Session Guitarist, Producer

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

A: If only sky was limit, I'd love to work with Jackson Browne. His presence, songs and writing are just so good.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One came to my mind that isn't particularly dependant on the genre: When producing a song, try to work fast at first. Keep things flowing and try out all the ideas without filtering stuff out too much. You'll usually end up somewhere that sounds very unique and intuitive and IF not, you didn't waste much time and still retain some objectivity to the song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When I'm asked to track guitars, it usually starts with a couple of listen-throughs on the song after I've set the song or backing track in my DAW (pro tools) and have set the microphones up. This way I can start recording ideas straight away and usually end up something unique straight away if I get some kind of intuitive takes without any pressure or thinking. From there I usually tweak sounds, track a couple of options for the client unless I'm very certain about what's going to work for the song. Then I'd just record the tracks that I believe could be all used together. ( This part is usually gets easier after I've done some former work with the client because then I most likely know what they are going to like or are looking for) After we've agreed that we have the part and take finished, I'll send the raw files to the client - or if they're working in Pro Tools, I can also send the actual session copy folder which makes things even easier. When asked I can also provide tracks processed/mixed.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I always try to enhance what's already there. Sometimes it's just about very small things that'll make something 'feel right' I always listen to the vocal and what the track is about (and if there's no vocal, I'll try and convey or add something to the story or the emotion) To me everything that happens in the song should be dictated by what the vocal says and is about. Given that, I'm often working as a producer on records so I like to try and always find something new even if the concept is to be in 'ballpark of xx' while staying true to artist's vision. What ends up being played is always dictated by the song so there's no general answer to this. It could be that a song sounds great but needs some energy or emotion and I feel like it's my job to try and figure out how to bring the missing sauce.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I'm working in a home/studio convertible which is a good sounding, mostly wood surfaced room with Amphion one15's as my main speakers in a semi-treated, natural and open -sounding listening spot. The room's filled with guitars, amps and recording gear but as much as I love the music -side of things I also want to keep the space looking and feeling good. The way I'm set up, is that I have my amps on the right wall of the room and always have a couple of microphones ready for guitar amp or acoustic guitar recording. I'm also using Universal Audio OX reactive load to track all of these guitar amps which gives me the possibility to run the amps at very loud volumes without any sound at all coming from the speakers. And it sounds INSANELY good. (!!) Some of my amps in the room: Fender Super Amp '62 (vintage, brownface), Swart STR Tweed (5w tweed tube amp), Swart 6v6se, Suhr Badger 35, Benson Amps Dizzy Bird (spring reverb/1w amp) + a ton of pedals. With this setup and my guitars I can pretty much cover any sound at the highest quality out there. My guitars: Martin HD-28 (Acoustic), Gibson L1 (acoustic), Little Martin (acoustic), Danocaster (telecaster) Danocaster HSS(Stratocaster) Fender Custom shop stratocaster, Custom built Coodercaster for open tuning slide playing (this one's cool af) Danelectro w/ baritone neck conversion for some low tones. I'm working on Pro Tools (latest) and have aqcuired some great outboard microphone preamps, compressors, microphones for tracking duties over the years. Some of my favourite mics that I use for vocals, acoustic guitars and guitar amps (and other stuff too) are Soyuz 017 tube mic, Flea U47, Schoeps mk4 stereo pair, AEA R84 and of the preamps Avedis audio ma5's and LA610 are probably my favourites.

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

A: I usually get to work on singer-songwriter, folk, americana and roots music. But I also have a lot love for modern pop, RnB, hip hop and other types of rhythm music too.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Finding the right part that connects with the song. In terms of guitar I'm good at playing great sounding acoustic guitar tracks and with electric guitar I'm specialized in slide guitar playing (both supportive and solistic) and creating sounds that feel like emotions. All of these in standard and different sounding tunings.

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

A: I have so much appreciation for so many musicians and professionals working on records that the list would be endless if I'd mention everyone. For many years I've been particularly inspired with the following artists, musicians or music producers: Blake Mills, The Barr Brothers, Gregory Alan Isakov, Tom Misch, Laura Marling, Jacob Collier, Shawn Everett, Ethan Gruska, The War on Drugs, Rob Moose, Bon Iver, Haim, Jackson Browne, Vulfpeck.

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

A: Probably the most typical situation is in which an artist or a band approaches me and wants to have guitars tracked for their songs either in a studio session or at my home studio separately. The idea usually is that they want either something subtle that enhances the song and production or that they want me to participate on the production side of things. This could be for example covering the most fundamental tracks of the piece like acoustic guitar track(s) recorded to a click track (This would serve as the foundation for the song or guideline to which it'll be easy to start working different directions) or coming up with different sounds, parts, soundscapes or 'hooks' for the song that would serve the vocals, production and the story.

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

A: I'm rather new to SoundBetter so I'm afraid I'm not familiar with other SoundBetter musicians.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both applications certainly have their strong points. I'm tracking straight into Pro Tools through my analog recording/mixing gear and I find that approach to have sort of best of both worlds for my usage. I love working in the analog realm as much as possible before going into DAW. To me the way of working with ears and intuition and committing to making decisions early on enhances the workflow and thus makes the song 'feel right'

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

A: -Lanai