Mixing & Mastering, Production

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

A: One of my first projects was actually a gig I got through Tinder!!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently working on a que of mixes. Each interesting and inspiring in their own way.

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

A: Not yet but I would love to reach out and meet some people that I would likely get along with!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both are very important. Analog is great for it's sound and digital is great for it's easy of complexity.

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

A: Whatever It Takes.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love making something sound better.

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

A: A lot of the time I get questions about the process of making a song. I usually use the comparison of what it takes to make a movie; that there are a lot of different people with different sets of skills involved to make it happen.

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

A: I'm not a dj haha. Maybe in another life I was but in this life I sit in studios.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Not many to be honest. I find that the music speaks for itself in songs.

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

A: Some don't see the importance of getting songs mixed down by a profession audio engineer. I urge people to give it a try and compare.

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

A: Haha I like this question. I would take an acoustic guitar, a piano, an AKG c414 XLII microphone, an Apollo Interface, and of course a beefy laptop computer.

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

A: I was such a ditzy kid. I wasn't good at anything until I was put into band class in middle school. I held my trumpet proudly and eventually found myself reaching for a guitar, a piano, the bass, and eventually a laptop computer. i was thrilled to learn how much someone can do with just a laptop. It has been about 9 years since then.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I bend my style to what a song needs. Sometimes it's all about punchy, dynamic, loudness; and other times it's about gentle and honesty.

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

A: Personally I recently would really like to work with Mike Posner. His recent changes in mindset is very humbling and I can really vibe with that.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I have two. 1) be mindful and loving when picking your sounds and instruments; a good sound is only going to sound better. 2) be able to seperate in your head the mix and the performance. You can't change a performance, you can only redo it.

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

A: I find myself working on a lot of different kinds of music from hip-hop to pop, or orchestral. They're all very different when mixing down and it keeps the job interesting.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I think my strongest skill as an audio engineer is making something into "ear candy." Creating a specific listenability that is addicting and deliberate.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I like to bring a certain sheen to a song that makes people really want to stop, listen-in, and focus on a song. Whether it's a driving bass line or an inspiring vocal hook, I want it to pop.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: After the initial mix I send it out to get feedback. I change anything that might need to go in a different direction then I start to get very detailed and finish it off. After sending it out and getting more feedback, I make any adjustments the artists and producers might want. I do this until the final mix is perfect.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run two studios: one professionally acoustically treated studio in North Hollywood and a pro recording / production studio in Orange County.

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

A: There are so many I stopped counting. Today there is so much talent out there it is easy to draw inspiration from the first song that comes up on spotify.

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

A: I mostly find myself doing the pristine mix down for customers. Every artist and producer cares about their finished product and I'm responsible for that last step in the process.