Contact
https://www.hamstank.com/sfr

Instagram

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Links to Projects

Mick Banks - STAY OUT THE GARAGE

Recorded/Mixed/Produced

Fire in the Field - Resurrect

Recorded/Mixed/Produced

Battlemode - Color Punk

Recorded/Mixed/Produced

Hamstank - World on Fire

Recorded/Mixed/Produced