Pop Producer and Songwriter

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Meeting soooo many different and interesting people from around the world and being creative together. It's just awesome! You get to "create" something that people enjoy.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Creativity! My team and I are a bunch of creative guys and we like to think outside of the box. Most of us are musicians and technicians which makes our recordings sound much better than a lot of what you hear sometimes.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: The typical process depends on the job. Generally I really want and need to understand what the customer wants and needs, so we like to talk to someone over the phone, via Skype or in person to avoid misunderstandings. I work with production and mixing sheets as to not lose track of the assignment at any time! And nothing leaves the studio without having been heard by a second pair of ears. That's part of our quality control!

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Don't try to save money at the wrong end. As an artist 50% of the mix is a good vocal sound and with that a good vocals recording and performance. Don't save money trying to use a cheap mic. Rent one if you have to, so you get the sound you want and need. Same goes for the production, mixing and mastering. You can't save on quality and expect to sound good. We can't use cheap equipment to make you sound good either, so why should you?! Check out what we've done, look at our website and then decide. If we make a good impression on you and you think we could be the right ones for you, then we probably are. :)

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: 1. A tent for shade & shelter, 2. a mattress as to be rested, 3. a solar power whatever to have electricity, 4. a water filter and 5. a mac book so I can write and produce all day.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: Hm,.. well I personally started with classical piano lessons at age five, then began writing and singing at age 13, had my first release at 16 and was then signed to BMG - RCA as part of a 4 man combo at age 19. I've been in the music business since and recorded an co-written a lot of songs for and with artists such as Klaas, DJ Antoine, Xavier Naidoo, DJ Tatana and a few more. I guess I've been in the business for about 20 years and I love still love it! All of us at the Studio have a similar career and look back at many years of experience, that's why we put a lot of effort in being approachable and open minded as that in particular is not necessarily very common in the industry!

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: LR Audio. Lukas Rimbach! The guy's amazing and really knows his stuff. If we're too busy we'll send you to him!

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I will do everything we can to make you sound better! :)

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: My strength is definitely Pop-music, although one of our engineers is a total "Rock"-head. We're pretty widely spread but I'd say we're best at modern Pop-sound.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Many years of experience and a load of creativity. I like to make suggestions based on our experience but in the end it's the customer who decides what gets done and or added and what doesn't!

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: We're provided the music production and sound-design for an Xbox, Playstation and PC game called AIPD coming out late 2015. Can't say too much about it at the moment but it's one of the most exciting projects we've ever been part of.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: We're working with a few newcomer artists and also on some game - and advertising music. That's generally what we do and it doesn't change much, except that the projects are becoming more and more interesting.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both, simply because everything has it's limits. Use two pieces of equipment, then you have two limits! Use three, you have three. The more limits you have the harder it gets but in this case the more limits you have, the more possibilities there are to get more out of everything!

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: The most common question is: "Is mastering really still necessary today?" - Yes, mastering is necessary! Mastering is the icing on the cake and we all know most of the time the icing is what tastes best. If you want to have your music to a high level standard and be competitive, then you can't go around mastering your stuff by someone who understands and knows what it needs to sound like!

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: I guess thinking expecting to just push a few buttons and make something sound amazing within minutes no matter what the quality of the give material is. You can't make something crappy sound amazing without putting a lot of effort in to it.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Who are you? What do you do? Where do you want to go (Business wise)? How much advice may we give you, if any? What needs to be done? By when? And how soon can you get which type of file(s) to us?

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: We're mainstream pop with an edge. Edges can be added or filed away but generally one could say "innovative yet mainstream"

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Well unfortunately most of the artists we would have loved to work with passed on in the last few years. Aaliyah, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were amazing artists and will always be legends. From today's point of view probably Demi Lovato, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake or One Republic.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Try to create your own sound(s). There are so many great plugins and libraries out there but there are just too many sounds. Grab a mic, record whatever, then put it through some filters, maybe distort the sound and add reverb or delay. It's amazing what can happen when you do that! Don't try to copy but do try to figure out and pay attention to what is happening in the charts.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: The most common work I do is Recoding, Mixing and Producing. I'm often asked to record something, then move on to a demo mix and get people so excited in the quality that I'm then asked to mix and or produce the song in addition. If asked I'll also provide a vocal coach which really improves the recordings and brings out even more amazement in the vocal sound.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: We have two recording booths and two control rooms. Studio 1 is set up for writing, producing, recording and mixing - mostly together with an artist. Studio 2 is mainly used for sound design, mixing and mastering. We have a lot of high end gear to ensure really good sound quality.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Well we're really inspired by people like Dr. Luke & Max Martin, but also Deekay, NuMarek, Timbaland, Missy Elliot and Justin Timberlake have influenced a lot over the past years, too.