Production, Mixing, Mastering

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

A: Not long after we've stared the Milk & Sugar project we got asked to work on a remix for Jamiroquai. The original analogue 24-track tape was pure magic! The mix then got released on the main 12", which I am still a bit proud of.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I just finished a stem mixing and mastering for a "deep-techno" artist

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

A: I would always recommend to dig a bit deeper and talk with a couple of people until you got the feeling that he or she is sharing your vision and you feel comfortable with.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both, depending on the purpose.

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

A: It will sound better than before.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Working with humans.

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

A: "Do you like it?" Me: "Your fans need to like it"

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

A: That a DJ can't play an instrument and my computer is doing the music.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: If I'm working for artists: Who are your heroes and where do you see yourself in 3 years?

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

A: Get in touch with me with any inquiry, but don't be disappointed if your project gets rejected.

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

A: Some percussion instruments and a guitar is all that you need.

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

A: I stared playing in bands in my teenager years, also in our school big band. Then I moved to produce ads and worked in a studio mostly on music for film and TV. As I started playing as a DJ in the early 90ies, I moved to Eurodance and later to house music. I've also been doing a lot of pop or commercial dance productions in between.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Versatile.

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

A: I like working with up-and-coming artists that inspire me. But also cooperating with guys that I know or over the internet is fun.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Save some budget for a good room acoustics and fitting monitors. You don't need 50 different compressors & EQ's.

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

A: Usually with some electronic background, even if it is just a drum machine. I love mixing acoustic music, but I got the best experience in mixing music for clubs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Experience, versatility and attention to detail.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Working in the music business for more that 20 years means that I have been working on a many different styles of music. My goal is to make every detail in the music sound as good as possible and provide a second pair of ears to any producer, artist or musician. Bringing a production from 80% to 100% can make a difference between hit or flop.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Before and after every production or mixing process I usually "reset" my hearing with a couple of reference songs that I know sound fantastic on every system. Most of the times I start with shaping the drums and low-end, but sometimes I am working on the vocals first, especially if there are a lot of them that have details that could be overlooked otherwise. I own a couple of great 3rd party synth plug-ins and also a bit of vintage gear like a Jupiter-8, a real 303 or an Oberheim Matrix 6, but sometimes I am also just using the factory synths from within Logic.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Am I still missing my big analogue board? Yes, sometimes, but working in-the-box has a lot of advantages and thanks to emulations like the UAD products, the quality of digital productions is better than ever. My main DAW is Logic, but working in different apps like Pro Tools or Ableton does not make a big difference for me. I got a professionally treated room with fitting monitors, which is more important than the workstation brand.

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

A: When I startet playing music my early producer heroes were Trevor Horn, George Martin and later Stock Aitken Waterman. Nowadays there are other producers and engineers that I get my inspiration from, and it is not a secret that some of them are running very successful Youtube channels. I was classically trained and played in 80ies synthipop bands before I moved to eurodance, then to techno and later to house music with my Milk & Sugar brand. Nevertheless, I love to dive into different genres of music and to stay open minded. My most recent productions were in a pop-dance direction.

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

A: I receive a lot of requests from producers who are stuck in their creative process and look for professional help. It could be mixing issues, mastering, but I am also glad to help in the creative production process, always aiming to get the best possible results for my clients. It always makes me and my clients happy to push the quality of an almost finished production another 10-20% forward during the mixing process (with e.g. clarity, pressure, loudness). Working with stems is the best way to achieve this. However, when the main focus of a song is the vocal I often recommend to invest a bit of time and budget into vocal tuning and -timing.