Singer/Writer, Producer, Keys

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

A: I would have to say, I co-produced on a Spanish rendition of "Holy Spirit", done by two dear sister friends of mine, Genessis and Nikki. The record came to become the official Spanish version of the song, recognized by Capitol records. My musical input was key to one of the main motif's heard throughout the song, as well as the bridge's chord progression (my personal favorite part).

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Biggest project I'm currently working on is completing my own album! 8 songs total, 5 of those being completely mixed and mastered. I'm also a vocalist/writer, and soon to be producer with Epidemic Sound, a Swedish based music licensing/ label company.

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

A: Maria Z! A dear vocalist friend of mine. Excellent to work with, super professional, and basically Maria Carey's musical offspring. a gift to the industry.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: difficult question. But for the sake of the terms I'd say Digital, Because the advances that we have as digital resources when it comes to audio quality and sound design are monumental, and they're only continuing to improve. But with music being as tactile as it is, with live instruments and human vocals, an Ideal studio Is a hybrid one. Using the best of both worlds gives you the most potential quality and experience, I believe.

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

A: That I will use my unique skill set/ compilation of resources to the best of my ability to get you the results that you're looking for.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: My favorites things in life are music, learning, technology, and creating. I've found a job that I'm privileged to get involved with everyone of those favorite things. Thats sounds like the perfect set up to me.

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

A: "Can you make it sound like this?" me: in most cases, sure! "How much will this cost?" me: Depends on the work load, but rates are fixed here on sound better :) "When will I get it back?" me: As soon as possible, or by a set date (especially if project is expedited). I like to send mid-progress versions of the song to make sure you like the direction its headed. "I didn't know you could sing too! Could you also put a vocal on this production track?" Definitely! It might cost you though!

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

A: The biggest misconception about what I do would probably be that someone shouldn't be able to effectively play multiple roles well. But... I do.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: If you could have it your way, What would you like the end of this process/project to look like?

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

A: Ask me anything. I'm fairly capable and easy to work with. I like seeing completed projects and happy clients, and i'm typically willing to do what it takes to get there.

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

A: A Steinway grand (big piece of gear, I know), a Vintage fender Telecaster with Jazz strings ( that hopefully never expire), My laptop with Logic Pro X loaded on it, an Apollo interface (preferably with multiple inputs), and a Marcus Miller P-bass with multiple pick-ups and that super clean feel/sound.

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

A: Career path has, as a whole, been professional music. I started actually making money as a piano player, grew up singing in choir and advanced vocal groups which turned into years of live performing and session work, and have been writing since I was 10. Sung on international tours, played keys/sang with nationally known artists, and I'm also an Artist myself, working on my own project/brand. Production has been the result of all my creativity and time with music blending with my love of electronics and articulate expression. Just performing was no longer enough, So I learned how to produce for myself. I still perform as one of my main sources of income, but production has slowly been taking over. playing piano since I was 5, writing since I was 10, singing since I was 13, producing since I was 18. hadn't turned full professional producer (making money from production) until 4 years ago. currently 28.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Cripsy sounding instruments. Complex yet palatable harmonic structure. If Jazz and hip-hop had a baby, and that baby also grew up in a slightly electronic-influenced environment.

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

A: Anderson Paak. I love his stylistic reference to old school motown/funk, while also having such forward thinking musical sense when it comes to song form and conceptual choices.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Less is more. You'll find that having a lower amount of finely tuned, excellent sounding instrumentation with great musical sense will tend to take you further than over layering sounds/elements/tracks.

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

A: Primarily a cross between Pop/ RnB. I also have experience with indie, 80's pop, singer/songwriter, instrumental, jazz-hop, and lo-fi hiphop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Strongest skill is chordal ornamentation/ reharmonization. If it were up to me, I would add harmonic color/complexity to everything I could.. But I also will be especially reserved if the song doesn't call for it. Its all about context.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Vibes, vibes, vibes. I tend to like to musically polish a song when it gets to me... whether that means adding harmonic elements and textures to flesh out the space of the song, or if its fine tuning elements of something thats intentionally simple in order to get the best feeling out of the song. If its vocally, my background in pop, rnb and gospel singing means you're going to get an experienced sound for your vocals.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: If I'm producing a song for someone, I'll first take inventory of all their resources for the song (lyrics, chords if any, melody, typical genre of artist), then i'll cross reference that with a reference suggestion that they have, they i'll begin to build the track in accordance to what I have. I'll put some time in to get the track to a place where I think they can decide if they like the direction, then i'll make adjustments/ complete the work after that part is done. If it's a piano track, It usually ends up being either a fleshed out acoustic version of a song, or something with jazz/ gospel elements, depending on if they prefer that. Vocally, I'm typically sent a track that someone else worked on already, and then i'll track vocals/ vocal produce on the song.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work with a Macbook Pro with 16gb ram installed, I have KRK rockit 5 studio Monitors (with a KRK s10 subwoofer), an apollo twin MkII interface, a sterling audio ST59 (soon to upgrade to a townsend labs emulator mic), Audio Techinica over-ear monitors. Nord electro 5d, Squier Telecaster, Squier 5 string p-bass, M-audio code 61 midi controller.

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

A: Anderson Paak, because I know that his journey to become the artist he is came with a lot of hard lessons, and learning how to do what it takes (as far as gaining skills, learning production, singing, etc.) to get to where he is now. I didn't personally know him, though I have friends that do (before he blew up) but his age, ability, and tenacity is deeply inspiring to me.

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

A: Producing out songs/demos while helping with the creative process, as well as Writing/ Piano tracking from home. professional Session singer.