The sound engineer mixing your favorite song remains invisible.

While artists collect Grammy awards and producers get liner note credits, an entire ecosystem of technical professionals shapes every note you hear. These are the touring audio engineers, monitor specialists, and sound technicians who transform raw performance into polished experience.

Nick DeLaCruz knows this reality intimately.

Approaching his 38th birthday, DeLaCruz spent the 2000s running sound for touring artists. He witnessed firsthand how creative, technical, and business-minded professionals collaborate before music reaches our ears. Each show required coordination between multiple specialists whose names never appeared on tickets.

Now he's building something different.

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The Series That Spotlights Shadows

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Launched in 2023, "This Is DeLa Cruz" represents DeLaCruz's mission to illuminate music's technical underground. The video series features interviews with the professionals who make live music possible but rarely receive recognition.

DeLaCruz conducts these conversations in various locations, from backstage areas to equipment warehouses. The setting matters because it places technical work in its natural environment rather than sanitized studio spaces.

Each episode reveals the expertise required for roles most people never consider. Monitor engineers who create custom mixes for each band member. FOH specialists who adapt sound systems to venue acoustics. Lighting technicians who program complex sequences synchronized to musical arrangements.

The financial reality varies dramatically across this landscape.

Touring engineers earn anywhere from £300 per week on indie van tours to £3,000 weekly plus per-diems on major headliner bus tours. This range reflects the diverse experiences DeLaCruz interviews, from struggling newcomers to established veterans.

The series captures these economic realities without romanticizing the work.

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Industry Credibility Through Experience

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DeLaCruz's approach works because of his background, not despite it. He understands the technical challenges these professionals face because he lived them during his touring years.

This credibility allows conversations to move beyond surface-level descriptions toward genuine insight. Interviewees discuss equipment failures at critical moments, venue challenges that require creative solutions, and the mental stamina needed for months-long touring schedules.

The series avoids typical industry mythology.

Instead of glamorizing backstage life, DeLaCruz presents technical work as skilled labor requiring continuous learning and adaptation. New equipment emerges constantly. Venue configurations change. Artist requirements evolve.

These professionals must master both technical systems and human dynamics, managing equipment while coordinating with temperamental performers and demanding production schedules.

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Content Creation Meets Industry Evolution

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DeLaCruz's pivot from touring professional to content creator reflects broader industry shifts. Digital content creation continues strengthening, with 54.9% of creators now identifying as full-time in 2024, marking a 3% increase from the previous year.

This growth creates opportunities for industry veterans to leverage their expertise through new mediums. DeLaCruz recognized that his network and knowledge could serve a different purpose than running live sound.

The timing proves strategic.

As music consumption becomes increasingly digital and removed from physical production, audiences lose connection to the human elements behind their favorite songs. Streaming platforms display artist names and track titles but provide little context about the technical professionals involved.

DeLaCruz's series creates that missing connection through storytelling and human faces.

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Recognition Beyond Credits

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The music industry has long struggled with incomplete recognition for behind-the-scenes work. While databases exist to add overlooked credits to discographies, the human stories behind technical contributions remain largely untold.

"This Is DeLa Cruz" addresses this gap through narrative rather than data.

Each interview reveals the person behind the technical role. Their entry path into the industry, memorable experiences from tours, challenges they've overcome, and perspectives on how music technology continues evolving.

These stories humanize roles that often seem purely technical.

A monitor engineer becomes someone who ensures each musician hears exactly what they need to perform their best. A lighting technician transforms into an artist using illumination to enhance musical emotion. A sound system tech reveals themselves as a problem-solver adapting equipment to unique venue challenges.

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Building Industry Narrative

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DeLaCruz's work represents a broader movement among industry veterans using digital platforms to reshape music narratives. Rather than focusing exclusively on artists and their creative processes, these initiatives highlight the collaborative nature of modern music production.

This approach serves multiple purposes.

It provides recognition for professionals who contribute significantly to musical experiences but rarely receive public acknowledgment. It educates audiences about the complexity behind seemingly simple live performances. It preserves institutional knowledge from experienced professionals who might otherwise retire without sharing their insights.

The series also creates networking opportunities within the technical community, connecting professionals across different regions and specializations.

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Platform Strategy and Reach

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DeLaCruz distributes "This Is DeLa Cruz" across multiple platforms, adapting content length and format to each medium's strengths. Longer-form interviews work well on platforms that support extended viewing, while shorter clips highlight key insights for social media distribution.

This multi-platform approach maximizes reach while respecting how different audiences consume content.

The series attracts multiple viewer segments: aspiring technical professionals seeking industry insights, music fans curious about production processes, and industry veterans interested in peer perspectives and experiences.

Each group finds different value in the same content, expanding the series' relevance beyond its core technical focus.

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Future Implications

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DeLaCruz's initiative suggests how industry recognition might evolve as content creation tools become more accessible. Technical professionals possess deep knowledge and extensive networks that translate well to digital storytelling formats.

Similar projects could emerge across other music industry segments.

Session musicians, studio engineers, music business professionals, and venue operators all possess stories and insights that could benefit from similar treatment. The challenge lies in finding individuals with both industry credibility and content creation skills.

DeLaCruz's success with "This Is DeLa Cruz" demonstrates that authentic industry experience combined with strategic content distribution can create meaningful recognition for overlooked professionals.

The series also highlights how former industry professionals can leverage their expertise and networks in new ways as the creator economy continues expanding.

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Recognition Through Storytelling

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Music's technical professionals have always existed in the shadows, ensuring flawless experiences while remaining invisible to audiences. DeLaCruz's "This Is DeLa Cruz" series changes this dynamic through strategic storytelling and authentic industry insight.

By combining his touring background with content creation skills, DeLaCruz has built a platform that serves both recognition and education purposes. The series provides overdue acknowledgment for technical contributions while preserving industry knowledge that might otherwise remain hidden.

As the creator economy continues growing and music consumption becomes increasingly digital, initiatives like "This Is DeLa Cruz" offer a counterbalance by humanizing the industry and highlighting the skilled professionals who make music possible.

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The hidden army is finally getting its spotlight.