Songwriter, Producer, Mixer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I took some time out to indulge my own creativity and songwriting to help and improve my own wellbeing after the cessation of a charity I ran. I've released a lot of this work under the moniker Brave New Broken Hearts Club - which showcases one particular aspect of my songwriting. I also produced and Mixed and mastered all the music except the debut album which was mastered by someone else.

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

A: What a hard question ... there's so many! Production wise... Quincy Jones, his ear; his knack for the extra little hooks and arrangements generally - incomparable. Pharrell Williams for his uncanny ability to get the groove 'right' every time! It's like he has a Midas touch, such a great feel for the 'song'. Rick Rubin for his commitment to simplifying everything and simply getting to the 'Song' making the song king. George Martin... his general brilliance and vision (not to mention arrangements) contributed immeasurable to what the Beatles did, and therefore to popular music's development generally. Niles Rogers... for sheer pop-greatness. Songwriters? Endless... but in particular Sting who I would argue is the greatest (individual) songwriter to come out of the UK, Paul Weller, Elvis Costello, I think Damon Albarn is the closest thing the UK has to a genius right now... I really admire a number of US female Popstar/writers too - Taylor Swift and Katy Perry in particular - their consistency and knack for a killer hook. Also a whole bunch of bands that made me fall in love with the 3 min pop song in the late 70s early 80s when I was a child... Madness, Queen, The Jam, The Police, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Bob Marley Plus a whole bunch of US vocalists for their ability to communicate emotion and to move us: Aretha, Otis, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder etc etc too many

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: The romantic in me says Analogue... it's real, nothing is missing (listening to my old vinyl is like medicine to me). However, it's the 21st century... it's the digital age! It enables us to do so much that we could not otherwise afford to do, very quickly and easily!

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

A: Two things leap to mind. A while back now I made an EP with a stunning young UK Folk artist called Pearl Fish - called Songs For Sea and Sky. I would love to get a chance to improve the mix now, but i am super, super, proud of that EP. I co-produced it really with Pearl herself and we did the whole thing in a tiny little studio with one mic and we stamped on the floor for a kick and played a crappy old tambourine. The whole thing was made with such heart and authenticity and joy... its exactly how music should be made. It's a raw but very honest and beautiful EP. I perceive my role as mostly creating the right environment; enabling and encouraging Pearl to be able to do her best work. The other thing was a song called Nice Shoes by a UK Artist called John Parry. This song was his first to be played on national Radio and I had a big hand in developing and arranging that song, which makes me very happy ... he is another phenomenal talent and a joy to work with! A very focused young man, and a prolific and talented songwriter. My role really was to help him hone and fine tune an already excellent song, with some arrangement suggestions and extra hook ideas.

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

A: I will be wholehearted in what we do.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: So much! Connecting with people is my raison d'etre and creativity is life itself to me! There is nothing that makes me feel more alive than seeing a song and/or an artists become all they can be. Being part of that magic - conjuring something where previously there was nothing - will never not be thrilling to me.

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

A: Q: Can we tune the vocals. A: I'd rather not if we can help it, let's keep trying to get an awesome vocal performance!

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

A: That beat-making is the same as being a Producer.

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

A: Decide what's important to you. Find someone who sounds like they have similar values to you. If possible get a recommendation. Connecting on a human level is way more important than the gear someone has, Be prepared, know your songs or know what you want to write about. Be open minded.

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

A: Electric guitar, Computer, Mic, Interface, power generator!

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

A: In bands through my teens and 20's learning how to perform and cutting my songwriting teeth. Turned an early interest in recording into something more professional with a Sound Engineering Diploma from SAE college in North London in my early 30s. Used and further developed my production skills, and ability to develop young artists through running my youth-mentoring-and-wellbeing-through-arts charity in London for 5 years.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Authenticity and 'serving the song' come first. Easy going, Warm and enthusiastic.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: A dirty guitar and Horn combination in the right context can really bring some swagger and attitude to an instrumental hook.

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

A: Has been very varied.. mostly Indie/pop/rock, Acoustic orientated singer/songwriter and out and out Pop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Having a vision for a song, hearing what the song is telling me it wants to be.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Pre-production - Listen to the songs, hone their arrangements - trim away unnecessary 'fat' off the songs, make sure they're as compelling as they can be. Discuss with the artists the feel and 'sonic-pallet' we want to go for hopefully keeping it nice and simple. Will usually record a guide instrument whatever that is (guitar, piano etc). Then record a guide vocal so we have an initial bare-bones capture of the song. Then develop the song with a beat (if that's where we are going with it) Bass etc... then re-record (if necessary) the main part. Once the feel of the track is developed enough to inspire a real performance we'll get the Vocal work done, then add any last little parts or additional hooks around the melody to finish off before mixing. That's the general outline!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Very simple for mostly for solo artists, largely overdubbing: Apogee Duet, AKG 414 all round work-horse and excellent mic. I work in Logic Pro X.. simply because thats the first DAW I fell in with.. and now I am expert and haven't felt the need to change. Work in the box so no outboard gear at all.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I have worked really hard over the years to understand songwriting and structure; understanding what makes a song compelling and memorable - so I will always bring hooks, whether that's tweaking the topline, adding a vocal hook in the backing vocals, or an additional hook in a guitar or synth part. I will always encourage the writing of any song to be from as an authentic a place as possible, so I will always collaborate with, or counsel a songwriter with, that in mind. Authenticity is attractive and it is what gives us our uniqueness as an artist. Where appropriate though I will bring a 'commercial' ear and will always be thinking in terms of what would make the song most 'commercial' sounding certainly in terms of melody, structure and length.

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

A: There are three most common types really: 1) An artist comes in with a song written and we work up a full production for it. 2) The artist comes in with nothing and we write together ( I'll often come up with some chords for them to write Lyric and melody, to which I will contribute ideas). 3) The artist has a melody and lyric but nothing else, and we need to create the chord progression and the whole track around it.