Producer & Session Guitarist

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

A: I have been playing guitar for about 17 years and have been working professionally for 10. I moved to L.A after high school and started working as a session guitarist, which eventually led me in to touring and working as a musical director as well. Then I began working as a producer, which is what I currently do the most.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Caring. I care so much about the music I make and artists I work with that I always go the extra mile for them, no matter what. I want to make sure that at the end of they day, they're super stoked about the music you're making. Sometimes, that takes trying multiple paths to see which one works, or tweaking sounds till it feels right. It can be an extensive process, but always worth it in the end.

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

A: Staley’s debut album “One Of One” was recently released and I had a pleasure of working on a few of the songs. Starley and I started working together a few years ago when her breakthrough hit “Call On Me” was released. I started playing guitar for her live shows and tours, and eventually became her Music Director and then began to work with her in the studio. I witnessed these songs be “born”, and was involved in many of them. We got to play them live all over the world and I watched them grow an morph in to the incredible songs they are today. And through these years we all grew as people and went through so much. I’m extremely proud of this and humbled that I got to work on it.

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

A: I think the biggest misconception is that producing is just making beats, especially nowadays. When I produce, I like to really go deep with the artist and elevate them creatively. My goal is not just to have a great song, but for them to grow as an artist and as a person. But hey, if they just want a beat, that's cool too. Its all about serving the artist at the end of the day

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

A: Have clear goals for your project. I find that I'm usually able to help them more if they have a clear vision of that.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I’m not sure I have a personal style because my main job as a producer is to make the artist's vision and style come to life. But I sure do love me some gang vocals, cool synths and huge reverb guitars. I'm always stoked when I get to put those in a song.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. I love having a combination of both. They give you so many different options and variations to work with

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

A: Yes: Ginny Luke. She's a phenomenal singer, violinist and artist.

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

A: Question: "Can I get some more lead vocal in my headphone?" Answer: "Yes"

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I ask a good number of questions. For me, its important to know not only their creative ideas but also their business related goals, because they tend to influence each other. I dive in deep to both of those subjects so I can understand them in the best way possible and make sure we're a good fir to work together

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

A: My laptop, interface, hard drive, guitar and MIDI controller.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Everything! I have the best job in the world

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

A: There are so many but Frank Ocean, Maggie Rogers, Phantogram, K Flay and Passion Pit are on the top of that list.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Use your ears. At the end of the day, the gear, plug ins, tips and tricks etc don't matter. Just use your ears- if it sounds good, it IS good.

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

A: I mostly work on indie pop, alt pop, rock and alt rock. But throughout my career I’ve had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of artists in multiple genres such as Trap, Pop, Metal, Bossa Nova, Soul, R&B and Persian Pop.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring my taste and years of experience working with artists from multiple genres all over the world.

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

A: Production and session guitar

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

A: I'm inspired by artists like Frank Ocean, Sia, Passion Pit, K.Flay, Borns, Tame Impala, The 1975 and Foster The People & producers like Greg Kurstin, Tommy English, Malay, Rick Rubin, JT Daly, Ricky Reed and many others.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It honestly varies depending on the song or project I'm working on. But no matter what I'm doing, I always try to be in the moment and reacting to the artist or song in front of me, rather than thinking too much. That tends to get the best results

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I like to keep a clean and effective set up. All of my gear is always on plugged in, which allows for maximum creativity. I try to keep everything in top shape, especially my computer so there's never any CPU issues. At the end, of the day you can have the best gear in the world, but if it doesn't work properly or hinders your creativity, the its useless. I always like to have cool lights, candles and art in the studio to keep a cool vibe going at all times.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently working on a few different projects, both with artists in L.A and remotely. I can't divulge a lot of details just yet, but I'm very excited to be a part of these projects and look forward to them being out in the world soon.

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

A: I promise to listen and work with you to bring your artistic vision to life.