Songwriter, Mixing, Video FX

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

A: I ended up mixing an artist's (and a friend of mine) songs back in mid to late 2020. He sent a rough draft of the mix back to his label, and they specifically commented on the mix, saying that "whoever did it, they did phenomenal work". I was very pleased and excited to hear this news!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently, I am working on a project of my own, a voice acting gig, and a couple of my artist friend's songs. I always try to stay busy so I can keep my skill set sharp.

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

A: Honestly, I am fairly new to SoundBetter, so sadly I do not yet have recommendations. But I will search around!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Mainly digital, I am still building up my analog. I only have one analog gear, and that is a channel strip so far. But as for digital, I feel I have more diversity with character. Especially with emulators

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

A: My promise to get the vision of your song to reality. I want to deliver the best quality I can to you in the shortest amount of time so you can get it in your hands quickly.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I like and get to meet different people, along with hearing all kinds of different music. I like the connections

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

A: Most times, it's only to ask me if I am an artist myself. And I reply, "yes I am". After that, I tell them that I mix and master my own music, and then potential customers will ask me to mix and master their songs. Most times, I accept. Some occasions would be to be asked to mix a song from a different genre I do not know much about, such as EDM.

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

A: Most think being an engineer/artist is easy work when in actuality, it's not. Sometimes, I would put in over 60 hours in a week just working on a couple of songs. Not only that, but an artist still has to brand themselves, market themselves, figure out their funding and budget, network and make connections, etc. As for mixing and mastering, it can be fairly difficult sometimes to find out how exactly an artist wants their music to sound like.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Who do others say you sound like (artist wise)? Are you melodic, or are you a hard lyrical rapper? How would you want your songs to sound? Send me a reference, These are only some of the questions I would ask

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

A: My advice is first let me hear the track that you want to be done. I also strongly advise to send me a WAV file as well for mixing and/or mastering for higher quality. But most of all, I really want to know how you want your song to sound, so I can try my best to bring it to life for you.

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

A: A Nuemann TLM 102, and Apollo DUO, my computer and monitors (of course), my ableton push, and my ES8s.

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

A: I used to be a flooring manager but eventually left for music full time. I've always been musically inclined, I've been doing music since I was 5 years old. Started off as a drummer. After I went to school for business, I later tried to figure out putting business with music. Still learning, but making great progress

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I prefer to be melodic, so I make more music geared towards melodies. When I hear a track, the first thing that comes to my mind are melodies, so that's what I focus on. Every now and then, I would not mind seriously rapping on a song though

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

A: I would really like to work with Lil Uzi, Roddy Ricch, Russ, and Kendrick as a start. Lil Uzi and Roddy for their melodic flow, Kendrick for his lyricsism and dynamic flows, and Russ for both melodics and genuine information and insights to gain from him.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: My advice is to do as much in the mixing phase as you can. If you have a lyric in a verse that's bothering you, change it. If you don't like the reverb and delays, change it. If you don't have your stems balanced, do it. There's nothing worse than taking it all into the mastering phase, and then having to go back into the mixing session to change something small that you've been second guessing the whole time.

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

A: I mainly work on hip-hop genre songs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I would say my strongest skill is to be a second ear and a helping hand. I can advise another on melodic vocals, or making a hook or the entire song melodic in general.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I try to bring life into a song. Whether it be vocal compression to keep the vocals clean and clear surrounding the instrumentation or adding delays and reverb to vocals in order to make the track feel atmospheric. I try to bring the sound you want from your song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I have 2 separate work processes, one as an artist, and one as an engineer. As an artist, I would first hear an instrumentation, and then record a freestly to it. After that, I would then write in my lyics, while taking some lyrics and melodies out. And then record the official song... After all this, I would then go into my engineer side. I would apply Autotune where it's needed, Melodyne where it's needed, etc. I will also put in and take out delays, reverb, compressio0n, and more to a point where it sits right with my own ears. After this, I will then send a wave file over towards some trusted engineers and peers to see how it sounds to them. I will also submit the track to a couple of feedback streams. Furthermore, I will do a sound test. I will test the track and quality on my Presonus, my ES8s, my phone, my normal Apple headphones, my studio headphones, and on my car stereo system. When all of those separate systems check out, I will then move on further with the song, or keep it as a backup for another release. I also use dynamic metered plugins for DSPs (to test how my track may sound on Spotify, Itubes, Tidal, etc).

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a Neumann TLM 102, a Voice Art Channel, both Presonus and ES8 speakers for balancing and tuning, an Apollo DUO, an Ableton Push for my beats creation, and a 3 monitor setup for my workstation. I mainly use both Pro Tools and Ableton 10.

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

A: Mainly Kendrick Lamar, Tech N9NE, Lil Uzi Vert, Eminem...just to name a few. As for musical productions, I really do like J. White and Mike Will Made It beats. I would say they all inspire me to make the music I make.

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

A: I mainly do Hip-Hop songs. Everything from autotune to vocal pitching, or even giving a track that "atmosphere". You tell me how you want it, and I will try my best to bring your vision into reality,.