From the Virgin Islands to the Grammys: How Engineer Donelle "Phyzic" Smith is Redefining Sound in Modern Music
- Tammy Reese
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
By Tammy Reese
From the British Virgin Islands to the heart of Los Angeles’ thriving music scene, Donelle “Phyzic” Smith has engineered a journey that embodies resilience, precision, and passion. A Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum, and Billboard-charting recording and mixing engineer, Phyzic’s story is one of perseverance and purpose. Since beginning his career as an intern in 2018, he’s built an impressive portfolio working with some of the industry’s biggest names — from Soulja Boy and Polo G to Bone Thugz-n-Harmony and Sexyy Red.
Best known for his work on the Barbie movie soundtrack and viral hits like “SkeeYee,” Phyzic has proven that excellence behind the boards can be just as influential as the artists in front of the mic. In this exclusive interview, he opens up about the cultural influences that shaped his sound, the sacrifices behind his success, and why authenticity will always set great engineers apart in the next era of music production.
Coming from the Virgin Islands to Los Angeles, how has your cultural background influenced the way you hear, mix, or approach music?
Coming from the Virgin Islands, we don’t have Billboard, we don’t have the Grammys, the BET Awards and everything else that goes on in the industry. It’s a whole different space. Getting into the industry I’ve seen people take multiple sessions to perfect one song, whereas back home it’s done in probably one session. In the industry, there’s more vocal production being done; producers going back in rearranging the beat or adding to the beat depending on what the artist was able to come up with in the session. Experiencing these moments opened my mind up in ways I never would have imagined. The level at which music is created and produced is different. It makes me appreciate how we approach music back home, versus how it’s approached in the music industry.
Engineers often operate behind the scenes, but you’ve become a name people recognize. How do you balance humility with building a personal brand in such a competitive space?
I do my best not to get carried away. I wasn’t raised as the type of person to boast. I’m grateful to be in the position that I’m in. Many of the clients I’ve connected with have come from referrals. I go where God wants me to go. I don’t force any situation. If it doesn’t feel right then I pass on it, no matter who the artist is or what the situation is. Moving like that has allowed me to build the name that I have in the industry.
When you’re in the studio, what’s one small detail you pay attention to that most people wouldn’t even notice but makes a huge difference in the final sound?
Microphone placement. I’ve been in sessions or I’ve seen videos of artists recording and the microphone isn’t really positioned that well to get the best sound. Everybody works differently, it’s really all subjective, but when it comes to microphone placement, you can hear the difference depending on where you place the mic. It’s a heavily overlooked detail. That’s why in my opinion, there’s a difference between someone who can record and someone who can engineer.
Music can shape emotions on a global scale. Has there ever been a project you worked on where you felt the weight of its cultural or social impact while you were engineering it?
There’s a song on the “Hitmakers” soundtrack. It’s a new show on Netflix. I engineered Sevyn Streeter on track 6 “Rescue You”. While working on the song, I felt an emotional connection to it. Even after it was released, many audiences also gravitated towards that song because of the message behind it. It’s a powerful record that truly stands out.
Many people see the glamorous end results, but not the grind. What’s one sacrifice you made during your journey that most people would be surprised to hear about?
I sacrificed my comfort to get to where I am. My escape from home was college. Once I finished that, I had to make a choice, either go back home or figure something out. I chose to stay in LA and figure it out. Being homeless is not for the weak. There are moments when you start to feel delusional, you question yourself, you start to second guess everything. The main reason I didn’t break was because of the support I had, the people I got to meet; some of them let me sleep on their couch at times, some even bought me food to eat. One time the power was out for 4 days where I was staying, including the water. I didn’t get a shower for 4 days. I finally picked myself up and asked one of my colleagues if I could get a shower at their place and they were more than willing to let me. These moments defined my perseverance to get to where I wanted to be.
If you could design your dream studio from scratch — no budget limits — what unique elements or technology would you include to reflect your creative process?
What I would do is get the basic equipment I love to use such as the BAE 1073 microphone pre-amp, the Tube Tech CL1B compressor, and the UAD Apollo Interface. For speakers I’d get either the Yamaha HS7’s or the Avantone CLA-10A for recording and mixing, I’d get Augspurger speakers for playback. Artists love to play music very loud in the studio, so Augspurger speakers are perfect for that. Microphone wise I’d get the Neuman U87 which is common for rappers, the Sony C800G which is common for singers and I’d get the Shure SM7b which is good for recording scratch ideas outside the booth. When it comes to headphones, I love the Audio Technica ATH-M50x. I’d get those for the studio. For the computer I’d get a Mac Studio and make sure I have all the software needed because every creative is different. Everybody doesn’t use the same thing.
Collaboration is at the heart of music. What’s one lesson you’ve learned from working with artists that has also influenced your personal life outside the studio?
Go outside, live your life, experience different things. Growth comes from what you experience.
You’ve engineered tracks that went viral and even Grammy-winning projects. How do you personally define success — beyond the numbers and accolades?
I define success by being the person my family and loved ones always knew I could be. I make them proud every day. There’s no bigger success than that.
Looking at the future of engineering, what do you think will separate the great engineers from the good ones in the next 10 years?
There’s a lot of technological advancements happening as we speak, including AI. While it’s not a bad thing, it can be helpful in many ways. I do feel like people will become more reliant on that which will take away from the authenticity of the craft in a certain aspect. You still have to prompt the AI to do what you want it to do, but there’s just something about being able to have that skill set that will set you apart from the ones who rely on that technology to get things done.
If your journey were turned into a soundtrack, what three songs (not ones you’ve worked on) would absolutely have to be on it, and why?
This is a very good question. I would say “Revenge” by Joey Badass, “Started From The Bottom” by Drake and “Headlines” by Drake. In Joey Badass’ song “Revenge”, he mentions success being the best revenge. In everything you do, people will always have something to say, positive or negative. The moment you have a breakthrough, everybody is quick to turn around and applaud you. Forget all the failures you had to endure, that one successful moment switches the entire narrative.
In Drake’s song “Started From The Bottom”, I feel like he’s talking about his journey. Working late nights, traffic on the way home. Everybody can relate to that. Then he speaks on being on the road getting half a million for a show, having his team behind him. These moments take time, they don’t happen overnight. I have a few individuals, since I began my journey, who are still with me supporting me to this day. One main line in the song that sticks out is “No new people we don’t feel that, forget a fake friend where your real friends at”….it’s more explicit than that but that’s the cleaner way to put it. When you start achieving a certain level of success, everybody wants to hop on the wagon. People who never even knew you before tagalong. There’s no problem with that, but you yourself have to understand the difference between the ones who are genuinely there for you, and the ones who are around just because you have the accolades.
In Drake’s song “Headlines” he spoke on being overdosed on confidence, starting not to care and stopped fearing consequences. To a degree, I feel like that’s the thin line between the ones who make it and the ones who don’t. In order to grow, you have to be willing to take risks. Without risk there is no reward. Don’t be afraid to take chances, don’t be afraid to fail. Success comes with failure. You have to fail in order to succeed.
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