Howdy folks! Today is Friday so you know what that means – I am going to introduce you to a new member of the SoundCloud team! This week I am happy to introduce you to Jane Shin, our first community manager in San Francisco! She’s a true Californian who loves concerts and traveling! Listen to her audio interview below and read more below.

Hi! How are you doing today?

Heyo! I’m doing very well! Happy Friday everybody!

First, can you take a minute and let us know what you do at SoundCloud?

Sure thing. I’m a community manager along with the rest of the rad folks on the community team. I interact with our awesome users to share the latest on the ‘Cloud and make sure they’re getting the best experience they can. It has only been a few weeks, but I’ve already connected with some wonderful people who are doing what they love through SoundCloud. That gives me warm, fuzzy feelings inside and solidifies why I love what I’m doing here.

You are working from the San Francisco office is that correct? What do you love most about San Fran?

Yep! It’s a small but neat office that’s coming together. San Francisco is a beautiful place with something in store for everyone, so you won’t be disappointed or bored. I like the chill yet busy vibe of the city in general, and the overcast weather is pretty nice, too! Don’t get me started on the food…

This is a question I always love asking – How did you get introduced to the ‘Cloud?

This was about two years ago when my childhood friend Geo shared his sounds on the ‘Cloud as an up-and-coming artist. I remember thinking I hadn’t seen any other sound/music-sharing site as visually and functionally appealing as SoundCloud’s.

And this is an easy one – What are your favorite things about working at SoundCloud so far?

1. It’s instantly clear that people love what they do here. I share that same sentiment. With that said, the people here rock. Everyone is super intelligent and funny. I can’t ask for a better set of teammates or a more inspiring environment to be in. As someone who wasn’t always in the tech/Internet scene (there was a time when I thought I would be a journalist!), I feel very lucky to be at a place where the learning and fun don’t stop.
2. Enthusiasm for ping pong. I got schooled by Eric last Friday, even though he was playing easy. On the plus side, I am honing my skills and bringing my A-game back to San Francisco.

At the moment, what are your favorite sounds on the ‘Cloud?

Ack, this is hard. Too many talented sound creators are out there on the ‘Cloud. Johnny Ripper is gold. He has such beautifully crafted tracks that immediately remind me of the VIPs in my life.

For some lulz, SoundCloud’s very own Thom Cummings recorded a funny conversation he had with Siri. I think more people should record and upload their interactions with her.

One more! My friend Hannah is a talented illustrator who told me about this great podcast called Your Dreams My Nightmares, conversations with illustrators and art directors. The use of audio to provide insight into the visual world is very cool.

Lastly, do you have any fun facts you can tell us about?

I’m a concert nerd, and I have collected all the ticket stubs from shows I’ve been to over the years. They’re all kept safely in a book that I will continue to build and treasure forever. They may just be pieces of paper, but to me they’re records of all the good times I’ve had. If anyone needs a concert buddy, count me in!

Since that’s a photo of me from my July trip to Iceland, here’s a funny fact from that trip: Prior to it, I hadn’t driven in over 5-6 years since I can get around San Francisco without a car just fine. I also had never driven long-distance before. Lo and behold, I ended up driving the whole time on our road trip in South Iceland, covering roughly 600 miles or so. There are many other places I have yet to visit, but I can confidently say Iceland is one of the best places on earth.

Where can we find you on the interwebz?

Twitter: @janeshin
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/janeshin
Tumblr: http://jane-shin.tumblr.com

Thanks Jane!!!!

This week we are happy to introduce you to someone who is not a stranger to different cultures, coding, hacking, building synthesizers and making sick beats. Please help me welcome Matthias Georgi to the team in Berlin!

Hej Matthias! Wie geht’s?

Großartig!

First, welcome to the SoundCloud team in Berlin! Can you tell us what your role entails and what you enjoy most about it so far?

As a developer I’m currently working in the app team. That means I fix bugs and implement new features on the actual website like a better Facebook integration. I really enjoy the fact that literally everyone at SoundCloud is brilliant in what they do. Looking over shoulders pays off every day and there are just too many exciting technologies I could learn from my coworkers.

Where are you from originally? I am sensing you are a native German, is this true? How do you like working in such an international office?

I was born in Munich and grew up in Darmstadt near Frankfurt. My father is German and my mother Korean, so I have a natural interest in other cultures. Working in an international office is really interesting and helps me to improve my language and communication skills.

What are your favorite things to do in Berlin so far and what do you like about the city?

What I love most is playing and listening to music and Berlin has lots of amazing musicians. Frequently I hang out with other electronic artists and collaborate on experimental sound projects. Another exciting thing about Berlin is that it is currently evolving into the next silicon valley, especially the area around the SoundCloud office.

How were you introduced to SoundCloud?

As a musician and producer, putting sounds online is one of the essential tasks. SoundCloud was my first choice since it didn’t force me to be part of a social network and offered the player with the best audio quality.

What do you like most about being a part of the SoundCloud team? 

Combining the two biggest passions in my life, sound and coding, has always been a dream of mine. The opportunity to create software that is being used by millions of users is just mind-blowing. And finally there is the so called Hackertime: From now on I can use 20% of my time to work on interesting side projects, for example check out my current project http://soundcutter.org, a web based multitrack audio editor using the new web audio api. Currently only working in Chrome.

What are your favorite sounds you have found while scouring SoundCloud? 

I’m a huge fan of the lesser known genre called Skweee, which originates from Skandinavia and Melkeveien is one of the best producers in this genre. Funnily there are only about 100 Skweee records in existence:

Finally, do you have any fun facts that we should know about?

I like soldering and building synthesizers, which I recently started together with my friend Andrew, who is also my partner in music. He lives in Glasgow and despite the 1000 miles between us we are really productive and therefore probably one of easyjet’s best customers. Check out our new album “Eaten by Clowns and Ridden by Devils”:

Where can we find you on the interwebz?

http://twitter.com/mgeorgi
http://soundcloud.com/ddecay
http://soundcloud.com/galife
http://soundcloud.com/voidnoise

Thanks so much for the great interview Mattias! Say hey to him below!

Happy Friday all! This week we want to introduce you to Liraz, the newest member of our Berlin family from Tel Aviv. She is our native applications product manager and she loves good tunes and blue skies! Read more about her below!

Hi! Thank you for doing this interview with me and taking time out of your busy day. How are ya doing?

Hi, all is good. I’m happy do to this interview. I’ve been reading my colleague’s interviews before coming here and I’m glad it is my time to say hi everyone!

How do you like Berlin and where are you originally from? How long have you been here so far?

I’ve been here around a month so far and I enjoy Berlin very much, especially when the sky is blue. The city is beautiful and intriguing. There are a millions of things I want to do and place to go. I came from Tel Aviv, Israel and in one short day went from summer to winter. The temperatures around me dropped by 20 degrees during a four hour flight. In fact, every day I’m in Berlin is a new personal record for me in terms of low temperatures. I’ve never experienced this kind of winter weather.

Can you tell us what your your role at SoundCloud is? Also, how do you like working in the Berlin HQ ?

I’m a product manager and I manage SoundCloud’s native applications. This includes its mobile apps – Android, iPhone and iPad – as well as our Mac application. Working in the office here is great fun. I’m especially impressed with the professionalism in the office, it’s a great opportunity to work with such a great group of people. I see a lot of excitement and joy and caring towards the product and what we do, and I really like being part of something bigger that is changing user habits, something users really enjoy and integrate into their daily lives.

How did you get introduced to SoundCloud and what do you love most about it?

I first heard of SoundCloud a few years ago through a friend who is a musician and uses the platform. I guess what I like best about SoundCloud is that it enables everybody to create something and to get their creativity out there to others, as well as the ability to find music you like and then share it with others. In general being part of a community that is constantly evolving and growing.

What are your favorite Sounds on the cloud?

It changes all the time, so I’ll focus here on a few Israeli sounds Ishai Adar,

His group with Ohad Fishof, Bney Hama

Some piano from Raviv Gazit,

A new artist working on his first record, Dan Pundak

And some sound from a friend of mine (a SAP guru that loves music, does both covers and original stuff) http://soundcloud.com/ronenfox

Finally, do you have any fun facts about yourself that you would like to share?

I grew up in a Kibbutz, which is a collective community of people who work together and live together. The economic model has changed quite a bit over the past years, but when I was growing up it was a very unique, socialist environment to be in. The kibbutz I am from is called Givat Brenner (http://www.givat-brenner.co.il), and it was founded in 1928 by 2 groups of very young peoples, one came from Italy, and the other from here, from Berlin. My grandparents where part of the Berlin group, and in fact my grandmother grew up close to here, in Alexanderplatz.

Where can you be found on the interwebz?

twitter: www.twitter.com/liraz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/liraz.axelrad
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/liraz-axelrad
My blog: lirazaxelrad.wordpress.com