At the age of 19, Shane Woodley was so green in the music world, he had to look up the definition of an audio and sound recording engineer.Thirteen years later Mr Woodley has made a name for himself in the business, having worked as a recording engineer with Roc-A-Fella Records.He has worked with artists whose names are familiar to many of us Jay Z, Freeway, Memphis Bleek, Beyonce, Rihanna and Ne-Yo.He recently returned to live in Bermuda with his three young children.While some people might miss working with the big names, Mr Woodley said he just enjoys making music.Earlier this month he released a compilation album called ‘Da Squad Starting 11’.It features established local artists such as Troy Anthony, Kombat, KD da Beast, Fyah B, E-Levels, Candace Furbert, BLAC and Big Snipes, and upcoming stars such as teenagers Jelani and Yung Mac.“I started my career at Donald Robinson Detrimental’s house,” said Mr Woodley. “He was one of the executive producers of ‘Da Squad’. He had a home studio.“When I was a teenager I was up there trying to figure out what I wanted to do in music. He asked me if I wanted to produce. I was thinking I didn’t really want to produce.“I was trying to find my niche. He made a few beats and I said, ‘let me just tweak these and make these better’. That is how I figured out what I wanted to do.”Mr Woodley went to New York City where he paid “a rip-off company” $2,000 to find him an internship.“I think it was because I was a foreigner and I was completely green,” he said. “They were like ‘give us $2,000 and we will make a phone call for you’. I figured out later that it was a rip-off. You don’t need to pay someone money to make a call for you, you can do it yourself.”In fact, Mr Woodley did make calls himself and met with success. Knock and the door shall open, as they say.“The first person I called was singer Missy Elliot’s engineer, Jimmy Douglas. I liked the way the music sounded.“He said just fly up and come see me. I flew to New York and met him and also Timbaland, a famous producer. I also met Stephen ‘Static/Major’ Garrett who also wrote for Missy Elliot. He recently died.“Jimmy Douglas showed me around the studio. I had no idea about the equipment in the studio.“He said there is no way you can be my assistant with no idea what to do. He sent me back to Bermuda with a bunch of books to read.”A few months later the “rip-off place” called and placed him with the late Jimi Hendrix’s studio as an intern.“It was very vague,” said Mr Woodley. “They told the head engineer to just give me an internship.“It was something I could have done myself. If you want to work for someone for free, you don’t need a middle man.“They got me a connection with Electric Lady Studios in New York. I went over there for a day and wrapped cables.“They were like ‘I have nothing for you to do here’. The engineer that was there sent me to Baseline studios. They were building a studio from scratch.“He wanted me to help out one of the girls who worked for him, pulling cables.“I got over there the next day and the person who owns the studio, Juan Perez, happened to be best friends with Jay Z.“He was asking me what I was doing there, and what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to be an audio engineer. He said ‘cool’. That was his first studio and he had no idea how studios worked. He just knew he had a best friend in the business and he wanted to be in the business.“I never left from that point. I was one of the first or second employees. I interned there.“A few months later they got a contract with Def Jam Records to do everything that was Roc-A-Fella out of that studio.”It was a lucky break for Mr Woodley, because Baseline studios was where Jay Z’s Roc-A-Fella empire was built. Jay-Z founded Roc-La-Familia, an international record label that was an extension of Roc-A-Fella Records. This sub-label focused on signing international artists, including reggaeton artists, much like Bad Boy Latino Mr Perez was made president of the label.Mr Woodley worked with the company for eight years until it split up. He then stayed with Jay Z, who built another studio.Along the way he met many well known artists including Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Ne-Yo. He clicked with Ne-Yo, who wrote many smash hits including Beyonce’s ‘To the Left, To the Left’.“He writes huge songs,” said Mr Woodley. “I was down there with him in Atlanta for a couple of months and then I came back here I wanted to raise my kids. I have three sons ages 12, eight and four. I wanted to give them a stable environment. I am back here and still able to do what I love to do.“I went back to Donald Detrimental’s studio where I got my start. He re-did the whole facility. He upgraded! It is very professional. The moment he upgraded, I said ‘yeah, we have to do some work’.”Mr Woodley decided to put together the compilation album ‘Da Squad’ to help promote local musicians.“I decided to do this compilation album because the songs were there and everyone seemed to be on the same page in terms of upping the ante and making the local music scene better,” he said. “The pieces were there; it was just a matter of putting it together.”He said that Bermudian musicians sometimes don’t get the support from the community that they deserve.He felt it was because the Bermudian public has often been promised high quality products that, in the end, don’t measure up to expectations.“Now many local artists have stepped up their game,” he said. “They are saying ‘you can take us seriously now’.“We are at that crossroads now. We are trying to convince people that we are really not joking. You can take the music seriously, have a listen.”And he said so far, the feedback for ‘Da Squad’ has been very positive.“Everyone seems to love it, the quality of it, the artwork, everything, the way the album flows,” he said. “‘Da Squad Starting Eleven’ is an album that the entire Island can be proud of.”The album is on sale for $20 at Sound Stage, Music Box, and Music World or by contacting Shane Woodley directly: dasquadcd[AT]gmail.com or 599-8969.For more information visit www.dasquadcd.com or Da Squad’s Facebook fan page.