Recording | Mixing | Editing

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm working on a couple different podcasts (True Wisdom (truewisdom.buzzsprout.com), and What's the Message (on Facebook @Message1898), a mixing portfolio, and a production portfolio, as well as with various clients in the live space.

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

A: A custom built computer (with an exorbitant amount of ram/processing power), Adam Audio A8H's, the Presonus FaderPort 16, top tier room treatment, and solar panels.

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

A: My career path has been very straight forward. I was practically born in a studio, and I haven't left since. I've been in production in various aspects since I was a child and have been able to monetize my skills and experience in the four years I've been out of Highschool.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Because of projects I've been working on recently, I really have gotten into a "Clarity above all else" kind of mind space. I really want the listener to come out of listening to my mix thinking, "Wow, I heard every element clear as day!"

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I generally accept that there are no rules in this industry. If you make an adjustment and it looks crazy but sounds incredible than that's the right answer.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My experience has taught me to put my pride/ego aside, so besides technical know-how I bring the desire to do whatever is necessary to allow the artists on a given track to shine.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: While my setup is consistently expanding I currently work off of: my PC custom built for audio production, an Audient Evo 8 Interface, JBL MKII 305P studio monitors, AKG K 240 MKII and Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO headphones, and Presonus Studio One with the FaderPort 8.

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

A: While I do much more than audio in the production world sound is my passion; I frequently provide live audio support for churches, mix and edit podcasts, multi track record services, and mix music.

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

A: I've made a song with Eli Aura (ig: @auraboy) named The Spectrum (on his Lovebearer ep) that I'm particularly proud of because it's the first project we worked on. I've also recently been working on What's the Message, a podcast with Message Magazines (fb: @message1898) that I record and edit. I'm proud of it because I think it's a great podcast, and I love the people I work with on it.

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

A: I don't at the moment know anybody on SoundBetter, so can I recommend myself...

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Whichever is available. Equipment is only as good as the person using it (so if both are available, whichever is the most familiar).

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

A: I have two promises. Promise number one is I'll be as flexible as possible, and promise number two is I won't get in your way.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I get paid to push buttons. This is great.

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

A: I often get a variation of, "but you're so young, how could you know how to [insert job here]?" My answer is usually "I spend as much time as possible learning about [insert job here], because it's what I love," although sometime I do just use the basic "I've been doing it all my life."

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

A: My ability is often prejudged because I look (and am) young. Thankfully my work speaks for itself, and clients (and even the people I work with) consistently praise the level of my work after seeing me in action.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I ask a lot of question because I want to see the visions through the clients eyes. The main questions I ask are: "what specifically do you want (basic mix, vocal comp + mix, mix + master, etc.)", "what are 3 tracks similar to what you're looking for", "how long is the project", "how long is your expected time frame", "how/where/by whom was this recorded", and of course "what's your budget", and "how would you like to pay (up front, how much up front, in arrears, etc)"? Then, I may ask follow up questions depending on the answers.

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

A: There are thousands of people out there with comparable levels of skill, but your not going to like all of them the same; go with someone you'll like, and favorable results will most likely follow.

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

A: I'd like to work with Xavier Omär, because I think I'd be able to elevate his music in a way that allows me to flex my mixing muscles without stepping on his toes, but instead allowing him to shine as well.

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

A: Gospel, Hip Hop, and R&B.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I work hard. I don't like to think that there are people working harder than me, so that pushes me to work harder everyday.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I start mixing early in the morning because that's usually when my ears are the most fresh. My afternoons are spent on beat making and production, and I use my nights on preparing sessions to mix the next day. I use the few moments before going to sleep on learning new skills/reading up on mixing, as well as catching up on recent news in the audio world (reading before falling asleep is supposed to help the material to stay on your mind, so it's there when you wake up the next morning making it easier to recall throughout the day).