Founder/Creator
One of the most memorable shows I ever mixed was an acoustic show featuring Rock and Roll hall of fame and American singer-songwriter Roger McGuinn, the frontman for the band Byrds. The show was mid 90’s with just him and 3 tuned guitars on stage with a stunning backdrop view of the amazing Santa Cruz, CA mountains on a wonderful sunny Sunday afternoon, Hani recalls.
Over 30 years, Hot Mittens Production founder and president Hani Gadallah must have mixed thousands of shows and bands. Hani started his career in NYC mixing bands in Greenwich village and attending one of the oldest recording schools (Institute of Audio Research) in the country back in 1991. From there, he worked his way out west working gigs in little towns from NYC to Houston, Texas where he landed an assistant engineer job in a small recording studio in Galveston, Texas, and a recording engineer in TV and Radio commercials recording studio in Downtown Houston. After a few months, Hani made his way to San Francisco, CA where he became a prominent live sound and recording engineer, working at every Bay Area venue, and many recording studios around the bay, and started his touring career in 1994. Hani also worked as a sound designer and mix engineer for multiple independent films through his audio post-production studio.
In 1997, Hani was called upon by a friend to fill an open position as a live sound reinforcement teacher at the former California Recording Institute on Howard Street in San Francisco. Reluctantly , Hani accepted the position as a substiture teacher and after his first class he immediately found his second passion. After 3 years, he accepted a position as a live sound reinforcement course director, teaching at the former Ex’Pression College for Digital Arts, and was there for 14 years, and what an honor to be a teacher. Hani’s long list of credits is endless. Through the years he worked with many Grammy award-winning artists such as Ray Charles, James Brown, Blues Traveler, Train, Tori Amos, Edwin McCain, and Night Ranger just to mention a few. Although he retired from touring and live events, he is committed to providing the community of singer-songwriters with any resources available to help empower, educate and promote talented artists.
Hani is also a drummer, percussionist, and Tabla player.
