Lyricist, TopLiner, Songwriter

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

A: At the moment it would have to be the song I just mentioned because it’s extremely relevant, very relatable and only took one day to write. Given the current climate around the world and the “Black Lives Matter” protests, I’m certain millions of people will be able to relate to this song.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment, I’ve just completed all the writing for a new song titled: “Close But No Cigar” which deals with prejudice, racism and the hundreds of micro-aggressions faced by anyone who isn't white or straight in America. We are starting the production on it now.

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

A: There are three incredible people that I know on SoundBetter who I would recommend to my clients and they are Singer: Clayton Jones; Producer: Killian Cruiser; and Producer; Skyler Kilborn.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Everything I use is digital. I love modern things and I’m a bit of a tech geek. The amount of musical, digital resources out there is practically unlimited; while analogue equipment is slower, fraught with limitations and largely. Unaffordable.

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

A: I think that the biggest promise to my client is the same that everyone should make to theirs, “Your satisfaction is not limited to a finite number of edits.” After 3-4 edits, there may likely be more fees involved for the extensive time put into it, but I’ll take a customer who had to wait longer for a great product over an unfulfilled order and a unsatisfied customer any day!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I really love seeing it all come together after all pieces have been mixed down in the studio by the engineer. I’ve written enough songs to watch a few of them go flat somewhere between initial conceptualization, vocal interpretation, production and the final mix. Each song has multiple opportunities to go sideways. It’s really wonderful when that doesn’t happen!

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

A: Common question: “Does their payment include copyrights?” Answer: Absolutely not! Once lyrics or another vital part of the core song is conceptualized and confirmed as a part of the song, that bit of artistry is can potentially result in millions of dollars in revenue through copyrights, licensing and publishing royalties. It’s not just something that you can purchase for a few hundred dollars. Your payment initiates the creation of a custom song, written within the parameters that you establish beforehand. You also get to be the first artist to present it to the world in promotion of yourself, your talent and the rest of your music. But the valuable copyrights and publishing rights are not surrendered to you for the few hundred dollars that you paid to get the song written.

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

A: One of the biggest misconceptions about songwriting is when people who think that a song which perfectly rhyming and well-fitting lyrics are fairly easy for someone to write once the overall idea is conceptualized. Nothing can be further from the truth. Some of the seemingly simplest songs to sing endured multiple drafts to reach their final easy to sing stage.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: My questions would be: a. Is the song for a solo artist, duo, group or film production? b. What is the genre? c. What is the tempo? d. What is the subject matter? e. Will the song be used as part of an album package? f. If so, where can I hear some of the other material to best insure a cohesiveness? g. How fast might you like the tempo? h. Is there a specific key or range you prefer?

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

A: My best impartial advice is to be certain to hire someone who is as passionate about your project as you. Music is something that if done correctly, invokes strong feelings and emotions. Doing a project like this simply for pay is simply doing a lot of people an injustice while getting paid.

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

A: Well I’d definitely need a generator for electricity, my computer, mic and a cell phone.

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

A: I started writing songs back in the mid-90’s, just before getting signed to a record label as part of a singing duo called “The Clue”. Although that venture didn’t have the best results, I continued to write for a few film producers I knew, spent an extensive amount of time in recording studios working on personal projects. By the year 2002, I had moved on to other things and sat music aside for a while. Now in early 2020, I’ve jumped back in with a strong passion to write my best material yet?

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is not so easily defined due to the multiple genres for which I write. When I hear instrumentation that I like, the vocal melody and lyrics I create are conceptualized to closely fit the instrumental part of the song. Since the instrumental tracks are all unique, the writing style changes.

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

A: If I had a chance, I’d love to work with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. He is a multi-talented musician and lyricist with the ability to write music for multiple genres and the results are always astonishing. I would love an opportunity to experience the development process with him.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One of the smartest ways to transition into a chorus is by making whatever comes before it, slightly smaller (lighter in production) rather than overloading the chorus with instrumentation to make it big.

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

A: The vast majority of my work is split between pop and R&B. That’s followed by dance (house music) and then custom songs for films.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is my ability to write meaningful lyrics that aren’t simple rhymes for “rhyme sake”, in conjunction with smart vocal melodies that accompany the lyrics.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Having been a signed artist, I bring the knowledge, training and critiques I received from a professional artist development team and the producers I’ve worked with in the past; in addition to the growth and fine-tuning I have over the several years.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Every project starts with a gathering of all pertinent information to ensure that the results will be extremely relevant to the artist or film project for which it’s created. If the song is to be created about a specific subject, I collect as much information about the subject as possible before writing lyrics. For me, lyrics and top line melody come together simultaneously. This is my way of ensuring each phrase is singable.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I own a simple but powerful home songwriting studio which includes a Yamaha electric piano, two AKG microphones, two professional recording Sony studio headsets, a powerful new iMac 27” and Pro Tools with nearly 4,000 instruments through various plugins.

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

A: John Mayer, Sting, Alicia Keys, Prince, Ryan Tedder

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

A: Most of my work is a 50/50 split between writing complete songs for artists and writing vocal melodies and lyrics for clients who only have song instrumentation. I absolutely love doing both.