World Class Mastering Engineer

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

A: I have been playing piano for 23 years and have a degree in jazz piano. It wasn't until 16 years ago that I found an intense passion for producing, mixing, and mastering. In my mid 20s I began getting my own music out there and ended up winning a Mutemath remix contest. That propelled my career to working alongside more of my favorite artists in the industry including Linkin Park and Conro.

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

A: Electronic Music of all types, Pop, and Indie Dance are my favorites to work on. Songs that cross pollinate genres are especially fun.

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

A: My most proud moment was working on one of MUTEMATH's singles entitled "Changes". I produced, mixed, and mastered the single and got to see them perform it opening for Twenty One Pilots. That day will be burned in my memory forever.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment I am working on more Monstercat original releases and collaborations, as well as mastering projects.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill by far is my fluent musicality built over the course of 23 years. Secondly would be my technical knowledge of spectral shaping, tonal balance, and dynamic range.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring dynamic when it is suppressed. I bring thickness and fullness when it is lacking. I bring clarity when it is veiled. I bring valuable elements to the forefront when they are hidden, and I tuck them back when they become unglued. Most importantly I derive meaning from a piece of work and amplify its emotional qualities.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is a hybrid digital/analogue setup. I put a lot of effort into acoustically treating my room to perfection in addition to further flattening the frequency response using DSP. I use Adam monitoring and my outboard consists of a UBK Fatso and Clariphonic. Digitally I use an array of spectral and dynamic shaping tools.

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

A: Conro and Asher Postman are two close friends who continue to inspire me through their relentless work ethic and top notch production. Some of my favorite artists right now are Rufus Du Sol, Kasbo, Kiasmos, Lastlings, Cassian, and so many more.

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

A: At the moment I am heavily focused on mastering. Bringing a song to completion can be one of the most stressful stages in the creative process, and I love using my knowledge and expertise to guide artists through this stage.

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

A: How loud should a master be? The answer entirely depends on the artist's preference. Streaming services only require -14LUFS, which is easy to achieve with almost no limiting. Some artists prefer a more compressed/limited sound, and that's ok too. There has never been a time in history when we had so many options for handling the dynamic (or lack thereof) in our masters. We can be as creative as we want.

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

A: I would love to work with Kasbo, he brings the emotion every single time.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I take a scientific approach to mastering. Once the technical details are out of the way and the song fits within an appropriate framework, I can then switch over to a more artistic approach and allow myself some creative wiggle room to really bring the movement of a song to life. The energy of a song has to evolve, this to me is the most important aspect of mastering. I take a dynamic approach to mastering, songs move and evolve, I believe it's a mastering engineer's job to be like a boxer and roll with the punches. Or be like water as Bruce Lee would say.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! Digital for the flexibility and detailed automation, as well as complex spectral shaping tools. Analogue for the undeniably smooth saturation, "fatness", and unpredictability that is very difficult if not impossible to recreate using only digital tools.

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

A: My promise is that I will give the artist's mix its best possible chance at impressing A&Rs and playlisters, as well as provide the maximum emotional impact to the listener.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love finishing music. When a client has all their artwork done and I provide them with the final masters ready for distribution, it's an amazing feeling seeing the finished product in its entirety, as well as witnessing the artist's relief knowing they can finally relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

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

A: One of the biggest misconceptions I have seen regarding mastering is that I can turn a bad mix into a good mix. This is not the whole truth. If a mix isn't ideal I will make recommendations to improve it, however if a sub par mix is all I have to work with, the most I can do is mask the shortcomings. When provided with a great mix, I can focus less on hiding shortcomings and instead focus on highlighting and enhancing the beautiful qualities.

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

A: Sennheiser HD650, Fabfilter Pro-Q, Kontakt, Adam A7, UBK Fatso.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Finish as much music as possible. I used to spend countless hours making endless revisions, falling into self doubt, and chasing my tail thinking the music wasn't perfect enough. It wasn't until I practiced "finishing" music that my career started to bloom.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: My first question is always "What are your favorite artists/favorite masters?". It's of the utmost importance for me to have an idea of the types of masters that resonate with the artist.

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

A: My advice would be to have a vision for the body of work, and don't be afraid to let the important elements of the mix sing through.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I tend to opt for thicker sounding masters, emphasizing clarity and focus in the low mids while dynamically adjusting sheen in the high end.