blue dream studios

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

A: Raquel Rodriguez's EPs The 310 part 1 and part 2. I recorded, produced, mixed and mastered part 1 and I did the same, minus mastering, on part 2. I worked with Anderson .Paak early on in my career mixing 2 of his records. I most recently mastered Mac Ayres' 16 track album Juicebox as well as MXXWLL's 17 track album.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a studio located at my home in Los Angeles, CA. The live room is about 20 feet by 20 feet and contains a full drum set, baby grand piano, 2 Fender Rhodes suitcase keyboards (1973 & 1975), a Hohner D6 Clavinet, Hammond B3 and 122 Leslie speaker, a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp with Universal Audio OX Box, and an Agular bass rig with a 4x10 cabinet. The control room is disconnected and there is a CCTV camera in the live room that can be viewed from the control room. There is a talkback mic on the Avid C24 board and headphone cues for easy communication.

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

A: Laptop, UA Apollo, Headphones, Mic and XLR cable

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

A: I started playing piano at age 5 and drums at age 12. I went to school at the University of Southern California for jazz performance and received my Bachelor of Music. While at USC I also studied recording and engineering. I started producing in 2008 for my funk band and started renting my own studio space in 2012. My first major project was mixing Anderson .Paak's records O.B.E. Vol 1 and Cover Art. In 2015 I began construction on my home studio with my partner, soul/r&b artist Raquel Rodriguez. We opened the doors to Blue Dream Studios on January 1st of 2016.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is this.. There are no rules in music, if it sounds good coming out of the speakers, it sounds good. Period. It doesn't matter how you got there, as long as it sounds good.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I can bring excitement, fatness, grit, space, direction, repairs, effects, etc..

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It all depends on the project, song and artist. The first thing I would do would be to research the artist and listen to their recent/past releases and ask them if they have any influences, reference songs, etc..

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

A: In the mixing and engineer world I am a huge fan of Andrew Scheps. I had the privilege of working with him on a session with Raquel Rodriguez at The Village Studios in Santa Monica, CA. He produced, engineered and mixed an original song of Raquel's. I am also a big fan of drummers Questlove and Adam Deitch. I love their production work and style of playing.

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

A: Recording, producing, mixing and mastering