Session Guitars

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: A song should tell a story beyond just the lyrics. I want to write and record your guitar parts not because there's space that needs filling in the mix, but because they can help communicate what your song is saying in a more complete way. For better or worse, this means that if you're looking for original parts to complete your 20-minute jam band adventure, I'm probably not your guy.

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

A: Can we not include cables? Let's assume those don't count towards the five. 1 - a quad or hex-core Mac. 2 - a simple, straightforward interface with clean preamps. 3 - My Strat. 4 - An AxeFx III. Endless tonal variation in a simple rack package. 5 - Nord Stage 3.

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

A: I love writing parts for indie pop/rock, but have spent an overwhelming majority of my time as a musician in the worship scene - both contemporary (think Hillsong/Bethel) and gospel (think Israel Houghton/Fred Hammond). Those flavors might not be for everyone, but I learned lots in the way of using musicality/simplicity to "get out of the way" and create a better end product.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I write music sporadically under the name Coastlines with my two best friends in the world. I also work full-time with a missions organization in Poland bringing bands from the UK over to help local churches do outreach in their communities and personally love mentoring younger musicians.

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

A: Justin Ginn is one of my best friends and has grown leaps and bounds as a mix engineer over the past few years. He's a great guy and a tireless worker when it comes to meeting the needs of his clients. Throw some work his way and see how he outworks and outperforms what he'll charge.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Tools are tools. I'd take a skilled mix engineer armed only with stock Logic plugins over an amateur in a multimillion dollar studio any day.

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

A: I want you to be absolutely happy with my work before you pay. I'm in this because I love making music and working with other musicians. I'm satisfied only when you are.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love that music has given me the financial flexibility to pursue other dreams without the pressure of it being my main career. Plus bonus points that my work and my first love are one and the same.

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

A: Fred Hammond for sure. His arrangements are master-class and it would be unreal to get the chance to work with and learn from how he writes arrangements and harmonies.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: In a live performance, musicality and the ability to effortlessly blend with the band are the mark of a true professional. I want to write parts for your track that complement the surrounding arrangement and are no more complex than they need to be. I am very much a believer in "less is more."

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I ditched my amps a couple years ago for a Fractal AxeFX II and haven't looked back - paired with the right IRs, it's incredible what you can do with a 2U rack. As far as guitars, I'm maybe a little atypical in the sense that I'm not at all a hoarder. I prefer a couple swiss-arrmy knife guitars to pick from as opposed to having 12 different flavors on my wall. I built my Strat pretty much from the ground up on the bones of a gorgeous red-burst Flame Maple body. I love her versatility with the HSS configuration and especially love the Floyd Rose trem. My Sheraton is one of the early-00s models from the Samick plant in Korea. She plays like a dream and is a monster rhythm guitar, and does really well on more old-school leads. My Taylor 615ce is more or less the quintessential frontman acoustic (think John Rzeznik and The Goo Goo Dolls). It cuts through a mix but still carries the body to not sound weak when isolated. I love the way it sounds direct, but also have an early 70s Unidyne III that helps capture the character and atmosphere better than the internals alone.

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

A: I absolutely love songs that tell stories. Bands like The 1975, LANY, and The Midnight connect with me on a deeper level as their songs often paint pictures. You can feel the passion and desperation come out through every aspect of their recordings and performances.