Producer/Session Player

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

A: I ghost wrote the last 10 mins or so of score for the film Passion Play: Russell Westbrook on Hulu. I did tons of instrumentation, mixing, and sound design in a very short timeframe

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A giant fuzzy purple monster DJ

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

A: I believe there is a blurry gray area between talent and skill. People just think this happens naturally, and while i will not dispute that i have natural talent, the skill to focus it and cultivate it is a daily practice.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: 1. What are you hoping to accomplish overall? 2. How far along is the project currently? 3. What's left to do before project is complete? 4. What can you afford? 5. How can i offer you value based on your budget? 6. When are you available? 7. Can i see some examples of your past projects in this vein, soundalikes and/or influences 8. Do you want to produce in a home production suite or an acoustically correct surround studio with a dedicated engineer

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

A: Assuming that power is available and that sundries like strings, cables, power supplies are assumed included, 1. My Gibson SG 2. Ableton Push 2 3. UAD Apollo 8 Duo 4. A computer that will run 2 and 3 with Ableton. 5. Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones

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

A: Music has always been my path and I have been beating my path for 20 years. I went to college for Communications for a year and knew halfway through that i would not survive if i continued moving further away from my passion.

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

A: Post Malone - seems like a great guy all around.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Stop second guessing by picking away at it bit by bit, until it simply doesn't bother you anymore

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

A: House, Post Rock, R&B, Neo Soul, Drum & Bass

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: 1. Evaluate client goals and influences. Which sounds inspire you, and what are you inspired to do? 2. Build or modify a template. This usually includes a few different drum kits, synth patches, and pre-routed audio tracks and returns for whatever instruments will be in play. 3a. If you have a pre-existing song already, slice provided stems into loops and load into scenes in Ableton Session View 3b. If starting from scratch, sketch out Chord Progressions. 4. Live looping 5. Filter through the noise - to many this is the hardest step, but i practice holding no emotional attachment to any of the ideas from the previous step. This is where we trim off the fat, find the ideas that do not serve the song, and remove/alter accordingly. 6. Arrange the Section - sequencing the parts out to build dynamics according to what the artist and/or the song itself wants. 7. Repeat steps 3b-6 until a complete song starts to take shape 8. final arrangement - like step 6 but more holistic in nature - where the bigger picture takes shape. 9. record arrangement by playing back scenes in Session view according to final arrangement. 10. Final Polish: Ear candy, automation, mixdown, bounce.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Computers/DAWs - Studio computer: Origin L Series, Intel Core i9 10900k overclocked to 5 GHz, RTX3080, 64 GB RAM, Ableton Live 11 Suite - Stream computer: 2018 Asus GL703 Strix Hero Edition (i7 8750H, 16 GB RAM, GTX1050Ti, 125 GB SSD, 1 TB Fusion Drive) running OBS and Ableton Live 10 Suite or Beta. Audio Interfaces: - UAD Apollo 8 Duo - Lewitt Connect 6 Mics - Shure SM7B - Pacific Pro Audio LD-1 - 2x Rode NT5-a (matched pair) - Shure SM57 - Blue Encore 200 Instruments - 1946 Gibson ES125 (original P90 pickup!!) - 2006 or 2007 Gibson SG Special (modified extensively) - 2020 Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster - 2008 or 2009 Cole Clark FL1AC - Squier Standard Jazz Bass - 1965 Harmony 910 - Art & Lutherie 12 String Acoustic - Ableton Push 2 - Arturia Microfreak Amplifiers - late 70's Lab Series L9 - 1996 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - Aguilar Tone Hammer Bass Preamp + EQ - Line 6 Helix - (with advance notice), access to a collection of lovingly maintained and modified blackface and silverface fenders (deluxe reverb, twin, vibro champ, bassman and more) from early 60's onward.

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

A: Guitar: Dean Ween, George Benson, Devin Townsend, Mark Knopfler, My Bloody Valentine Bass: James Jamerson, Jaco Pastorius, The Flaming Lips Vocal: Gene Ween, Devin Townsend, Matt Bellamy, Stevie Wonder Beatmaking: Flying Lotus, 40, Eskmo, Joji Producing: Davey Isaac, Daniel Lanois, Devin Townsend, Deadmau5

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

A: Anthony Nino Salazar - Drummer (Los Angeles) Nino has been a dear and darling friend of mine for over a decade now. He is my first choice of drummer for absolutely anything but he shines the most on rock music. Nino will be recording drums for an 8 track album i'm in final production on as we speak, and i wouldn't have it any other way. Darrell Thorp - Mix Engineer (Los Angeles) - Darrell has mentored many of my colleagues and his resume really speaks for itself. He's a great guy who does great work. well...legendary work.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: yes. analog for sauce digital for convenience

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

A: A great interpersonal vibe, a fast and efficient process where you learn tons of valuable information while achieving your creative goals, a final product with a final polish equivalent quality-wise to anything you've heard before, but with a hint of that special sauce.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Capturing those magical moments of pure creative energy in perfect tune with inspiration, skill, and talent.

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

A: I am on a limited budget, i, like every other musician, am poor. How can i afford your services? "We can figure it out, i'm not a monster."

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

A: Do your due diligence, find people you connect with at a human level, because music is an emotion captured in time. You want to make sure nobody is tainting your vibe. Ask questions, and overprepare.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: quietLOUD.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Musicality. The idea that the sound design should "interact with itself" just as much as the composition does.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Sauce. What are the ingredients of my sauce? Soulful, authentic instrumentation with rare, sought after equipment. Punch. Clarity. Sonic Density (if desired). A sense of significance. Probability/random chance based processing. Fast, efficient, thorough workflow. quietLOUD (if desired). a psychoacoustic space which places the listener WITHIN the song.

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

A: I take songwriters from an iPhone voice note to a completed viable production with professional level instrumentation, composition, and mix (if desired). I also have a setup capable of livestreaming sessions to any platform up to 1080p or recording video podcasts.