Music Producer, Songwriter

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: DAT HOT FIYA!!!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Because tubes are dope and I'm still not a bitter old dude whose mad that digital is the future of not only music but the world.

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

A: I suppose I am most proud of my #1 Billboard record "Rookie". Although it was outside of the styles I normally produce it still came out well and ended up being my most successful record to date getting over 60 million plays on youtube and spawning a viral dance cover video wave.

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

A: My friend and colleague Jackie's Boy who is a Grammy Winning Songwriter. I have worked on many a record with this man and his songwriting skills are something special you don't find everyday. And a great personality and character on top of all that talent. Always an honor to work with him.

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

A: My promise to every client that walks through my doors or email inbox is that I will provide you exactly what it is you are looking for IF you know what you are looking for. I make large promises. But only to those those who know what they want. I cannot make promises to blind men and gamblers.... although sometimes gamblers do win. lol. You never know what you going to get when pulling the slot wheel of music making.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: My best thing that comes with my job is the freedom that goes along with it.

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

A: How much do you charge per song? What is your vision for this song? What do you hope to gain or accomplish from releasing this song? How much does this project mean to you as a music artist?

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

A: I don't even know where to begin with a question like this. I believe there are enough misconceptions about not only my profession but the entire music and entertainment industry to fill a library of books.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision for yourself as a music artist? How do you want to be perceived by your audience? What moods / vibes / emotions are you aiming for with this project? Do you have any inspirations you could share that led you to this creative vision?

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

A: I would say the biggest piece of advice I can give to a potential customer is to try to have a clear vision on what you want to hire me to do. As a multi-genre record producer I can play a very hands on role in the creation process by going as far as writing lyrics and vocal melodys and producing the entire record for you from start to finish and simply recording your voice on it at the end. I can also take a more laid back role on the project and simply try to capture the vision and song you already have and give it it's best life. Or we can meet somewhere in he middle and work together on a shared vision. It can just be frustrating when an artist doesn't really know what they want and have no sense of self or the sound they are after and just wing it and expect me to guess what they want and figure out who they should be.

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

A: An acoustic guitar, a laptop, a solar powered battery, a portable wifi hotspot, a cell phone in a good enough case that hopefully prevented the water damage that would have happened in the plane crash or unfortunate boating accident that resulted in me being here the first place so I could use it to call someone to come get me the F#@& off this island!

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

A: I got my first guitar at age 11 and had composed an album and was touring America in my first band by age 14. I played in bands throughout high school and was lucky enough to open for some major artists and play to crowds of over 50k people and land a Fender guitar endorsement. During these years I spent alot of time in recording studios and began learning as much as possible about the craft from the producers and engineers I worked with. I moved to Hollywood in my early 20's to pursue music as a career and soon landed deals with a few companies to write songs and compose music for television where I have landed over 650 placements. Since then I have landed a #1 record on the Billboard World charts with Red Velvet and have since worked with artists like Sean Kingston, Mac Miller, French Montana, and many more.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Ain't nobody dope as me, I'm so fresh and so clean, clean

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

A: The artist in in the room I am currently working in. To me it's more about focusing on who or what I am working on at a given moment rather than wishing I could have the chance to work with some "dream artist" I am not currently in the room with.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Make every single sound in your mix and arrangement matter. If it doesn't add something special and give important character to the overall record and song... does it reallllly need to be there?

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

A: I tend to work mostly on mainstream sounding pop music and sub-genres of pop; Although I do love when I get to bust out the guitar for an epic metal shred solo!

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

A: Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Quincy Jones, Bruno Mars, Ryan Tedder, Diane Warren, Adam Levine, Jaycen Joshua, Dave Pensado, Jimi Hendrix, James Hetfield, Joe Satriani, Guthrie Govan, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is the 20 years of music theory and arrangement knowledge under my belt from being a professional musician and artist myself. Having gone from writing, recording, and touring in live bands in my years through high school to working on records for major artists as an adult I can confidently say that I have seen more sides of the industry than most and am able to put that knowledge to use when producing records for my clients.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Depending on your needs as an artist I can bring the entire record and creative vision to your song down to the single artwork, video concept, and wardrobe for your photoshoot.... or I can just simply help you add that missing "magic" puzzle piece to the vision you have already started working towards. Whether you need a captain and a ship or just need someone to make sure we get to land alive I got us covered.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When producing a full record from scratch I like to use the first day for talking with the artist and getting to know them a bit asking about influences and desired sound and end goals for the project. Once we get a shared vision to work towards we begin the writing process which is mostly focused on lyrics/melody/chords to tell your story. Once we get the songs top line and basic track arrangement down we are done for day one. The second day in the studio is your time to shine. We will focus on recording what will be your final vocal takes for the record. This can sometimes take the whole day so be prepared and rest up! From here you will need to wait for a first draft mix which will be sent to your email. Up to 3 additional mix edits are included with a song production. Once we agree on our final mx the song will go out to mastering and a final .WAV file of the record will sent to you along with instrumental and acapella versions of the song.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I am running an Apollo MKII w/ Neve 1073 into an AKG C-414 / Avantone CV-12 Pro Tools 12, Logic X, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Komplete, REFX Nexus II, Omnisphere 2, Waves, Soundtoys, Auto-Tune, Melodyne, Vocalign Pro and much much more.

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

A: Executive producing / co-writing / composing / and recording a full record from the first steps of lyric and vocal melody writing and chord progressions until the final arrangement, recording, mix and master.