Grammy Nominated Mixer

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

A: I grew up playing trombone, guitar, and bass. I really wanted to go to music school but got talked out of it. During my junior year of my business degree (accounting), while I was playing with local bands in college bars I decided I wanted to pursue my interest in recording. I started interning at a jingle house and was lucky enough to be able to afford a 16 track adat studio. I continued on assisting at a few studios in CT, learning as much as I could by watching engineers / producers, reading whatever I could get my hands on, recording with my personal gear and in the studios after hours. There was a book called the assistant engineers handbook, that was my bible. I made sure I knew how to align the tape machines, run recalls and automation on the SSL. I sat, listened, learned. I was invisible but essential, anticipate the sessions needs ahead of time, keeping the session going through food, coffee, and technical know how. That was what got me into the position to get my chance to engineer for clients. From there it was using my ears, my knowledge, and building experience to get to where I am today. I spent 5+ years at The Carriage House, years of freelance work in and around NYC before building my room. I realized I needed a place to edit and mix that didn't need to be booked in advance and rented for each client. Fast forward to now, I've expanded my creativity and skills beyond audio production into visual arts. Everyday there is something to learn, something to improve upon.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Just finished up mixes for Brian McNight's newest release.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I'm always thinking technical and creative. I'm able to listen and find the magic within the tracks and take it to the next level through my years of experience mixing. I see mixing as another step to connect the artist and the song to the audience. To connect the audience at an emotional level to the artists vision. Sometimes that means getting really creative with sounds and other times it means being as transparent as possible.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: The song is king. The production always needs to support that. Sometimes a simple arrangement is the best. Don't try to throw the whole kitchen sink into every production.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: The ability to take instruments that may not be the best recorded or sound a little sterile and create a sound for them that gives them flavor and excitement.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I typically speak with the client and listen to the rough mix to understand the technical and creative elements of the project. I will suggest any additional issues such as editing / timing / tuning that may need to be completed before starting the mix. After organizing the tracks and session, I make sure the tracks are cleaned up of any noises / clicks / pops / bad cross fades. I start the mix by building a strong foundation with the rhythm section, get the drums happening and the bass working with it. I like to get the lead vocal and other important elements into the mix early so I'm leaving room for the vocal to shine as I bring in the color and flavor of additional instrumentation and fx. Sometimes I will make decisions on parts that might need muting and how to enhance the arrangement of the song. As the mix takes shape I will start automating levels. In the past few years I have found time spent on automation to be one of final touches that can really make a song shine. I like to let the mix sit overnight (or even a day), return to it for any changes I feel are needed and then send off to the client for approval.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a mix / overdub room within a larger facility that can be utilized for live tracking, re-amping, video production, rehearsal rooms and more. My room is centered around protools with my favorite plugins and select pieces of outboard gear that allow me spend the time needed to craft a mix while being cost effective.