Mix Engineer, Producer

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

A: Joe Lambert. I've been very impressed with his mastering work on my own projects, and his communication is excellent.

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

A: The more ownership you take of your process, the more an engineer can help you. If you can clearly articulate what you're trying to achieve, ideally with examples, it's much easier to get on the same page and do good work.

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

A: Laptop UAD Apollo U47 Beyerdynamic 990s Korg SV-1 piano

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Dark, liquid and sometimes dramatic. I'm particularly influenced by producers like Trent Reznor and Brian Eno, who use studio techniques as an integral part of the production process. I work mostly in the box for budgetary reasons, but I tend to use a heavy amount of analog emulation to produce dirtier, more textures sounds.

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

A: Warren Ellis. I love his work with the Bad Seeds, and I think I'd learn a lot from him.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Read the manual for everything you use at least twice! If you understand your toolkit your creative flow rarely gets bollocksed up by technical issues.

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

A: I'm not wedded to genre, but I'm mostly interested in darker, more "art" oriented music. Recently I've been mixing alternative R&B, atmospheric post-punk, industrial and some ambient tracks.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: An artist's mindset. Rather than mixing neutrally or clinically, I like to use my engineering skills to push a song further in the direction it's already going.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: This varies a lot on the project. Typically I'll invest a fair bit of time up-front chatting to the client, understanding their goals, and establishing a shared vision. I usually mix in two sessions over two days: doing most of the work up-front on the first day, but coming back on the second with fresh perspective to make final adjustments. I find it's always better to sleep on a project.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work in a couple of spots. My home studio, which is fairly minimal and built around UAD plugins and a pair of Genelec 8040s, and the Sennie Records studio, which is a nicely built little space with excellent acoustics.

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

A: On the musical side of things, Nick Cave, St Vincent, Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, the National and Steve Reich. On the engineering tip, I particularly love Nick Launay and Peter Katis - they both do really beautiful work - very textural and layered.

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

A: I started out as a classical pianist, then sort of drifted through electronic music, then engineering and composition. I spent several years woodshedding in my 20s - working on my own material, and teaching at an audio engineering school. I originally got into engineering to support my own projects - I found I could get better results doing things myself than by hiring someone else, or at least anyone I could afford, and it gives me a lot more creative control. I've been working in music full-time for around 5 years now.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My own project - noise, which is a kind of industrial-edged art-rock project. I'm also helping set up a new studio called Sennie Records, and I've been working with a really talented local R&B artist called Vudajé.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. I'm not rich enough to run a full analog studio, and its not the most practical of workflows, but specific bits of analog gear are well-worth having. I tend to use digital stuff for workflow and precision, and analog to manipulate tone and add colour to productions.

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

A: Typically mixing, sometimes with a bit of production thrown in.