Session guitarist

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

A: A while back I worked on a project with my uncle and a friend of his. My uncle is a bass player and the other does drums and vocals so the only thing they lack is a guitar. The last time I was at my uncle's house he had a new project they were working on that he wanted me to track guitar for. I played some textural lead stuff that came out I think very well.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently I'm working with a friend who's a drummer to get started on a metal project. I'm also learning acoustic cover songs to play around my home town as another form of income.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I personally prefer digital and here's why: I'm working in a fairly small space so it's easier than having a huge micstand in the middle of the floor. Quite frankly, the program I use sounds every bit as good as the amp I have, if not better. The last reason I like digital better is because of the versatility in sounds. The number of tones I have on my computer is much higher than that of my amp and pedal setup.

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

A: I will do the best recording I can. No matter how many takes it requires, how many rewrites, I will make a recording that you will be happy to put in your project.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love playing the guitar. It's my life passion, it's my favorite thing to do in my free time.

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

A: Well as I said before, I'm new to this whole thing. I've done a good amount of recording in the past but all in a more casual setting.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I would ask what the see the guitar sounding like in the piece, things like tone and style are important. I would also ask what the project is for or about, and what role the guitar should play in it.

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

A: I would say go with your gut. If you see someone on here you think will really shine on your project then hire them because they will make your song or album or whatever sound great.

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

A: I would take a PRS Custom 24, a Marshall Stack (it's a deserted island who cares how loud you are), a laptop, an audio interface, and a set of quality mixing headphones.

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

A: I'm just getting started as trying to be a professional at this. I've been a musician for 12 years now and played the guitar for 8 of them, but never done it professionally. I've found a real passion for music, and I'm working to try to build a career from it

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would say that the style of my guitar playing changes depending on the track. It could be really expressive or mellow in a jazz piece, and then loud and aggressive in a metal song.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: My best music production tip would be to really do your research not only when it comes to gear, but also with recording techniques.

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

A: Typically I work on rock music, but I've done anything from deathcore to blues and jazz.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is definitely my lead guitar ability. I've worked a lot with the rythm side of things recently so I've gotten a lot better, but I'm definitely a better lead player.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring a style that is one way my own, and in another way a mix of everyone else's.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Usually I like to just play and generally something interesting will come out of it that I can use to write the rest of the song so I can record it. If I'm writing a solo part, it's usually a combination of listening to the song and imagining the solo and improvising.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have several guitars I use for different settings, I have the ability to either mic one of my real amps or run directly into my audio interface. I use BIAS FX as an amp and pedal simulator when I don't mic an amp. I record through Reaper and it all comes out a pair of KRK Rokit 5s.

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

A: I am heavily inspired by other guitar players, like Steve Vai and Jimi Hendrix, as well as song writers like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

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

A: Well I'm actually a first timer as far as this format goes, but I've played guitar in a number of bands over the last eight years and recorded several songs in that time as well.