Modern Pop, Indie Bassist

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

A: I promise to put my all into your song and to not stop going until you are happy with what I have sent you!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: The main thing I would like to know is who/what has inspired you for the song you are asking me to record on. This can be reference tracks but it could also be much more just certain artists. This helps me however it is by no means mandatory.

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

A: As a kid my parents bought me an acoustic drum kit, which I loved and played well into my teens. Then around 14 years old I switched to bass. After finishing high school I attended the Berklee 5 week course, continuing my studies at a Berklee partner school in Canada (Holland College) the year after. I then moved to Berlin (where I am still based) and finished my degree in Professional Musicianship from BIMM Berlin in 2023.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I generally have a light and fluid touch on bass, working very well with smooth tones. However I can also switch it up through for example my pick playing, which is much more aggressive.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I think I've learned over the years to quickly identify what a song needs and how to fill that in with the bass. In the end the main goal of most instrumentation on modern songs is to help convey the message put forward by the vocals, sometimes this means that the bass line should be kept incredibly simple and sometimes this means you can take more freedom to play. But being able to distinguish exactly where to stay simple and where to go out is key.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Firstly I listen to the full song, making a lead sheet and writing down important notes while listening. After this I usually immediately dive in with my bass, starting to form multiple holistic concepts and ironing them out. Once I've done this I will start recording proper takes, usually taking 3-4 takes before I have everything. After that I comp together the best bits (in my opinion) from each take for your convenience, however you will of course receive the individual takes as well.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I record from the comfort of my home. The basses I have are Fender Precision 1981, Lakland DJ4, Fender Starcaster and Yamaha BB735A. I run these through a Cali76 Bass compressor, into many possible effects such as Darkglass Vintage overdrive, EHX POG, Big Muff Pi and finally into a Aguilar Tone Hammer preamp.

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

A: My two favourite bassists of all time are Pino Palladino and James Jamerson. Apart from those some bassists I really like are Patrick Paige II, Leland Sklar and Sean Hurley. Artists that I've been massively enjoying lately include but are not limited to Clairo, Men I Trust, St. Vincent, Billie Eilish, Kali Uchis, Yebba, Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Dean.

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

A: I generally work in the pop, rock and RnB genres. I grew up listening to a lot of rock, especially indie-rock, music and as I grew up and became more interested in pursuing music branched out into many RnB artists. For me personally both of these 'worlds' as different as they are fulfill me in very different ways and I massively enjoy both.