Meet Colin Egan, founder and chief engineer of Five Spice Productions.
Colin’s dedication to music began long before he entered the industry as a singer and producer. By high school he was writing, singing, recording, and producing his own music, and then honed those skills further at Emory University, where he studied Vocal Performance and Business, taking full advantage of their music technology offerings.
As a musician with an especially keen ear, he nurtured his craft in the a cappella scene, directing and arranging for various groups, where he worked intimately with dozens of incredible singers and musicians, shadowing other recording engineers in the field. When it came time for a group to record, Colin was the obvious choice as the producer – his empathic perspective as a singer himself made him an outstanding vocal coach during recording, fostering his peers’ best work.
He brought his expertise in vocals to New York City, where he started focusing more heavily on recording and production, founding Five Spice Records in 2011. A natural leader, he managed projects by vocal groups, music theater composers, and singer-songwriters from beginning to end, deftly navigating each step in the ever-changing, modern creative process.
It was this two-fold perspective as both musician and engineer that caught the attention of a new orchestra in DC, the American Pops Orchestra, who helped launch a new chapter of his music career – mixing live orchestral performances and capturing them for TV broadcast. The rest, as they say, is history.
His credits now include Audio Director & Mixing Engineer for the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Concert, the Hispanic Heritage Awards, and NEXT at the Kennedy Center, including the 2023 New Year’s Eve Special: Cynthia Erivo & Friends. His work on the National Philharmonic’s 2020-2021 virtual season was nominated for 4 Capital Emmy Awards, including one for Technical Achievement. And his work with the American Pops Orchestra includes such PBS broadcasts as Wicked in Concert, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas, We Are Family, One Voice: the Songs We Share, and the 2020, 2021, and 2022 New Year’s Eve Specials: United in Song.
So…what does “Five Spice” even mean?
Mixing audio can often feel like crafting the perfect dish, where each element and timbre balances and enhances the other — and five spice is an intricate blend where each flavor, strong and assertive on their own, lends their voice to create harmony.
“My wife and I share a love of cooking, and since she’s half Chinese, we were always searching for the best authentic Asian food NYC had to offer and loved re-creating her Dad’s recipes.
In our first apartment together in Hell’s Kitchen we often made stir fry so we could be quickly in and out of our tiny shared kitchen. And still over 12 years later, a five spice pork stir fry is one of my favorite meals to make for her.”