Producer/Guitarist/Vocalist

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

A: The first demo I ever made. I was 13 years old and completely self taught, working with crude instruments in crude environments. It was the beginning of everything for me and forever shaped the rest of my life. I wrote, performed, engineered, produced and mixed directly to cassette tape. It was one of the greatest feelings to bring my ideas to life and to be able to share that with the world. I think I've been chasing that feeling ever since.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Just finished producing and mixing a new original (Runner) for my group, Lets Tokyo. Next I'm producing an acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" for SiriusXM.

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

A: Tim Latham - https://soundbetter.com/profiles/2652-tim-latham A mixing legend. Tim has worked with everyone from Tribe Called Quest to Brittany Spears and most recently won a grammy for mixing the Hamilton: An American Musical Soundtrack. Tim has been a mentor to me for a decade and mixed my debut solo EP a few years back. I highly recommend Tim for your premier mixing needs.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Can't do it. Both are beautiful and serve their purposes. At heart, I love the feel of analog and using my hands in a way that's intuitive and fully interactive, but on a day to day basis, I'm mostly working in the digital realm for its flexibility and speed. My ideal workflow is a hybrid design that gives the best of both worlds.

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

A: To not compromise anything when it comes to producing your work and to give every project 100% of my ability.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Listening to a mastered final mix for the first time on my shitty apple earbuds after weeks of hard work. Also collaborating with new people and continuously challenging myself to grow and improve.

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

A: Them: "Can we turn the volume up?" Me: "No." Monitoring music really loud is like not wearing a condom but hoping you don't get someone pregnant. Yeah, it feels really good, but if the result you want is quality, let's save our ears and listen at a level that's conducive to producing those results.

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

A: I think people are too quick to judge each other based on petty things like numbers. From a purely creative viewpoint, I think it's lame to be too concerned with how many followers someone has, or how many plays they have. The focus should be more: "Does this persons music resonate with me?" Some of my favorite up and coming artists are "nobodies" but as a culture we put a damaging emphasis on popularity and trends. I want to work with people that feel connected to my craft and resonate with me on a deeper level, not just as someone that will help them get more exposure and name drop recognition.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: * Who are your influences? (legacy artists and current) * What else inspires you in life? * What is your vision?

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

A: Reach out and communicate. All the clever bios, fancy pictures, big name credits, beautifully articulated faux interview questions in the world won't translate to real chemistry. Have a two way conversation with someone and then you'll know if that person is right for you and your project.

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

A: If I'm on a desert island, chances are my main concern is with surviving and trying to get rescued, so I'm bringing a LifeStraw, flint & steel, fishing net, knife and a satellite phone. If we're pretending this desert island has shelter and power and I'm there to work on music, then I'm bringing a Mac Book Pro (fully loaded with UA, Native Instruments, Softube, Soundtoys etc., Godin A6 Ultra Figured Koa, Universal Audio Apollo Twin X, Neumann U87 and Senheisser HD 600 headphones.

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

A: I've been teaching myself music for 29 years. I started playing guitar, composing and singing when I was just 4 years old. My father is a guitarist and collector of instruments, and I used to watch him play for hours. I was inspired at a very young age and began experimenting on my own with any instrument I could get my hands on. At age 13, I was introduced to multi-track recording via an old Tascam 4 track that a friend of mine owned. I became obsessed with recording technology and producing and spent the next twenty years dedicated to advancing my passion for it. At the age of 16, I opened my first studio in my home town and began taking clients of all genres. By the time I had graduated high school, I had worked with over 50 artists in my region, and written and produced nearly 200 of my own songs. The following fall, I continued my education at McNally Smith College of Music, and then later SUNY Oneonta where I majored in Music Production and Engineering and minored in Music Business. Since college, I've spent the last 10 years continuing to explore and polish my skills. Lately, I've been going back and revisiting fundamentals and finding tremendous joy and the never ending pursuit of mastery. There's always something new to learn (or re-learn) and I'm excited to continue my studied at my new production studio facility in Brooklyn, Make Life Studio.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Genre Fluid

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

A: No one specific. For me it's about musical chemistry, not just a name brand or hot credit. I just want to continue creating with people who inspire me to be better, not just with my craft, but also as a person.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Keep your listener engaged and invested in the song, but don't overdue it. Leave room for the vocals to breath and shine and don't let that "cool synth line" or any production sparkles distract from where the focus should be.

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

A: Alternative/Pop/Electronic, but I have tremendous experiencing working with everything from Metal to Hip-Hop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Working with people to bring out their best. All my early experience and training was actually working with bands in person. "Production" for many these days is creating a finished track around a top line, but for me, it's about helping an artist deliver the best performance possible and maybe even inspiring a new way of approaching a song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Nearly 30 years of experience, passion and plenty of creative vision.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I am extremely systematic with my process. Everything happens in its right time and no step gets rushed or overlooked. I start with my tracks very dry and unprocessed and do all my editing this way before I even begin to mix or color things in. For me it's a MUST that my sessions are clean, well labeled and organized and I aim to get the sound right going in.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Make Life Studio was designed with the modern producer in mind. The space is lush and vibey and tastefully equipped with powerful industry essentials for an optimized workflow. For me as a creative, mood is so important to the process and I wanted to design a space that felt less like a techy dude den, and more like a magical hideaway.

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

A: George Martin, Quincy Jones, Nigel Godrich, Nineteen85, Imogen Heap, Bjork, Jacob Collier

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

A: Fully produced songs, mixed and mastered and ready for release.