Production, Mixing & Mastering

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

A: That technology can improve your performance, Autotune CANNOT make you sing if you don't already have some vocal ability or a pleasant voice. Techonology can enhance a recordings, show a performance in its best light but how good it can be is determined by the quality of the source.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What their vision is? Who they think their audience is and how do they listen to music (eg, on headphones, at clubs, on the radio, streaming etc)

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

A: The most important thing is that you find someone you trust, and like, to work with. They also need to be invested emotionally in your project. This can't be bought. They can have all the skills, experience in the world and the best equipment but if they don't believe in your project and/or share your vision and ambition then you will not get the best possible results.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: When it comes to mixing and producing other people's music my "style" is irrelevant! It's not my music, i seek to understand the style of the artists I am working with and then work towards creating something in that spectrum, based on their vision, not mine. My own personal taste in music doesn't affect the choices I make for other people's music. That's why I have successfully worked with artists off all genres. Hip Hop or Folk, Hard Rock or Reggae.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If it sounds right, it is right.

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

A: Hip Hop, Reggae, Dub, Electronica, Soul, Disco, Funk

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Helping artists discover and develop their own sound.

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

A: Bruce Swedien, Susan Rogers, Joe Meek, Lee "Scratch" Perry

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: There are benefits to both, editing and managing the audio is much easier with digital and its possible to get a perfectly good sound entirely with plugins but i think some things like spring reverbs and tape delays just sound better with the real thing.

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

A: I started off as a tape operator in 1993 and work my way up from making the tea and cleaning the tape machine to engineering the sessions. Eventually, I started producing music and by 2000 I was also performing live. I toured Europe with Roots Manuva as his musical director. I signed my own record deal in 2003 and released two albums on the label, along the way I built my own studios and collected a variety of gear.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a combination of hardware and software that I use to produce music. I started making beats in the early 90's on AKAI samplers and I still use an S900 sampler for its 12bit crunch and will sometimes program on an MPC to get the swing. My main sequencer/DAW is Cubase which I have used since 1992, I'm an official Steinberg artist so I have a license for the entire product range which gives me a huge selection of instruments and effects to choose from. I do some of the mixing "in the box" but for some things that can't be convincingly recreated digitally, I have the hardware. I have 2 vintage spring reverb units and a selection of compressors and other signal processors, including a few homemade creations and some modified units.