Creative Mixing & Production

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Knowing that some small idea that start in someone's head has the potential to affect so many people's lives in meaningful ways.

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

A: That anyone in this industry has any idea what they're doing.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision for the song?

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

A: Don't be afraid to reach out with questions, sometimes people just need a little guidance.

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

A: Telecaster, Gefell MT71s condenser, Korg Microkey, Eve Sc207s, and UAD Apollo interface. There's nothing you can't do with that set up. (Oh, I guess you probably need a laptop, does that count? That's six... Don't tell anyone)

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

A: I started out like most artists, writing songs in my bedroom and playing them for people on weekends. From there it was into a van and touring across the country, releasing records and hoping anybody will listen. Somewhere in there I realized that I had a passion to working with artists and helping to bring that small idea in their head into fruition. That basically brings us up to date.

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

A: I'll work on basically anything on the Alternative spectrum. Anything with strong songwriting that attempts to say something of substance. My primary A given can be narrowcasted, it doesn't have to appeal to everyone.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Above all else, I consider myself a songwriter, and I approach all aspects of the production from that viewpoint. Everything has to serve the song, otherwise you risk losing the intention of the thing, then what's the point?

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: It's easy for an artist to get bogged down during the production process and start to lose sight of why the wrote the song in the first place. My hope is that I can help reinvigorate that initial enthusiasm and help to produce something the artist can really be proud of.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Step one is to talk to the artist about what their vision for the song is, who there influences are, what they were trying to say with the song, etc. From there, I like to listen to unmixed session a handful of times, each time trying to hear through the production and finding the central thesis of the song. You're trying to imagine what the end goal is, and utilize the skills you have to realize it, rather than throwing anything against the wall and just hoping you get there.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Simple & straightforward--I'm a big fan of "in-the-box" set ups. A great pair of monitors that translate across various listening environments, reliable and clean sounding converters as your blank slate, and a room that allows your speakers to do the talking.

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

A: The earnestness of late-90's, early-aughts emo acts like Saves the Day, Jimmy Eat World, etc, had an enormous impact on my songwriting tastes. I look to producers and mix engineers like Mark Trombino, Andrew Maury, Mark Needham, Casey Bates, Joe Chicarelli, as significant influences.

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

A: My goal is always to foster the creative vision of an artist, and that can mean different things to different artists. Sometimes that's taking their stems and helping flesh out the arrangement with creative mix decisions, other times that means taking a small idea recorded into Voice Memos and fleshing it out into an enormous, intricate arrangement.

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

A: For the money, you'd be hard pressed to find someone willing to put as many hours in as I will.