Mixer/Engineer/Producer

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid. Because there are advantages to both. Analog for sound and inspiration. Digital for efficiency and capability.

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

A: I mixed and mastered Buckwild's album "Fully Loaded". I got to mix some of my favorite artists including Raekwon, Meyhem Lauren, and Chuck Strangers which was very cool.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My own music, a few SoundBetter artists, and some secret projects.

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

A: Juan "Saucy" Pena is a great engineer that taught me a lot and has an extensive credit list. We have similar philosophies and techniques.

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

A: I'll do my best and help you find the sound you're looking for. It's worked so far haha.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: It is a great balance. The technicality aspect with procedural and scientific challenges. Also the creative aspect with artistic challenges.

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

A: Can I work with their budget and their timeline? and I usually can.

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

A: Looping is easy, mastering is wizardry.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Can I hear the music? What are you going for? Do you have a deadline? What is your budget?

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

A: Understand the basics of the process, focus on good communication, and don't try to undercut prices.

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

A: laptop (with sample libraries and all my software), headphones, Apollo, MPC Live, and a way to get power/wifi haha

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

A: I got a B.S. in Audio engineering and have been working in the NYC studio scene and making music ever since.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Dark, hard hitting, but also clean and hifi.

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

A: Kendrick Lamar because he is very creative and must be one of a kind to work with in the studio.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Do what feels right, there's a lot of imitation and over saturation in the music industry, it'll feel the best and be the easiest to make/do what you want to do.

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

A: hip hop: primarily Boom bap, Underground and sample based styles.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I feel my strongest skill is balance, I understand that the value of technicality, creativity and comfortability are all equally important when producing and mixing music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring years of technical training, honed in a high stress, high level pro studio environment combined with over a decade of production experience. The result is a professional, organized and experienced execution with a creative, specialized, and passionate creative outlook.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I think it is very important to be organized and it is an essential part of my workflow. I spend a lot of time organizing and prepping my mix sessions before I even get started with processing. I have a very developed template that I primarily build off of that can get me consistent results at a fast speed without sacrificing quality. It has also helped me develop "my sound".

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My home studio is a simple setup yet it is very effective. It is an acoustically treated "office" with some furniture my desk and a spare desk. My desk has my Avantone Mixcubes and Focal Alpha 80s. I use these in combination with Sennheiser HD650s to do the majority of my monitoring. I have an Apollo Twin quad core with UAD ultimate, Fabfilter everything bundle, Waves Mercury, Soundtoys 5, Valhalla All, and more. I use Protools 2019, Ableton Live, and occasionally Logic Pro X. I know my equipment very well and am able to continuously achieve the sound I'm looking for. In some situations I will work at larger Pro Studios in NYC primarily Downtown Music Studios. Downtown has amazing rooms and extensive gear lists that can be viewed on their website.

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

A: I'm inspired by many people from all mediums of art. In regards to music, MixedByAli and Eddie Sancho inspire my mixing, Alchemist and RZA inspire my production, and Black Thought and Kendrick Lamar inspire my overall creativity/artistry.

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

A: In the past I was primarily recording hip hop, and pop vocals in a pro studio setting. Lately I have been mixing numerous styles from my home studio, project studio, and pro studio depending on the budget.