Dustin Hofer, 37, is a recent graduate of Seattle Recording Arts. The South Dakota native has a degree in history from University of Nebraska at Omaha. He moved to Bothell for love.
What led to where you are today?
In order to pay for my schooling, I joined the Army National Guard in 2008. After six years in the Nebraska Army National Guard and the last two years in the Washington National Guard, I am now out of the Army. In early 2011, I met a wonderful woman from Bothell. Despite living over 1,500 miles apart, our romance blossomed and we were married in September of 2013. My wife, Julie, grew up in Bothell, and all of her family still lives in the area, so we decided to make Bothell our home as well.
What are you wearing?
My comfortable outfit of choice, a T-shirt and jeans.
If you could run sound for anyone alive or in history who would it be?
Christian hip-hop artist TobyMac. I’ve listened to him since I was a little kid, and I recently went to see his show in Seattle. I would sweep the floors and get everyone coffee all day if I could just be in the studio while he was recording. I would love to see his artistic process, and all of the production that goes into his records.
Why did you choose Seattle Recording Arts?
I was working in the financial services industry, and I was really feeling like that wasn’t my cup of tea. I was looking for a change, and I decided to come back to audio engineering. I did some radio and recording in college, and I’ve done live sound off and on at churches that I’ve attended. I thought about making it a career back in college, but it just didn’t work out back then. It took my wife’s encouragement to get me thinking about getting back into it.
The first step I took was getting involved in the tech department of Alderwood Community Church in Lynnwood. I’ve been doing the front of house sound there for about two years now, however, as I started to look for other work as an audio engineer, I began to realize that I needed some kind of formal training to even get my foot in the door. One thing on the horizon is a project for a friend at church who has written a piece for dulcimer. That’s an instrument you don’t run into every day.
What are three things in your sound toolkit?
Audio-Techinca ATH-M50x headphones. A Macbook Pro with Pro Tools 11. Training from Seattle Recording Arts.
You tweeted about running sound for a women’s retreat: a lone man in a church full of women. What was that like?
I had a flashback to a friend of mine from college who had told me about running sound for a large women’s Bible conference called Women of Faith. He was one of the only men in a whole stadium of women. The women’s retreat that I was running sound for was far smaller, but it was still a strange feeling to be the only guy there.
Fill in the blank: People would be shocked to know:
I grew up on a farm and still enjoy running big farm equipment.
What’s your most proud moment?
It’s not really a single moment, but being a part of the United States Army. The heritage and traditions that surround the military, as well as the camaraderie with my fellow soldiers has been an immense privilege and honor to be a part of.
What are three things in your refrigerator at home?
Frozen pizza, cake frosting (which is eaten with or without cake), and orange juice.
What is your pet peeve?
When people (myself included sometimes) settle for “all right” when “good” or even “great” is entirely within reach.
What is your guilty pleasure?
The aforementioned cake frosting.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
