multi-genre vocal and topline

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog - there's a warmth that we miss with digital. Especially when it comes to working with synthesizers.

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

A: The job isnt finished until you are saying HELL YES!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: the process of scraping an idea and completing an entire new song to the same production.

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

A: Q: Can I plug songs to A&R's I've worked within the past. A: for the right song, it is at least worth exploring. But it must be, the right song.

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

A: that simply is easy. my goal is to be gracefully restrained. if simple was easy there would be thousands of Apple, Inc's.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you certainly not want Sound References to songs similar to your project in question Project settings - sample rate bit depth tempo and key Additional services they need fulfilling to complete their project (to offer referrals)

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

A: The only dumb question is the one not asked!

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

A: sm7b. solar power generator with built-in power strip. laptop. satellit solar powered 5G connection. headphones.

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

A: My career path has been a music entrepreneur. In addition to daily writing sessions with publishers, I have co-founded 3 startups. one has gone on to be sold along with the software we developed. I am now building a new tech company with partners in Los Angeles.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Urban Pop; Zesty rnb & hip-hop vocals with a polished pop aesthetic suited for the dancefloor.

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

A: Neyo - to soak up his knowledge on vocal arrangements Russ - to pick his brain about the DIY world and his success Chris Brown - to learn about being an all-around entertainer The Script - to learn about creating a cult following around music P Diddy - for that good lol mogul talk and being a bonafide producer

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: For creators working on mac book pro laptops with fixed CPU and ram, use your UAD virtual interface to run plugins instead of inside of your DAW. This substantially reduces the amount of energy consumed for playback. And it's not destructive. The plugin fx won't print to the actual audio.

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

A: Urban Pop. Think The Weeknd meets Ty Dolla $ign.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Intuitive topline. I believe every track already knows what it wants. It's my job to move myself out of the way to let the beat pull out of me what it needs. I'm a highly skilled vessel.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Honesty. Global travels inherent in my story telling. Hooky melody that are innovative and deeply influenced by my love for polyrhythms and world music. Harmonic and melodic intelligence gained from years studying in the conservatory, and a ruthless joy of learning rules that I then turn on their heads as a means to create exciting and new possibilities within my music.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For Top-line sessions: 1. Create the client's folder in Time Capsule and clone on external hard drive 2. Set project tempo and settings bit rate depth etc. 3. Log Invoice and writer agreement according to my accounting best practices 4. Send client writer info (PRO, pub. address, etc.) 5. Import the instrumental into Ableton 10 6. Collect all assets within the project file 7. Do the first pass of vocal ideas for topline 8. Do second pass of vocal ideas for topline 9. Do third pass of vocal ideas for topline 10. Arrange topline ideas into song structure 11. Write sample lyrics for the first verse, pre chorus, and chorus 12. Send demo to client 13. If approved, complete lyrics, record a vocal mockup of entire song 14. Send vocal mockup to the client 15. if approved, demo lyrics and vocal production treatment will be deemed completed 16. Final vocals are recorded according to the treatment of the demo 17. Vocals are edited, tuned, compressed, and equalized. 18. Stems are delivered to client along with a quick mix to demo the vocals on the track. 19. Small revisions can be made - for example, if there is an error in a vocal file but no changes to melody or lyrics can be made once the demo is accepted. 20. projects is marked complete and client is asked for a review of their experience working with me.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: HOME STUDIO I have an adjustable workstation that goes up and down. I record on a U87 and also have a Sm7b in my mic locker. My vocal booth is proudly handmade by a local carpenter. I use an Apollo Twin for my soundcard. And also have a sapphire Focusrite. My monitors are M-Audio BX8a. My Adams were a bit too powerful for my studio so I've swapped them out.

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

A: I am deeply inspired by Shaffer Smith because of the lush vocal arrangements he creates for songs. Additionally, I am influcend by Divison1/Rico Love, songwriter Gino The Ghost for his innovative melodies, and Pharell for his songwriting and production. One creative I feel is the complete package is Jon Bellion. He writes, produces, mixes, and is heavily involved in the arranging of his songs and the music he writes for others.

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

A: My biggest client is Vandalism-Sounds and IMS Marketing. The clients send me instrumentals and my job is to create the topline, lyrics, and vocal production to make the project into a finished song. Typically, I am responsible for tuning the vocals with Melodyn and editing the timing of the vocal, as well as carry out post-production with light eq, some compression, and overall ensure the best performance possible. Additionally, I am responsible for populating the correct metadata. This helps the client tremendously because they can easily catalog the tracks I sell to them. In addition to musical work, I also am a voice actor. Most of my voice work comes from Upwork, Fiverr, and local production houses in Los Angeles.