Editing. Mixing. Production.

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

A: To serve the music, and to leave no stone unturned. To work tirelessly through the process in order to deliver a product better than you or I could have planned.

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

A: t’s not always about the money. It’s not about hiring the cheapest person or the most expensive person. It’s about hiring the right person. I strive to be the right guy by listening and understanding how to make the music the best it can be while still respecting the budget. You as the artist/client and me as the mixer/producer both have to serve the song. A lot of times the song will tell us what it needs, if we just . . . listen. Record making is a process. We don’t know all the answers right away. Most of the time we need to go through the process to find out where we end up. After all it’s about the journey not the destination, right? If we trust ourselves, it comes through in the music; and fans respond to that. The unexplained intangibles are what ultimately connect you to your audience.

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

A: Like all of us here, I was passionate about music at a young age. This led to playing drums in bands, teaching music lessons, and selling guitars at the local music store. In the 90’s I studied music at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. I learned about music, engineering, and record making. I paid rent by gigging with musicians on the local scene. After graduating in 2001, I made the move to Nashville and started off in the trenches. I started as an intern at various studios, and was fortunate enough to have a few key engineers take me under their wing. Along the way I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing session musicians, songwriters, and artists; in many of the great studios in this city. As the new decade starts, I’m looking forward to meeting new people through Soundbetter and making some cool records together.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Making people feel comfortable and confident. Trust is earned, and once I’ve gained a client’s trust, we can make great music together. The more comfortable an artist is, the more freely they express themselves. The other side of that coin is knowing when to push someone to get that magic take. I love seeing clients’ reactions when all their hard work pays off and they have a record they’re really proud of.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: In the culinary world, French chefs use the term “mise en place”; or “everything in it’s place”. It basically means all of the ingredients are prepped and available before they start cooking the dish. The vegetables are chopped, proteins are cleaned, spices are measured, etc. I like to apply this principle to my production workflow. Having the track fully edited, vocals comped and tuned, drums lined up if needed, and having most production decisions made before diving into a mix can really be helpful. Then, when it’s time for me to start “cooking”, a good song properly-edited can practically mix itself.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I’m currently working in Pro Tools HDX, mostly in the box but also using outboard gear for mixing. I’m monitoring on Dynaudio speakers with a Yamaha subwoofer through a grace m902 monitor controller. A lot of my gear is in cases for easy transport to different locations. I regularly do tracking and overdub sessions in studios around town. There are so many different-sounding studios here depending on what kind of vibe the music needs, and it’s nice to be able to choose the right environment for what we’re doing.

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

A: Clients today want a one-stop-shop, and as a result I’m often asked to wear multiple hats. It could be anything from starting a pop track from scratch, tracking a band in the studio, producing vocal sessions, editing tracks, comping and tuning vocals, mixing songwriter demos, or mixing records for indie artists and labels. I enjoy the challenges each project brings.