Mixing. Mastering. Production.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to listen to a draft of the track first to make sure it is at a place where it's ready to be worked on, and most importantly, I feel I can add what I do, so you are happy. "Send me a reference of what you are looking for."

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

A: Slumberjack ft. Vera Blue - Fracture. It's a benchmark record for me, from the first time I heard it I knew it was special and I knew I had to make sure I could make it great. Finding the perfect blend between Vera's verses and the extremely heavy drop was going to be tricky. The track was a huge success thankfully and earned me my first Gold Record!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I've just finished another new Slumberjack track (named after the god of the underworld) I won't say anymore as it's unreleased. I'm also working with an exciting new group called Indigo Hearts I expect to blow up when they release their first EP. Finishing up some work for the lovely Montell2099 as well as new stuff from Yvng Jalapeno and Just A Gent.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. The advance of digital processing has come so far that there is no discernible difference. Digital for me is actually preferential when looking for loud dynamic club masters. Analog gear is however very nice to play with and I am a fan of it in the recording & mixing stage.

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

A: I'm happy when you're 100% happy. & I will always be able to add something extra to your mix.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love hearing how creative people can be with music. Then I love that people trust me to help them and lastly, I love when I have finished working on a track and can hear the difference. It really gives me a great sense of accomplishment taking what seemed like an impossible dream to become a reality and being able to work with some of the biggest names in my scene.

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

A: "How should I print my stems for you to work on?" "You'll need to bounce out the stems for me from 0.00 til the end for each. Keep the native sample rate of your session and print at 24-bit. Stems: KICK SNARE/CLAP PERC HATS SUB BASSES DROP SYNTHS (1,2 etc) Can split up if elements in the drop have different sonic qualities. LEADS FX PADS INSTRUMENTS (1,2 etc) VOX VOX FX SENDS/RETURNS If you're ending up with more than 16 stems you are likely not being conservative enough with the grouping. I'll send an invoice once I've started the session and made sure everything is looking good."

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

A: Stem Mastering is a 'mini' mix of around 8-14 stems, then a master. It is not every single track from a session. That would be a full track mixdown.

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

A: Shop around and listen to portfolios, look for engineers who's specialities make sense for your track.

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

A: My hackingtosh and a solar-powered power adaptor.

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

A: I began DJing and producing over ten years ago with the project 'Trumpdisco'. I have DJed all over the world and had my music played by The Bloody Beetroots & Deadmau5. In 2014 I took on my first professional engineering job for the then new Slumberjack. The EP blew up getting plays from none other than Skrillex and with their rise came the start of my engineering career. I have continued Engineering as well as rebranding my own project to SUB-human where I release music on Flux Pavilion's Circus Records having done remixes from Zeds Dead and my boys Slumberjack to name a few. I also currently work at Abbey Road Institute, the educational arm of Abbey Road Studios, where I teach audio engineering and music production. I also work on course creation, running my first ever Abbey Road Studios approved EDM mixing and mastering short course this year (2019).

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Very aggressive loud music with unrivalled clarity, punch & dynamics.

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

A: You! I love all types of music and hearing new tracks to work on genuinely makes me happy. Everyone song has a unique code to break to get the perfect mix and finding that code is what gets me up in the morning.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't be afraid to take a break sometimes. Go walk your dog, make some tea or listen to pink noise and reset your ears and mind!

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

A: 90% is big larger than life EDM tracks tailored for festivals and clubs. I have been doing a lot more 'streaming' masters recently where we are able to put a song in its perfect spot, without having to chase loudness for clubs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Understanding the needs of my clients from multiple experience points. Using my production and engineering backgrounds I will always understand what you want from your track and I'm always happy to have a talk about your music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: With over 10 years of production experience, I know exactly what you are going for as an artist. I can help you clean up your track and make it extremely loud, AS WELL AS keep punch and dynamics. I also offer masters tailored specially to streaming services where volume normalisation allows us to focus on the best mix possible, without compromise.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Cleaning stems, processing stems, mixing stems, then making them XL!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I am fortunate enough to work between two studios. A fully digital in the box set up with a powerful hackintosh and a full analog API 1608 desk.

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

A: Moody Good, Noisia, Space Laces.

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

A: Stem Mastering followed by Single File Mastering.