Unbeatable Sonics. Indie Rates

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

A: I recently mastered an alternative-country/rock LP called, “Robert Francis + The End Times Vol. 1,” that I’m very proud of. Barny Barnicott did a great job mixing it. They’d had it mastered previously by a very famous mastering guy, who mastered records I grew up on and still love. Maybe he just had an off day, but my masters prevailed and everyone was extremely happy when they heard what I did with their mixes. I've also been mastering great stuff for a new experimental electronic duo called "5am Care," from the UK. Great singing, well executed ambient-electronic production, and the songs are really satisfying in an unusual way. Sort of reminiscent of Hot Chip, who I'm a fan of. Hopefully their stuff will be out by the time this is published. 

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Some highlights have been mastering the Rob Ellis-produced (Marianne Faithful, PJ Harvey, Placebo) debut record and 7-inch for UK band, Blue Violet (especially "White Beaches" and "Undercover"); "Evil Eye" single for the LA band, Good Talk; "Stockholm" EP and "Can't Go Back" single for Bobby Guard & Importer; "Still Into You" & "Secrets" singles for LUMÉ, to name just a few!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I couldn't live without both honestly. These are all just tools. I wouldn't let any kind of dogmatic thinking hold me back from choosing the appropriate tool and doing what needs to be done for the benefit of your music. Analog color and movement is great, but some mixes are so dense that you need to play opposites to get it to open up.. many times that means using a precise, minimum phase digital tool.

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

A: Perfection does exist. I want everything to be perfect so mastering revisions are always included, as long as we are working from the same agreed upon Final Mix Files throughout the process.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Mastering a half-dozen different genres from 1 hour to the next, all within a days work ;)

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

A: Q: What level would you like me to deliver my mix at? A: as long as it isn't heavily limited or clipping at the output, it does not matter. I can adjust the gain easily but I can't remove the artifacts from heavy limiting or clipping.

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

A: My goal is to present your mix as it was intended, except with the missing contours and dots connected or revealed so that nothing is missed, the shading is more fully actualized, "well-lighted," etc. I ensure that your song will translate and scale to the largest and smallest systems. I'm not in the business of "fixing mixes." Whatever you put in is what will be heard, so make sure you love your mix first!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Number one is: Do you love your mix? If not, is there anything on your mind in particular about it that you'd like me to weigh in on before we get started?

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

A: I've always found purpose in supporting other artists and have been very fortunate in who I've had the chance to learn from. I studied music and music technology at UNC Asheville, a program with a strong emphasis on physics, electronics, and electroacoustic synthesis (with occasional lab visits from Dr. Bob Moog himself!). Then I moved to NYC, where I spent the better part of my 20’s as a sort of career mixing assistant. I interned and apprenticed my way up the commercial studio hierarchy and was eventually trusted and complimented on my studio work ethic by some important clients. It was in these professional situations where I really got my chops up technically and on the interpersonal side of things, providing mixing assistance to people like Dan Grech-Marguerat (Radiohead, Beck, Lana Del Rey), The Scissor Sisters, Jimmy Douglas (Justin Timberlake, Timbaland), Elliot Goldenthal (Across The Universe, Frida), & Bonzai Caruso (Damian Marley).  Eventually I moved to LA to sort of break the monotonous spell of assistant life. I got a side gig here as Events Production Manager of a landmark Hollywood music venue (the Fonda Theater), and taught mixing and mastering at Icon Collective in Burbank. Mount Olympia Mastering began to take root as I mastered works of certain talented mixing students. Meanwhile I was attending every mastering session I could with established, LA-based mastering engineers. I eventually negotiated an arrangement to master for my own clients in the off-hours at Darkart Mastering, Mike Bell's Multi-Platinum-Award winning mastering house (Justice, Diplo, Skrillex) in DTLA. We combined our gear, and I learned a lot while sharing a workflow and a mastering desk with Mike. I mastered hundreds of projects, acquired more of the necessary gear, and eventually had a great client base. 

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: We believe in enhancing records in a way that prioritizes and gives “voice” to the mixes we’re provided with. We bring art to life… send us something great!

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

A: I once had a short conversation at a party with the legendary producer/mixer Jack Joseph Puig. I hadn’t been mastering very long at the time, and I had the chance to ask him what he might look for if he were trying out a new mastering option. “A GREAT sounding chain,” he answered very directly. It has taken a lot of experimenting and quite a few revisions to the chain, but I've come to understand more fully why he'd value that over all else.. and if you’re reading this Jack, I’m definitely ready when you are! 

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I'm a believer that it's important to specialize if you want to stand out and make a name for yourself. It takes time and a bit of experimentation to figure out what you're best at sometimes, so start out by saying yes to any and all opportunities that come your way. You may find that you're actually pretty good at something you'd previously overlooked. I never had any doubt that I'd be working professionally in music for life. I just didn't know if it would be writing or performing or what. Eventually you discover what really makes you come alive and dig deeper into your own well. And the people in your orbit will show you and let you know if you can't see it for yourself right away. I got a lot of great feedback about my mastering early on and it started to seem like a no-brainer that this was going to work out well for me.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I'd say it's my ability to find the right EQ curve for a particular mix. More often than not, mastering and hi-fidelity loudness is a simple cocktail of equalization, tasteful clipping/limiting, a the clarifying/uplifting sound of a great sounding chain.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I work with the client to supply the best possible file based on the mix and the intended release format. Then I manually gain stage the level of the file so that it meets my outboard chain at a level that seems to make the music bloom and come alive, while auditioning various pieces of analog gear to find a bit of magic chemistry that is custom tailored to each song. Next I audition a variety of final limiters and begin to gain the song up to level while also creating excitement, the right kind of movement, color, etc for the song. Once at the desired level, I try to make some minimalist EQ moves that will free the groove up, and shape the low end for its particular genre. Lastly I take a very very quiet final listen to see if anything's popping out or getting lost in the big picture. I like to even out the presence and top end from within this quiet monitoring level. Then its real-time printing as I ride the input gain along with the dynamics of the song, capture, time-align, fades, audition a few dithering options, QC, and send it off. More or less ;)

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: The gear I use for processing masters varies from song to song, but there are a few components that end up getting used on just about everything. I couldn’t live without my Weiss EQ1, for example. It’s a great utility box and it’s on almost every project. The next most used EQ is the Knif Soma. It’s a gorgeous-sounding, modern passive tube-EQ that’s handmade in Finland by Jonte Knif. I also really love what my Mutec MC-3+ re-clocker does, and the sound of the Benchmark DAC3-DX that feeds my analog chain. There’s a chemistry to the way each component in the chain interacts. Taken together, they've really become a living breathing instrument that reacts to the music in a certain way depending on how it’s played and pushed.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I play a supportive role in all of these projects. My job is to listen in as pure a way as I can - to take note of my impressions as a first listener - and to ensure that all of my client’s punches (both emotional and physical) will land, so to speak, as they were intended. I do my best to anticipate what kind of scenarios the music will encounter as it propagates through space and time. I use tools like EQ’s in subtle ways that are a bit like lighting a stage for optimal presentation of the music’s melodic, rhythmic, and spatial narrative. So basically, I’m giving previously-mixed recordings a subtle, illuminating, corrective enhancement, and quality control, before formatting their final files for distribution (streaming audio, vinyl records, CD’s).

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

A: I do a whole lot of mastering for indie artists and smaller labels. They run the gamut from the heavy, loud, & subversive electronic stuff to the downtempo, ambient, & the rustic ones.

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

A: Jordan Perlson out of Nashville for drums!!

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

A: We bring art to life! Send us something great!

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

A: Audeze LCD-4z, Metric Halo 3D, Weiss EQ1, Weiss DS-1, Laptop

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

A: Heavy, loud, subversive stuff from EDM to Alt Rock, Hip Hop, & Indie pop. Downtempo & ambient, trip-hop, minimal techno, avant garde, rustic, and new primitive acoustic.

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

A: Jon Hopkins, Brian Eno, Tony Allen, Fela, Queens/Kyuss, Trent Reznor, Damon Albarn, Moby, Kendrick, Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Tom Petty