Producer, Mixer and Musician

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

A: totally, Chelsea McGough is a good friend and an amazing Cellist and composer, and my buddy Randall Kent is an incredibly talented producer

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: both, of course

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: lots of projects...

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

A: I'll do my best, always

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The creativity, and seeing people's careers grow

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

A: Can I buy a Mercedes with a Toyota budget... my answer is possibly, sometimes

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision, who are your influences, what are we going for, what kind of investment are you looking to make, what makes a killer song to you? These are a few.

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

A: Trust your instincts, work with people who respect your vision, and when you find someone who you vibe with and they do what they say they're going to do, keep working with them is some capacity or another.

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

A: An electric guitar, an amp, a synth, a drum machine and a recording rig

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

A: I've been a professional musician (touring and session work) for eighteen years, and I've been making records full time for over six years now.

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

A: Beck, because he breaks so many norms with his creativity, and it's almost always great

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Trust your gut, there are no rules, just do what you like

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

A: Indie rock, Indie pop, Americana, Folk, Rock, Pop, Scoring for Film and everything in between

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My head (my brain), my heart (my energy and experience), and my gut (my tastes, my abilities and my opinions). Really, I make sure that the artist's vision comes to life, and that they grow and become better artists because of the experience.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It all depends on the needs of the artist and the project. I would imagine a good example for a site like Soundbetter would be this: an artist sends me a vocal track and a guitar track, and from there we would communicate exactly what the artist is looking for. Once I have a really good feel for his/her vision, i would flesh out the rest of the track (drums, bass, guitars, keys, vocals, programming etc whatever is needed). Then I would send it back to the artist, and once its approved, I would mix the song and get it back to the artist.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I can do the analog thing (Trident 80's series, 16 track Studer) or the digital with Pro-tools etc. I am the lucky owner of lots of vintage instruments, including synths, keyboards, guitars, amps etc

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

A: Beck, Tom Elmhurst, Neal Cappellino, Vance Powell, Cass McCombs, Rob Schnapf, Elliott Smith, Ryan Freeland, Aimee Mann, The Barr Brothers, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Zombies, ELO, Jeff Lynne, Rick Rubin, Chris Shaw, Wilco on and on

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

A: Full production, mixing, playing guitar/instruments, string arrangements