Mixing Engineer

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

A: I promise that I will focus on the music and deliver an honest mix where nothing gets in the way of the song.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The music! I love engineering, playing and mixing music. I also love that as a mixing engineer I'm working so directly with the artist in realizing their vision. It's nice to focus on someone else's art and at the same time bring my taste and style into their project.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I try to bring the artists vision to the song. I also bring my influences and taste

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

A: I went to school for this and I had an internship during my exchange semester in Nashville, so I stayed over the summer before returning to Norway to finish my degree. I've been hooked on music since I was a kid, and I've been mixing since I started my degree about 5 years ago.

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

A: That it's easy

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

A: I mixed an album for a Norwegian artist. It was my first big project, and on top of that the artist is a good friend of mine. It was also his debut record, and I wanted to give it everything. At one point I almost wanted to give it away to someone else because I felt insecure about my ability to deliver what his record deserved. It was emotionally challenging for me to have this responsibility over a project in that situation, but we all came out on top and after tons of hard work we're both very happy and proud about the way the record came together.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. Why? Because it's very versatile, and analog gear is way too expensive for an up-and-comer like me.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to get acquainted with their influences, how the tracks were recorded, what kind of vibe they're going for etc. Sometimes the tracks will speak for themselves but other times it's not as obvious. I'll always ask prospective clients to share details about how they want it to sound in their words, and I'll interpret that as best I can in the context of the song and the tracks that I'm given. If they wanna leave it all up to me that's fine too, but I always ask.

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

A: Listen to audio samples, get someone who's expertise and previous work align with your style of music. And go with your gut feeling. That's always important.

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

A: My acoustic guitar, laptop, an audio interface, my trusty Yamaha speakers and a blender for making delicious tropical smoothies :))

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: New retro kind of thing. I love the sound of the late 60s and early 70s American music, and I'm into many of the sounds from the 80s and 90s too, especially the reverbs. I just love it when new stuff nods to the past by sounding a little gritty and old-fashioned while still being new and fresh musically. I often use subtle amounts of saturation, harmonic distortion, compression artifacts etc. in the digital domain to get it to sound older and grittier, if the genre is right for it.

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

A: Dave Cobb, Bob Clearmountain, Manny Marroquin

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Patience