Full Service Music Studio

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

A: I am really proud of a lot of projects, but in particular the work I did with Aza Nabuko. She is a young talented singer and I produced an EP with her from start to finish. I also played a lot of the guitar on it as well as bass and synths. Definitely watch for her on spotify.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Several projects on the go. A new single with Small Town Artillery. I have a few albums I'm mixing. One from a band called Black Owl as well as Marty Zylstra, and David Newberry.

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

A: Yes Jessia. She is a Topline vocalist with talent to spare.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid of both. I mix with some analog and digital together. It allows me to make use of all the best parts of digital, while still having the magic of analog.

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

A: I will do everything within my power to make you hear your music like you hear in your head.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Working with music all day and generally really great people.

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

A: How much do you charge? Unfortunately there is no blanket answer for this in the studio. With Soundbetter this is a bit easier because they have made such a great system. Have you recorded anyone famous? Yes, Anderson Paak, Sean Kingston, Said the Whale...

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

A: People always are confused about the difference between mixing and mastering. Mixing is setting levels, adding fx, etc. Mastering is the next step after that and it is meant to prep the song for distribution on intended medium. The results of this are often it is louder, more full, and it translates better on different speakers. That is a very short descriptive difference, but no, I can't remove the acoustic guitar during the mastering process, you have to do that during the mix :)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Other than the technical questions like "how many tracks" and that kind of thing, stuff like "who do you want your music to sound like" or "who inspires you musically"

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

A: Send me a message. I'm happy to listen to tracks and give advice if you think you are close to ready. Seeking professional help will teach you so much and make all your productions better so why not start now.

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

A: Neuman SM69 Mac Computer (not sure this is what you meant, but gotta have a computer to record your expensive pieces of gear) UAD Apollo (I use a lynx aurora in the studio, but gotta be able to run UAD plugins on the island) SM57 Chandler LTD-1

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

A: I started instruments young. I was playing in bands in high school, toured for a few years after, and then went to recording school in 2005-2007. After school it took me a couple years of freelancing to get everything together to start Blue Light Studio. Since then I haven't looked back. Been going full time recording and mixing ever since. So going on 10 years at Blue Light Studio.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would say my mixes are present, full, and punchy...and on a personal level my nickname is Casual Kaj, so I guess you could say I'm pretty chill. That's an interesting question.

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

A: I would love to work with Sia because her songwriting and production are next level awesome.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Not all the instruments need to be playing the whole time. Sometimes taking out adds more than adding an instrument.

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

A: Typically indie pop and other sub pop genres. Stuff with strong melodic content, and catchy hooks. Wether it's more indie focused, more traditional pop, or even country. I like mixing full band stuff where it's more than just a stereo track and a couple vocals.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is mixing and editing. I think I am able to pull out what people are hearing in their head for a mix and I am not afraid to tweak timing and such in a mix to help the song if needed (with the permission of clients of course).

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring years of musical and production experience. I am a multi instrumentalist, and have owned Blue Light Studio since 2010. My musical instinct is very good, and I always hear parts in my head, and I am quick at coming up with harmonies on the fly. Mixing wise, I am able to pay attention to details that are required to mix, but I mix from an overall musical standpoint more so than just the clinical details. The result are that my mixes are dynamic, and musical because to me this is the most important part of a mix. You can obsess over the snare sound on it's own for days but it's much more important how it fits in the mix, and does it make the song better?

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depends if it's remote or the client is coming to the studio. If I'm working with a client that is coming in and we're working on the whole thing start to finish I'm generally producing. I like to get to know the song before we start recording and I'll do this by laying down scratch tracks. During this time we'll work the song and figure out any kinks so it's ready to start actual recording. If it's a full band that plays together then we'll generally set everyone up with the intention of keeping drums and sometimes bass. From there we start adding instruments on at a time, usually multiple takes, comping tracks, editing as needed, and tuning needed. If I'm doing remote it's often mixing and mastering. Typically clients will send me all the tracks as well as reference's for the sound they are going for. I'll do my first draft mix and send back to them for notes. From there we work back and forth until everyone is happy. Same thing for mastering.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have 2 studio rooms, Studio A and B. Studio A is the main room. It consists of a control room, large live room, and 3 isolation booths. I love the drum sound I get in the room. It is the perfect size for drums, big enough to get a great room sound, but not so big you have to spend time managing it. My control room is full of fun gear. Toft board, 10 channels of Chandler pre's, UAD plugins and pres, API, Warm Audio, Chameleon labs...there is a lot. Some really cool mics as well, a Neumann Sm69 which is a vintage stereo Neumann mic. I have never heard a nicer mic on acoustic guitars. A vintage RCA 44 ribbon mic. Studio B is more of a vocal tracking and mixing room. It has a control room as well as vocal booth, and has a Neve Summing mixer. This room is ideal for hiphop productions.

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

A: I have recorded so many amazing musicians I think seeing them nail a performance in the studio inspires me just as much as famous people, but I really like Dave Pensado as a mixing engineer. His stuff sounds amazing.

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

A: The most common work I do is tracking and mixing. Instruments vary as does genre, but typically I like real instruments, and often have electronic instruments mixed in as well.