Capturing The Audio For Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President

Part-rockumentary, part-presidential portrait, Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President traces how rock music helped propel Jimmy Carter to the White House, portraying him as the first US president to openly embrace rock 'n' roll, forging close bonds with Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers and Bob Dylan along the way. For Atlanta sound mixer Aaron ‘Cujo’ Cooley, this was a dream project...

Cooley grew up around live music in New York where his stepfather shared the stage with Sly Stone, Ronnie James Dio and members of the Doobie Brothers. When Cooley later moved to Georgia, he became a FOH mixer working with Christian rock bands. 

More recently, he adapted to the pandemic by buying a 16-foot box truck from retiring audio engineer, Jim Hawkins – which he had been using for location recording and broadcast production work – and retrofitted it.

He cherishes the musical history behind the truck: “I have Jim’s business card hanging in the truck as an homage, and the set list from the last gig that the truck did, which was an Otis Redding celebration night in Macon. And I have Jim’s old chair!”

His appreciation for music history made taking on the Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President job a no-brainer.

“I was seriously interested. Not only because of Jimmy Carter and his history, but the music aspect involved artists that I grew up listening to, and had been fans of for my whole life. There was zero hesitation on my part,” he reflects.

“I have been fortunate to have been selected to work on some really fun and exciting documentary and film projects. Rock and Roll President was easily at the top of the list for checking off some of the bucket list items. Sitting down and listening to living legends like Jimmy Carter and Willie Nelson and then learning the real backstory of music, politics and the people behind it was absolutely amazing.”

Cooley is a longtime user of Lectrosonics wireless gear, and his extensive arsenal includes Lectrosonics D Squared equipment, M2 Duet Series IFB equipment, SR series receivers, and a wide variety of over 40 other Lectrosonics transmitters.

“Lectrosonics is the only brand of wireless that I use for mission critical applications,” he confirms. 

“I can use a digital hybrid SMV transmitter right next to a digital DBu transmitter in the same receiver and experience no crosstalk, no lack of service, no lack of RF and no loss in performance. Lectro is on point, making the digital products backwards compatible, realising that their users have a budget, and that they like their legacy gear. And the performance is just incredible.

“When I added in the Lectrosonics D Squared digital transmitters to my work, so much of our location problems disappeared!” he adds. 

“I have a rack of 10 D Squared receivers and M2 Duet series equipment. I have about 40 Lectrosonics transmitters of every iteration all the way back to the 400a, plus two SR receivers in my bag rig. I have a lot of Lectrosonics gear!”

While recording the audio for Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, anything filmed on Willie Nelson’s bus was a challenge.

“We were at a venue, so there was a fair bit of ambient noise, and the amount of wireless in use for the stage performance was definitely a challenge that had to be considered. With Lectrosonics gear, I am able to turn down the RF power to a very low setting and scan easily for clean space. Then it is just a simple matter of knowing that the robust RF front end in the receivers will make sure I get the signal I need.

“Whenever I watch the work that I've been a part of, I am never really surprised at how well the audio turns out from the Lectrosonics side of things,” he adds. 

“I am often surprised at how well the editors can make a terrible-sounding location actually sound good! But that always begins with my gear giving me the best possible signal to record. Using the Lectrosonics wireless, I know that I will have a solid base for the editors to build from.”

Cooley says that Lectrosonics has never once let him down: 

“I have grown so accustomed to the fact that it just works, I sometimes forget just how good it is! I don't have to overthink it and I don't have to worry about it. If I do my part, I know my Lectros will do their part. And I do not treat my gear like fine china; I don't use it like a hammer either,” he adds, laughing.

“It has been dropped, dragged across the ground, kicked, thrown, and fallen on…probably hundreds of times. It lives in a road case and gets baked in the humid summer heat of Georgia, the dust and pollen, and the outdoor elements. Day in and day out, my Lectrosonics gear just works.”