DAW vs Consoles, Leaders Who Do vs. Leaders Who Don’t, and New BlackBox Offerings

Hosted by Lee Fields, Stephen “Shep” Shepherd, Tyler Kerpsack, and Brad Bramer, the BlackBox Podcast is unfiltered conversation for church production teams, worship leaders, AVL directors, and creative pastors who actually carry the weight of Sunday.

This isn’t theory. It’s field-tested leadership, live audio philosophy, system design, and the stuff nobody talks about but everyone feels.

In this episode we dig into:

• DAW vs. Console Mixing — What actually matters? Where plugins help, where they hurt, and why great gain structure still beats everything. • Leaders Who Do vs. Leaders Who Don’t — When to get your hands dirty, when to step back, and how ego quietly wrecks teams. • Weight Loss, Health & Production Life — What long Sundays, stress, and tech ministry do to your body — and how to lead sustainably. • Nervousness in Production — Why anxiety shows up in high-stakes services and how to handle pressure without spiraling. • Target Curves & Why You Shouldn’t Worship Them — The truth about measurement mics, system tuning, and why your room isn’t a spreadsheet. • New BlackBox Offerings for Churches — On-sites, audits, coaching, long-term partnerships, and how we help churches solve production problems before they cost them money.

If you’re a church audio engineer, production director, worship leader, or executive pastor trying to build healthy systems, stronger teams, and better Sundays — this podcast is built for you.

BlackBox exists to help churches design better systems, build stronger teams, and solve problems before they ruin momentum.

Subscribe, share with your team, and let’s build something that actually lasts.