Mixing Engineer/ Producer

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

A: A project I worked on that I am extremely proud of is AKATA by the artist Bronxlyn. My role in this project was the sole producer, recording engineer and mixing engineer of the entire project. I am extremely proud of this project because I was able to assist an artist into bringing a vision they had in their mind into fruition, from a sonic aspect. I believe we broke barriers with the content as well as the production and sonics, which is something I am proud of. I truly believe this project is ahead of its time.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Im working on an instrumental beat tape called "Most Valuable Producer" at the moment which includes many instrumentals I've produced and it will be on all streaming platforms on Aug 6th, 2021

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I like digital because it's speeds up the process of getting a song from beginning to completion. With many of the great plugins that they offer these days it is extremely possible to get a clean warm sound using digital plugins.

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

A: My promise to my client is that I promise to make your mix feel alive and feel like a musical experience. I aim to achieve this with every mix that I complete.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The thing that I like most about my job is that I am able to turn artist musical vision into reality. I really enjoy helping artists turn the ideas they envisioned in their minds into reality. By producing, recording and mixing songs I am able to help steer an artist in the right direction to get to their musical destination.

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

A: A question that most customers commonly ask is: Will this song be able to compete with songs on main stream radio? My answer is, Yes I will be able to achieve that quality and brightness that songs on the radio offer, without compromising the initial vision you are aiming for

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

A: The biggest misconception about what I do is that it is simple. When it comes to production or mixing, it's such a creative field but somewhat technical also. I believe because of this, many small decisions matter when it comes to making a musical masterpiece. Whether that is 1db volume changes or choosing to roll off a specific amount off an eq, all of these small decision is what makes the great music that many people enjoy daily.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Some questions I ask prospective client are; What are you looking to achieve with this mix or song? How many tracks are included in the session you are sending?

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

A: Some advice I have for a customer looking to hire a provider like me is, the more organized the customer is with their session files the faster the process will be. Also, the more clear the artist is with the musical vision they have, the easier the process will be for me make it a reality.

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

A: If I were on a desert island and I could take only 5 pieces of gear I would take my laptop, my hard drive, Nektar lx88 keyboard, microphone and speakers.

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

A: I have been producing, recording and engineering music for 10 years. My career path began working at Quad Studios as an intern and working under some of the best engineers in the music industry as well as assisting in session with some of the biggest clients in the music industry (Ty Dolla Sign, 2 Chainz etc). This is where I learned many hands on tips and tricks to help propel me to where I am now.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would describe my mixing style as quick, clean, bright and three-dimensional. I always strive for these things whenever I attack a mix. I always attempt to achieve quality, separation as well as depth in every mix i work on.

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

A: I would love to work with SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Kehlani, J Cole, Meek Mill because these are some of my favorite artist

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One music production tip I would give is to focus on understanding the frequency spectrums whenever you are producing music and master all your tools available because it will allow you to break sonic rules.

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

A: I usually work on Hip Hop, R&B and Pop songs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill would be creating separation in a muddy mix and making songs "knock" the way many people now strive for in their mixes. I am able to achieve this in all my mixes all while keeping the overall mix clean and making sure the important elements are clear/ present and do not need to be searched for.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: The special things I bring to a song is I bring clean and alive mixes. My focus is to make sure that all the elements that are included in the song provided all sit in the correct sonic space and do not compete with each other. It is very important to me to be able to turn a song from a two-dimensional mix into a three-dimensional full and warm song that you can feel as soon as you press play.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My typical work process is I mix the main five elements of the song and make sure they all sit in a specific space in the frequency spectrum, also making sure that they do not compete at all. After that, I begin to bring in the other elements and make sure that every instrument that I bring in only compliments and does not compete with any of the main five elements that I mixed initially.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio setup includes Waves Horizon Bundle, Antares, Sound Toys Decapitator, Pro Tools 12, Ableton Live 10, for software. For hardware my setup includes, ART PRO-MPA-II Preamp, Art Pro VLA II Tube Compressor, Neve Portico II Mastering Bus Processor, Avantone CV-12, Neumann TLM 103, KRK-Rokit 7, Yamaha HS7's.

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

A: Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland, MixedbyAli, Young Guru and Noah "40" Shebib are all people that inspire me because I think they all break barriers sonically when it comes to making music.

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

A: The most common work I do for my clients is mix their songs and get it sonically ready for radio/sync. I am also a recording engineer so I also record sessions frequently. Lastly, I am also a HipHop/R&B production who produces custom beats for many of my clients.