Bennet Laren
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Records, releases & the software in between.

I run a recording studio, roll out records for bands, and build the sites, stores and apps they actually need. Four of them are live right now. Scroll, they’re right there.

See the live ones Start a project

Arcata, CAStudio ownerOpen for projects

The Waiting Room
Visual Concepts
sampura.me
Thorne Baker
$3,800 in merch sales in 3 days. From one post, and it’s still climbing.
15,000+automated checks guarding a print shop’s prices
5.64Mviews behind The Waiting Room, the series I rebuilt the lobby for
3,456tests green on Joltcut’s Beta 1 gate

The work, in one place.

Four are live and clickable. The rest are campaigns, apps and tools. Every one has its preview inline, no digging.

Revival site · live preview

The Waiting Room.

A live-session series that pulled 5.6M YouTube views went dark in 2017. I built the lobby for its comeback: take a number, press and hold to listen through the door, sign the sheet.

  • The room, as UI. A take-a-number ticket, a door you press and hold, a sign-in sheet, a notice board. Zero stock sections.
  • Real numbers only. 36 videos, 28 sessions and 5.64M views, pulled from YouTube and stamped with the date.
  • A back-issues shelf of every session, sortable by views, year or A–Z, linking straight to the video.
  • A booking funnel for bands: what they walk out with, and what we ask back.
wired with
Open the site
The Waiting Room’s take-a-number ticket: your number 01, please have a seat
the ticket you actually get

Company site + store · live preview

Visual Concepts.

Eureka’s one-roof shop for signs, wraps, stickers and labels (since 2007) needed to sell without a sales call. I rebuilt the site in their own brand and bolted on a store: upload art, see it on the product, check out.

  • A price engine that can’t drift. Prices come straight from the shop’s own calculator, and 15,000+ automated checks prove the match.
  • Design in the browser: die-cut contours, background removal, fit and fill. Every design counts toward one volume price.
  • Real brand, real photos. Their logos, their own work. No stock, no generated art.
  • Static and drag-and-drop. A zip the shop can host anywhere. Orders by email, payment by PayPal.
wired with
Open the site
The Visual Concepts sticker editor: a die-cut star with its outline, size, resolution check and a live price
the editor: art in, price out

Artist site · live

sampura.me.

Sam Pura has 1.6B+ streams and 574 credits. His site needed to sound like him: like home, not a label deck, with one job. Get the right records into his inbox.

  • A full retheme without a rewrite. Dark neon became warm paper by remapping design-token values and keeping every token name, so ~750 CSS rules kept working.
  • Self-hosted type (Fraunces and Hanken Grotesk) for speed and a voice that isn’t a template.
  • A submission funnel that qualifies by budget and music link, with the proof (platinum records, a Billboard 200 debut) stacked in front of the ask.
wired with
Visit sampura.me
The sampura.me inquiry form: name, email, music link, what are you trying to make, budget range
the inbox funnel

Merch preorder store · live

Thorne Baker.

A one-page preorder store for an artist’s first tees. One Instagram post pointed at it, and it did $3,800 in three days. It’s still growing.

  • Frictionless: pick a size, add to bag, pay with PayPal. Two products, flat shipping, nothing to read twice.
  • Honest urgency: a real close date (Oct 31, 11:59 PM PT) and plain preorder terms, including that the ship date isn’t announced yet.
  • Static and cheap to run: a drag-and-drop folder with no server to break during a rush.
wired with
Open the store
The Thorne Baker bag drawer: one tee, subtotal, shipping, total, and a Check out with PayPal button
bag → PayPal, done

How it’s wired.

Every project here runs through the same handful of pipelines. Hover a project to see which ones. Click a pipeline to see how it works.

    patch bay

    Pick one.

      Hover a project to light its cables, or click a pipeline to read how it works.

      used in

        • Render pipeline

          Script → SVG frames → headless Chrome → ffmpeg → reel

          Every Only Smiles and Flake reel is rendered frame by frame from code and cut to the beat of the real master. A copy change is a re-run, not a re-edit, so revisions take minutes, not days.

        • Content pipeline

          Curation file → resize → data module → build

          One curation file picks the photos, names and captions for a site. One command resizes only what’s used, writes the data and rebuilds. Photos with private details are excluded by rule, not by memory.

        • Pricing engine

          Shop calculator → build script → price engine → 15,000+ checks

          The shop’s own calculator stays the source of truth. A build step turns it into the storefront’s pricing data, and a test suite diffs the two on every run, so a price can’t silently drift.

        • Static storefronts

          Cart in the browser → forms + email → PayPal checkout

          Stores with no server to babysit. The cart lives in the browser, orders and artwork land by form and email, and checkout runs through PayPal. Print files over the form limit are swapped for a 300 dpi copy and flagged.

        • Intake funnels

          Form → spam trap → thank-you → inbox

          Waitlists, inquiries and briefs on Netlify Forms with a honeypot, thank-you routes and email alerts. The fields ask what I need to answer well, like budget, links and timing, so the first reply isn’t a questionnaire. The sheet at the bottom of this page runs on it.

        • Token themes

          Token names stay → values remap → whole site re-skins

          Rethemes happen at the token layer. That’s how sampura.me changed personality without breaking hundreds of CSS rules, and how this page flips between light and dark. Click the bulb in the header.

        • Fact-check discipline

          Claim → source on file → date stamp → publish

          Stats are pulled from the source and stamped with the date on the page. Gear histories keep their citations. Joltcut’s exports are checked against platform specs. Nothing fabricated, no stock fonts, no filler.

        • Drag-and-drop deploys

          npm run build → deploy/ + zip → drag onto Netlify

          Every site ships as a static folder plus a zip the client can drag onto Netlify, no accounts to hand over, no CLI to learn. Build guards fail the deploy if anything internal ends up in the output.

        • Apps & plug-ins

          Spec → build in reviewed waves → test gate → signed-off build

          Mac and iOS apps, MIDI tools and audio plug-ins built because the studio needed them: Swift and SwiftUI for editing apps, CoreMIDI for control surfaces, JUCE for AU and VST3. Every one ships behind a test gate.

        • Print automation

          Variants file → ExtendScript → artboards → preflight audit

          Thirteen coffee-pouch variants generated from one master with Illustrator scripting, then run through an automated preflight audit (rich blacks, layers, live text, special characters). Change the master, regenerate the set.

        More of it.

        Campaigns, apps and a few things I built because the studio needed them.

        Mac app · beta · product lead

        Joltcut.

        One shoot in. Every cut out. A native Mac editor that turns one video shoot into a full, platform-ready social campaign.

        • Turns one shoot into 10–60 platform-native deliverables from a campaign brief and brand kit.
        • AI only proposes: every change is reviewable and reversible.
        • Checks every export against platform specs and reports pass or fail honestly.
        • Footage never leaves the Mac. Users bring their own API key.
        • Exports a hand-off package with manifest, copy deck and sign-off PDF, normalized to −14 LUFS.
        • 3,456automated tests, 0 warnings at the Beta 1 gate
        • 12Swift library modules behind the app
        • Swift · SwiftUI
        • Claude API
        • 2026

        I wrote the product vision and made the naming, scope and release calls, then directed AI agents through spec, architecture and build in reviewed waves. Started life as Moshcut. Name not yet trademark-checked.

        Joltcut app icon
        app icon, plus an illustration of the spec-check report

        Brand · site · 30-day launch · live

        Only Smiles Studios

        Launching my own recording studio in Arcata, CA: brand, website and a 30-day launch run built around one idea. Track it once. Reamp it forever.

        Reel 01 · “We’re open”
        Instagram carousel slide: Only Smiles logo with 'Now open, Arcata, CA'
        Carousel · Welcome
        Gear origin story carousel slide about the Big Muff fuzz pedal, cobalt blue
        Origin story · Big Muff
        Gear origin story carousel slide about the Vox AC30 amp, cream and burgundy
        Origin story · Vox AC30
        Reel cover for the Peavey 5150 to 6505 origin story, black and red
        Reel · Peavey 5150 → 6505
        Gear origin story carousel slide about the Fender Jazzmaster
        Origin story · Jazzmaster
        Gear origin story carousel slide about the Roland JC-120, lavender and mint
        Origin story · Roland JC-120
        • Website: a single static page with a “plug in” sound gate and a beat-synced player. A “Reamp this site” pedal re-skins the whole page in four amp tones, and there’s a rig roulette and a booking session sheet.
        • 30-day launch: 18 posts (9 Reels and 9 carousels, 53 slides), with captions and a one-tap caption calendar.
        • Gear Origin Stories: 10 fact-checked histories with sources kept on file, drawn as hand-made SVGs and rendered frame by frame in headless Chrome, on the beat.
        • Identity: a graffiti wordmark with a star-face “O,” a hand-drawn cast, four color tones, and print-ready neon-sign vectors.
        • Brand
        • Website
        • Instagram launch
        • HTML · JS · headless Chrome
        • 2026
        Visit onlysmilesstudios.com
        Only Smiles Studios website share card: logo on cobalt blue
        the site’s share card

        Release campaign · rolling out

        Keeper. Threadbare

        My band’s debut EP, released with no label. The centerpiece is a teaser site you tune like a radio.

        • “The Radio”: hold to tune in. Three hidden transmissions sit between 88 and 108, built with Canvas and Web Audio. The site changes state by itself as each release lands.
        • Brand kit: stitched wordmark, heart mark, palette and type, plus eight cover directions.
        • Instagram kit: 20 posts, 11 reels, stories, highlight covers and a Spotify Canvas.
        • Rollout: a waterfall release plan, a distributor upload guide and a 177-outlet press target list.
        • Release campaign
        • Teaser site
        • Canvas · Web Audio
        • 2026

        Artwork and release details stay under wraps until the EP is out.

        Keeper wordmark, stitched cream lettering with a red heart mark above, on dark static
        The teaser site's tuning dial reading 89.9, with the instruction 'Hold to tune in'
        the radio’s tuning gate
        Reel cover: musician in a beanie against a grey wall with stacked labels reading 'No demo. No song. No plan.' and a camcorder REC overlay
        reel 01 · “No demo. No song. No plan.”

        Client · reel series · delivered

        Flake “This Sucks”

        A month-long Instagram campaign for a band’s new single, told as a 19-part mini-documentary. Theme: Nobody walked in with a song.

        • 19 vertical reels (16 episodes and 3 bonus cuts) edited to the real master.
        • A consistent album-cover end card, carousels at 1080×1350, a caption deck in the band’s lowercase voice, and a dated calendar.
        • A custom render pipeline (Python, ffmpeg and headless Chrome) so revisions take minutes, not days.
        • Client
        • 19 reels
        • Python · ffmpeg · headless Chrome
        • 2026

        House rules: no stock fonts. Nothing fabricated.

        Switchover shortcut trainer screen
        the shortcut trainer
        Switchover launch post for Instagram Switchover reel cover: Logic to Pro Tools, Command-T

        Desktop app · site · launch · live

        Switchover.

        Switch DAWs without losing your muscle memory. A desktop app that translates shortcuts and concepts between Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton, FL Studio and Cubase.

        • The app: 20 DAW pairs, 94 translated commands, a shortcut trainer, genre recipes and 32 printable switching guides. The Mac version adds Pro Tools automations.
        • The site: a sales page with checkout and a free cheat-sheet offer.
        • The launch: 18 scheduled Instagram carousels, 12 reels, ads and story assets.
        • 20DAW-to-DAW pairs mapped
        • 94commands translated
        • Founder
        • Electron · Mac & Windows
        • Sales site
        • 2026
        Visit the site
        No Thanks Label website landing screen
        No Thanks Label LinkedIn banner
        launch kit: banners for every platform

        Founder · creative lead · built

        No Thanks Label

        Everything a label builds for a release. Without the label. A turnkey release studio for independent bands, delivered in ten days.

        • The offer: a song map, visual world, logo system, interactive hype site, reels, cover art and a dated plan.
        • An interactive pitch site with tiered pricing and a worked cost comparison.
        • A launch kit made with the label’s own process: 7 reels, carousels, stories, profile art and banners for Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube.
        • Pitch site
        • Launch kit
        • 2026
        Overview of the Theresa.wav social kit: profile picture, feed posts, stories and highlight covers
        the first-week kit, laid out
        Theresa.wav brand sheet with logos, colors and type

        Client · brand, site and social kit · delivered

        Theresa.wav

        A complete launch kit for an engineer and vocal producer opening her books: brand, site, profile and a ready-to-post first week.

        • Logo in four colorways (SVG and PNG), cutouts, a brand sheet and a website share image.
        • Profile picture, a “now booking” reel, 3 stories, 6 feed posts and a 6-slide services carousel.
        • 6 highlight covers, plus captions written in her own voice with a launch-day posting order.
        • Client
        • Brand kit
        • Social kit
        • 2026

        Studio tools · in daily use

        Small tools, real problems.

        PandaCut app icon

        PandaCut

        iPhone · iPad · Mac · Swift

        Prompt-driven autocut. Import footage, describe the cut you want (“45 seconds, open quiet…”) and get a finished edit, then refine it by chat. It analyzes shots, faces, beats and speech on the device, with three “directors” to swap between: Claude, Apple’s on-device model, or plain rules. It’s the prototype that led to Joltcut.

        PT Bridge app icon

        PT Bridge

        macOS · v1.0 · Python CLI

        Helps Logic users move to Pro Tools: a field guide mapping concepts and shortcuts, five ready-made session layouts, offline audio prep, and Pro Tools automation (stems, markers, bounce) from a command-line tool.

        XY Pad

        macOS · Objective-C · CoreMIDI

        A tiny always-on-top pad that sends MIDI to any plug-in in Logic. Logic has no XY control for arbitrary parameters, so I built one. It never steals focus, so your key commands keep working. Plug-ins I’ve built: Wet Dream, an 80s synth with a slime frame that drips for real, and a minimal A/B sampler with about 1,900 presets.

        tone 50% · space 45%

        tone →space ↑

        What I can make for you.

        Release campaigns

        A rollout, not a pile of posts: plan, reels, carousels, stories, captions and a dated calendar. One shoot becomes a month with a story running through it.

        start with this →

        Websites

        Fast static sites with a personality: interactive, accessible, cheap to host. Teaser pages, studio sites, artist sites, sales pages.

        start with this →

        Online stores

        A store that runs without a server: live pricing, art upload, a cart and PayPal. Preorders, merch drops, print ordering.

        start with this →

        Apps & plug-ins

        Native Mac and iOS apps, MIDI tools and audio plug-ins for studios and creators, from spec to tested build.

        start with this →

        Graphic design & brand

        Logos, wordmarks, palettes, type, brand sheets, merch art, release art and social templates that hold up across covers, sites and feeds.

        start with this →

        Pipelines & automation

        The boring-magic part: render pipelines, content pipelines, pricing engines and preflight scripts, so revisions take minutes instead of days.

        start with this →

        Musician first. Builder by necessity.

        I own Only Smiles Studios in Arcata, California, a guitar-first room built around reamping. I play in Keeper, and I work as a project manager at The Panda Studios, where I handle booking, web, email and social.

        Most of what’s here started as a problem in a studio: a release that needed a plan, a band that needed a month of content, an edit that took too long, a print shop that couldn’t take an order. I build the thing that fixes it, then turn it into something other musicians can use.

        I’m looking for clients who want a release to feel considered from the first teaser to the last post, and for teams building creative tools who need someone who speaks both musician and product.

        right now

        studio
        owner, Only Smiles Studios (Arcata, CA)
        product
        lead on Joltcut, a Mac app in beta
        day job
        project manager, The Panda Studios
        band
        Keeper. EP rolling out
        founder
        Switchover · No Thanks Label
        shipping
        4 live sites (see above!)

        Let’s make something loud.

        Tell me what you’re making and what “great” looks like. I read every brief myself.

        bennet@onlysmilesstudios.com

        project sheet

        2 minutes · no pressure
        what do you need? pick any
        timeline
        do you have assets?
        Goes straight to my inbox. I read every one personally.