Darren Skanson
Darren is the owner and chief engineer at CCM Studios. Darren has been engineering, writing, and producing for 30 years. Establishing the studio in 1995, Darren’s credits now include 2 Billboard charting CD’s, an award for his music Acoustitherapy, and hundreds of sessions and projects. Darren has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music with concentrations in recording, composition, and guitar performance from The University Of Minnesota, Moorhead.
Composer
Darren Skanson's compositions stretch the breadth of Country to Classical and Spanish guitar to traditional songwriting to modern works for film and TV. Whether songwriting, classical composition, film scoring, audio logos, or MIDI production music, Darren is at home in any of them. He was the composer and audio engineer for the TV series Shoot! and his music has been featured by Shutterfly and Belco Credit Union. Darren has also has 3 songs put on hold by Nashville's Sony/Universal as well as Luke Bryan.
Guitarist
Darren is also Colorado's #1 Classical Guitarist and a versatile studio session guitarist. He has studied and performed on guitar for 25 years. He reached #8 and #11 on the Billboard’s Top Classical Chart and his original composition “Rondo For Michael” was the #6 most requested selection on the most listened to radio station in the world, Beethoven Radio. He has sold more than 100,000 copies of his 10 solo cd's. Darren spent several years touring nationally with progressive rock band Mata Hari as well as classical guitar/violin duo Watson & Company.
Michael Warkentin
Mike (Greensleeves) has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the co-founder of the Denver based, live hip-hop band, Broken Tongues.
Experience
Mike is an MC/turntablist/producer/engineer with loads of experience in the writing, recording, mixing and performing aspects of music and has worked professionally in solo and full band applications for nearly a decade. Comfortable behind the boards or behind the mic, he can certainly provide beneficial feedback and forethought to take your project to another level. Mike has mixed for So You Think You Can Dance and numerous artists in the world of hip-hop including Papoose, Yah Yah, Naeem Oba and Q Burse.
Beat Making
Looking for beats? Mike sells and leases beats ranging from southern slap to East coast boom bap; West Coast hyphy to Lady Gaga-esque dance-hop.
David Custard
David "C4" Custard Born in the Box Denver, CO by way of Dallas, TX with a obsessive love for Music and his craft for over 16 years.
Inspiration
He is a former Third Class Petty Officer Hospital Corpsman in the U.S. Navy who was honorably discharged and later attended The Art Institute of Colorado. His time in service exposed him to diverse cultures that further shaped his creative perspective.
Raised in a highly musical family, his passion for music began early—guided by parents, uncles, and aunts who played instruments and sang. His mother later trained him and his siblings as a small gospel trio.
His artistic direction was solidified after his uncle introduced him to his first drum sampler, Dr. Rhythm. In 1996, after moving to DeSoto, Texas, he helped form the hip-hop group HTP (High TeK Playa) and continues that vision today through his label, HTP Productions.
His Style
"Looking for beats? My favorite and greatest inspirations started with Timbaland who gave the major push into production with his odd samples and crazy melodies, Jazzy Phae and the soulful felt compositions with classic Funk, Twista, and Tech 9 and their hypnotizing Lyrics and many more to choose from for my inspirations in my music."
- David
Alex Palmer
From just listening to music to making it, Alex is a music lover and a music professional. Alex gained admittance into Shenandoah University as a classical guitarist.
Experience
Having graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Production and Recording Technology, he moved to Colorado to pursue his Master’s degree at the University of Colorado Denver. Here he has worked on projects with recognized Hip Hop, Rock and R&B artists. In addition to his work at CCM, Alex is an adjunct instructor at the Community College of Aurora, teaching topics such as music production and recording techniques.
Beat Making
Looking for beats? Alex enjoys producing and assisting all genres of composition. As an advocate for the arts, Alex always strives to get the best he can out of his clients and help them realize their artistic vision. From Rock to Metal and Hip Hop, your project is in good hands.