Audio Engineer, Singer

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

A: I sang "All That's Left" which was a song I wrote/collaborated on with my Icon Collective producer friend and a famous touring saxaphone player. This was the first solo artist song we cracked a million plays with and was supported on the biggest playlists on apple music and streamed on sirius xm radio.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on a major hip-hop artist/producer project that is affiliated with Rolling Loud/XO and several solo records.

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

A: I would recommend Lovlee music (Lauren) for vocals!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I think that analog on vocals/the master bus is a game changer, but for smaller mix tasks there are things such as plugin alliance and UAD plugins that are very close to the "analog" sound that a collective mix you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I do a little of both : ).

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

A: I promise to deliver the best possible product to you based on my experience and your feedback/requests. I promise to be flexible with clients, and I promise to maintain the integrity of your song/vision to the best of my ability.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love music, producing, mixing, and performing. I think anyone who is doing music does it because of a raw passion for it, as this is surely not an industry for the faint-hearted! Hearing the end product and having satisfied clients is very rewarding to myself along with being able to expand my network to new artists.

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

A: People ask my what my going rate for a mixdown or master is, and I generally tell them it can vary on a case-by-case basis. I feel that no two songs are the same, and the complexity of every song is different, therefore the work needed to get to the best result takes a different amount of time. I understand that most musicians are on a lower budget and am willing to work with them to get the best possible end result on their budget.

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

A: A mixdown will not fix a bad arrangement, and a master will not fix a bad mix. If you want me to executive produce your song, I will tell you what is wrong with your arrangement/can take steps to help set your song up for a good mix and master. There is no good mix without a good arrangement, and no good master without a good mix. You need to have all components, of which I am happy to walk through with each client.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you looking to accomplish with this song? What services can I provide that can contribute to your end product song? What is your budget versus what you are looking for me to do? I am willing to be flexible and work special-case on a client to client basis.

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

A: We should talk up front about the "scope" of what you are trying to have done with your song, and what expectations we want to set going into it. If we have a more condensed project, this could help lower the rate, but am always willing to take on the monster mixdowns 120 track ones as well : ).

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

A: I would take my Apollo interface, my Avalon pre-amp for vocals/anything, my U87 microphone/setup, a guitar and my trusty Macbook Pro!

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

A: I have been doing music since I was 4 years old, but have been an engineer/producer coming on eight years now. I always wanted to be like John Mayer, until I discovered EDM in 2010 where my world changed forever. From that point I became a producer, and started building a network of music contacts in Miami, FL while attending college down here. While in school in Miami, I was able to work on projects with Billboard-Charting producers, was mentored by the founder of Winter Music Conference (known as Miami Music Week), and learned a lot of inside secrets/tips of the trade along the way. I currently have been working with a producer who has credits with Young Thug, French Montana and more, and we have been developing several artists along with continuing to push my own artist projects I have going.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I am very organized with the stems/workflow. I am looking to get things done at the highest level possible while being considerate of timing and how everything sounds in the context of the record.

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

A: I would like to work with Benny Blanco and Calvin Harris because I admire their writing and general artistic vision on projects would be interesting to see first-hand.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I'll give you a really good one, if you want to bring that vocal up and front in your mix with that million dollar industry standard larger than life reverb sound and you have already done all your vocal processing/aren't there yet, you would want to add a CLA Effects plugin (Canyon Reverb Setting and a quarter or half note delay with a chorus or widening up in the plugin as well) followed by the RVox compressor (-2-6 decibels of gain reduction). This is what makes difference in the rappers/any vocal to sound thicker, more present and crisp (if balanced correctly with the rest of your chains processing).

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

A: I mainly work on hip hop and edm productions.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skills would be mixing/mastering and toplining vocals.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring over 7 years of mixing, producing, and mastering experience to the table, with proven streaming results. I am more than happy to give an "exec production" cut of your song to help tie it up into the finish product. I am known for finishing songs, writing lyrics, and making very catchy toplines for my music as well what I could do to help your music.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Normally, I would want to know what your goals are with the project, what you are looking to have done with your song, and how large the project itself is. I believe that there should be a better rate for someone's track that has less tracks in it (say, 8 grouped tracks mix master) than something that would be 120 tracks to mix down. I want to determine a fair price that works with the clients budget while being conducive to everyone's goals, time, and productivity.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work out of two studios, one of which is a professional studio with the $40,000 custom mainfields, tuned room, and all the analog mix gear you could ever need. The second studio (my home studio) is also tuned to the room, and has three pairs of reference speakers including HS8's, Dynaudio MKII, and Avantone Mixcubes. I can assure that the mix down's I deliver will translate on a wide spectrum of speakers and have been tested through all applicable/relevant systems I have access to.

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

A: The artists I look up to include Deadmau5, Scott Storch, Benny Blanco, and Louie Bell to name a few!

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

A: I mainly do mix and mastering work on here, but am happy to consider vocal work on projects as well as any ghost production/special case needs to accommodate the success of your project.