Grammy Nominated Mix Engineer

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

A: My favorite project was most likely the Skyzoo album. I was the lead mix engineer for the entire album and was a really fun album to work on. A lot of cool features that I got to mix as well. The concept of the album was also really interesting to me.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently I am working on rapper Torae's album, a project for Skyzoo, and a handful of individual tracks for various artists.

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

A: No there is not. But this site is definitely a great platform for both artists and producers/engineers. I would definitely recommend this site to my clients.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: For mixing, digital. For tracking, analog. There are more and more companies that are coming out with emulator plug ins that achieve very accurate sounds of their hardware counterparts. But at the same time, it is nice tracking a little hot on an SSL board and getting the nice color of the board in the performance.

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

A: You wont leave the job feeling unhappy about any part of your project. This is why I allow unlimited revisions. You are paying for a project; you should be happy with it.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love taking new jobs and constantly hearing new music from either up and coming musicians, or already well established musicians. It is definitely enjoyable and rewarding to be able to a stamp on music that is brought to me.

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

A: When I am in studio with a client, I often get a question or input saying "Can you do this?" (describing some special effect). My answer is yes. As far as customers and clients I am not able to get into the studio with, I will often get asked what my turnaround time is. And it depends on what the track count is, but generally 24-48 hours per track.

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

A: I have met a lot of people who tell me that mixing takes about 1-2 hours. On average a mix (not including master) can take me around 5-7 hours.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I always ask the direction they are looking to go in with their project. Any references of what kind of sound they are going in.

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

A: Find someone who is willing to work WITH you and not FOR you. After all, you are the creator and you should end up being happy with what you created, as should the mixing engineer.

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

A: I would love to work with Anderson Paak, or Chance the Rapper. The both bring an interesting element of rapping and singing on their tracks and i think its an interesting and cool direction of hip-hop.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't only surround yourself with your favorite genre. Listen to all different genres and take in multiple influences. This is what makes your own sound...well...your own sound.

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

A: Hip-hop is my main genre, but I have/am worked on projects in different genres. From singer/songwriter to jazz.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I would have to say bringing out of the ordinary effects into the mix and creating interesting textures otherwise not there to the track.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I love attempting to emulate a warm analog tone in a digital environment. Over the years, there are a lot of digital plug ins that have done a great job at achieving the sound of their hardware counterpart. I think the subtle analog tone is important to reaching that classic hip hop sound that a lot of artists search for.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I will generally start with drums when mixing hip-hop. Hip-hop is a very rhythmic based genre and the drums provide the underlying foundation of the rhythm of the track. I then finish mixing the instruments, then move to vocals and ensure they properly cut through the mix, since hip-hop is also focused on the lyrics and vocal.

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

A: Producer !llmind has always been inspiring to me. As far as engineering, Young Guru is very well versed and is a very good person to learn from.

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

A: Generally I work in the Hip-Hop genre. A majority of my clients are either rappers, or R&B singers.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I take advantage of multiple monitors and actually built a custom desk in order get a wider stereo image from my monitors. I run my audio through my Presonus Studio 192 audio interface at 192kHz/24 bits. The converters on the interface give me a clear sound from my monitors. I run Yamaha HS8s, M-Audio BX5As, and MixCubes.

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

A: I started off interning while I was in college and networked a tremendous amount with artists coming into the studio. While I interned I ended up running sessions and taking on mixing jobs. I then became a common referral from studios for mixing jobs, so in October of 2015 I registered myself as an official business. That all started about 5 years ago.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I don't have a distinct style. I think it is more important to be versatile and adapt to your potential clients style. I mean, I will still have my own flavor, but I am not going to mix a jazz record the same way I would an EDM song.

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

A: Tough question. And also dependent on if there are any other people on the island with me. I would say a guitar, some form of power source, my computer, Neuman U87, and an Apollo Duo.