Mixing & Mastering

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

A: I have been doing this off and on for over 20 years. I have always worked in audio, but not always with music. I started with music, but got swept away into the world of audio post production for film and TV and stayed in that field for a long time. Since 2011 I have focused on music 100%.

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

A: Mostly metal music, but a lot of hard rock, pop rock and indie as well. I want to try and work on electronic music sometime.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring tightness, depth and openness. I make sure the right parts of a song are in focus and that it makes you want to move your body, whatever that means to you.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When a mixing session starts I will load up all the tracks and do a balance mix as quickly as I can so I get to hear all the elements and get a feel for the track. After then I will start processing each group of instruments until I finally balance them all together to a coherent and sonically pleasing mix. When I do mastering only, it's all about listening to the song a few times to know where to do what. It's never a set and forget-situation, a song always needs a certain amount of automation to really come to life.

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

A: Either it's just mastering or it's mixing and mastering combined. Sometimes my mastering clients are new to mixing so I will offer to guide them through the last phase of the mixing, making sure it sounds as good as it can before I master it.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I use both frequently. Running music out of the digital realm into analogue and back again does something nice to the sound that you cannot always put into words. I guess some call it "warmth". Sometimes you don't even need to change any settings, it's just the transformers from the analogue gear doing it's thing.

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

A: My promise is that my work will exceed their expectations.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Getting the positive reactions from clients when I present the finished job, knowing that my work will help them achieve whatever goals they might have with their music.

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

A: That anybody who can afford to buy the tools can do it well. It takes time and experience to be able to make important decisions quickly. This is something you need to devote your life to.

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

A: A truly great sounding end product can only be achieved when all the stages of production has been done right, with an excellent song played by excellent musicians expertly captured and produced. When all those boxes are ticked a truly amazing mix and master is guaranteed. Unavoidable actually.

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

A: All you really need today to be able to create something amazing is a laptop. So the other 4 things are just bonus stuff and would be an interface, a pair of monitors a guitar and a microphone.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Brutality with clarity.

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

A: Gojira and Architects, because of their energy and ethics.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Be structured and stay on task, don't get too caught up on small things. Do meticulous repetitive and boring tasks as early in the process as possible and do the creative, more fun things towards the end of a session.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Decluttering songs and making them come alive. With blurring the line between mixing and mastering I can effect the final outcome much easier. I work fast, structured and efficiently.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run a digital-analogue hybrid setup with most of the processing happening in the box, but I use outboard compressors and eq's as well.

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

A: Andy Wallace, Chris Lord-Alge, Steve Albini, Kurt Ballou, Adam "Nolly" Getgood.