Matt
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Interview with Matt
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. We live in a digital world now.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What do you want out of this and how much time do you have?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Don’t compromise your vision to suit someone else’s “workflow”. Do what you do. If you don’t , what’s the point.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Laptop, interface, monitors, microphone, guitar.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: In college I interned at several studios in the Philadelphia area. This was when protools was getting really popular so I setup a system at home to work on my own productions and help out friends with budget recording. More than 20 years later I’m still at it.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My own productions generally have funk at its core regardless of the genre I’m working in.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I don’t have a specific goal of a “star” artist to work with. I really like helping up and coming artists that have a vision. The stars of today were nobody’s with a vision. There are tons of artists out there that have a story that needs to be told.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: It’s been said a million times but keep it simple. Fewer tracks will make the tracks in your mix more impactful.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I typically work in various forms of electronic music but also recently did sessions with full rock bands and folk artists.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Being a songwriter, composer, remixer myself, I’ve made all the mistakes already that you shouldn’t. I’m not strictly an engineer, songwriter or producer, but a mix of all three.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Experience has taught me that arrangement is the most important factor with getting a great sound. Back in the day when I interned for Sigma sound I was surprised that lots of sessions had an arranger on hand working with the producer. It makes sense. No amount of EQ can create separation in a mix that’s too dense. I try to Jeep an open mind about the arrangement at all times. What tracks are superfluous. What tracks are taking away from what the song is trying to say.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Depending on the task the process is different. For mixing, bring the files into protools, check that there is nothing wrong, no clipping , etc. Then listen, a lot. Get some references from the client of what they are going for, listen some more. Then mix.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: One Era studios is based around a pro tools rig with Apollo interfaces. It’s a combination live room / control room in an acoustically treated space. Lots of percussion, drums, guitars and amps on hand.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: There is so much great music coming out these days. Recently I’ve been loving newer groups like Jungle Fire, Violaaa, and mauskovic dance band. But funk is what got me into making music. The JBs, meters, black heat, Ohio players, etc, etc.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Clients needs are always changing but typically they reach out for mix and mastering. They are looking for the final glue that makes a track sound like a record. In addition I get a lot of remix requests for One Era (my main artist project) to give their tunes a disco funk vibe. To a lesser extent there are a fair amount of requests for me to play live drums, bass and guitar on clients productions.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. We live in a digital world now.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What do you want out of this and how much time do you have?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Don’t compromise your vision to suit someone else’s “workflow”. Do what you do. If you don’t , what’s the point.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Laptop, interface, monitors, microphone, guitar.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: In college I interned at several studios in the Philadelphia area. This was when protools was getting really popular so I setup a system at home to work on my own productions and help out friends with budget recording. More than 20 years later I’m still at it.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My own productions generally have funk at its core regardless of the genre I’m working in.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I don’t have a specific goal of a “star” artist to work with. I really like helping up and coming artists that have a vision. The stars of today were nobody’s with a vision. There are tons of artists out there that have a story that needs to be told.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: It’s been said a million times but keep it simple. Fewer tracks will make the tracks in your mix more impactful.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I typically work in various forms of electronic music but also recently did sessions with full rock bands and folk artists.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Being a songwriter, composer, remixer myself, I’ve made all the mistakes already that you shouldn’t. I’m not strictly an engineer, songwriter or producer, but a mix of all three.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Experience has taught me that arrangement is the most important factor with getting a great sound. Back in the day when I interned for Sigma sound I was surprised that lots of sessions had an arranger on hand working with the producer. It makes sense. No amount of EQ can create separation in a mix that’s too dense. I try to Jeep an open mind about the arrangement at all times. What tracks are superfluous. What tracks are taking away from what the song is trying to say.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Depending on the task the process is different. For mixing, bring the files into protools, check that there is nothing wrong, no clipping , etc. Then listen, a lot. Get some references from the client of what they are going for, listen some more. Then mix.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: One Era studios is based around a pro tools rig with Apollo interfaces. It’s a combination live room / control room in an acoustically treated space. Lots of percussion, drums, guitars and amps on hand.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: There is so much great music coming out these days. Recently I’ve been loving newer groups like Jungle Fire, Violaaa, and mauskovic dance band. But funk is what got me into making music. The JBs, meters, black heat, Ohio players, etc, etc.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Clients needs are always changing but typically they reach out for mix and mastering. They are looking for the final glue that makes a track sound like a record. In addition I get a lot of remix requests for One Era (my main artist project) to give their tunes a disco funk vibe. To a lesser extent there are a fair amount of requests for me to play live drums, bass and guitar on clients productions.
