Lucas Kellison on SoundBetter

Song sample on this page is my own so you can hear me sing/play/mix/master! I'm a music producer, engineer, and session player who has produced projects for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Leela James, Dead Prez, KS R&R HOF, MTV, VH1, the Travel Channel, NBC, Kia, and many more.

After spending a decade running one of the top grossing studios in the midwest, I decided to venture out where technology was taking all of us and build a mixing suite in my home.

My services include the following:

Editing, Mixing, and Mastering -- you can send me your pro tools sessions or individual wav files and expect a world class product with a quick turnaround time.

Music production -- whether it's beatmaking or taking a melody you've come up with and orchestrating music around it, I'm your guy.

Session work -- I can provide quality session work on bass, vocals, guitar (acoustic or electric), and keys. This also includes the hiring of specialists on other instruments I can personally record.

Songwriting -- I am happy to help with the writing or written collaboration of your music.

Arranging/notation -- I am musically literate and create charts you might need for a project.

Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.

Credits

6 Reviews

Endorse Lucas Kellison

by Meredith Toebben
Lucas was incredibly helpful to both my a cappella group and me personally as he produced/engineered both an album and a single for us. I was looking for a finished product that didn't sound over-edited and still sounded like our voices. Though I was a college student, Lucas was kind and professional, treating me as an equal and truly listening to what the group wanted. He more than followed through, while also giving guidance and suggestions when needed, bringing the tracks to the next level. There is no one I would have liked to work with more on a first album, or any project in the future.
by Andy Pappas
As an active singer/songwriter, I've recorded dozens of demos over the past 30 years. The best of these I would consider serviceable.

A few years ago, I started working with Lucas. He has the ear, the tools, the passion, the intelligence, and the friendship to turn my songs into works of art. Every track we've done together turns out bigger and better than it does in my head.

We are currently working on my first full length album, and we're having a blast!
by Lee
Top notch. Lucas has refined his approach to blend outboard and plug ins to deliver pro sounds. Equally important, he listens to my visions for songs, offers suggestions, and we arrive at a better performance and professional product. Trust him with your project. You’ll be glad you did.
by Haylee Bice
Just finished my first song on my next project with Lucas! I had a vision with this song and he completely captured that 100 percent! I highly reccomend to start a project with him he doesnt disappoint! Cant wait to see where this project takes me 🙂
by Brett Alan
I had the opportunity to record 2 full-length albums with Lucas. An audio engineer, like Lucas, is a translator. They translate a client's idea for a song into recorded sound. Lucas is a master at this and brings to the table so much of his own artistic talents and experience. He has a way of coaching and directing that will pull the best out of the artist. His toolbox is endless, if you can pitch it at him, he will find a way to make it happen. He has studio musicians from all genres available to him that he can bring in for sessions to make your musical vision a reality. ~ Brett Alan
by Jason Andrew Lefler
I had great recording sessions with Lucas.
My next recording session is with Lucas this month.
Lucas is encouraging, open to trying new musical approaches, and is a great collaborator, often offering ideas that I would’ve never come up with on my own. The intimidation I felt before the first session was quickly turned into excitement about what our sessions would produce.
I’d recommend anyone, whether a veteran musician or a beginner, to Lucas.

Interview with Lucas Kellison

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Honestly, I'm always proud of my most recent venture. I was really happy for a friend of mine named Jonathan Leach who is a great musician from my area. You can check out his song "Cabin Fever" on Spotify. He played keys/vocals, and I played the other instruments in addition to producing/recording/mixing/mastering the whole song.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm doing some work for George Clinton and Andrea Von Kampen in addition to tons of regional midwest artists.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: I'm brand new to this platform. Otherwise, I'm sure I would.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both! I use digital for editing/effect/automation because it's infinitely faster. I use high end analogue outboard gear because that sound simply cannot be replicated digitally. I have an advanced hybrid system that is ahead of the game so I don't have to ask these sorts of polarizing questions :)
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: My work is my advertising. We aren't done until it sounds amazing.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: My favorite professional feeling in the world is getting a message back from satisfied clients that my work has achieved and, in many cases, exceeded their vision.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: They ask me what I charge. I typically itemize those costs for them.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I don't know. I try to eliminate misconception by communicating well.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I would ask questions that try to get at the big picture of their project vision.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Have a decent understanding of what "sound" you are going for by being able to provide some reference songs from other artists I might be able to hear. This can save us a lot of time in our initial communication.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: I'm going to assume the island has electricity I can harness somehow, Franklin-style. 1. My mac. 2. My interface. 3. My SM7b 4. My MIDI controller (I don't MIDI is superior, but it is certainly more versatile than one instrument) 5. My headphones
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I was a touring musician fresh out of high school. I rotated as a bassist for some acts, a solo acoustic singer songwriter in the college circuit, and a singer for an a cappella group. I did my first session as a hired gun bassist at age 19, and I absolutely fell in love with the studio process. From there, I created a couple of local albums from a closet studio that ended up doing fairly well regionally. This allowed me to sublease a real commercial studio for a year before building my own in 2010. In 2019, I left the big studio world to build out a comfortable production suite in my house. Now, having earned my doctorate, I am a professor at a university and music producer/gigging musician as a dual career of sorts, and I love it.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I will not be outworked when it comes to the details of a client's project. Beyond hard work and good communication, I'll let others determine if I have a notable style.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Honestly, they all fascinate me, which is why I love doing this so much.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Don't fit someone into your sound. Instead, find out how they want their music to sound by asking specific questions and studying their influences.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I am bombarded with a wide variety of music. The last four records I produced, in order, were folk, funk, rock, and r&b/pop.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Relationships and clear communication with the client to ensure the client vision is fulfilled.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring whatever I possibly can to a song without getting in the way of its essence.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Assuming I am not the primary songwriter, the process begins with a song. I usually ask someone to send me a demo to begin building around. From there, it's pretty standard--record, edit, mix, master.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a hybrid setup in my home suite. I have every essential mic imaginable from years of running a huge facility. I have Universal Audio and Focusrite, a Mac with 64gig and a Terabyte, endless plugins acquired over a decade (and counting). My most often used stereo analogue compressors are my API 2500 and Manley Vari Mu. I also use a Kush stereo EQ for a lot of areas in mixing.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Production wise, I'm a huge Quincy Jones fan. As a literate musician who has legitimately worked as a session player and toured as a vocalist, Quincy inspired me to get on the production side of things and help artists achieve their creative visions. I've always liked how well Rick Rubin facilitates artists, whether it's Johnny Cash or Jay Z. I also enjoy Mark Ronson. My favorite engineer is probably Russ Elevado. He gets incredible sounds with analogue equipment, and is a big reason why my production and engineering is paired with analogue gear (I'm what one might call a "hybrid"). As for musicians, anything well done inspires me. I've produced opera, hard rock, and everything in between. I am capable of being inspired by all of it.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Most of my clients hire me as a producer and engineer. In other words, I take them from the start of the process--recording and arranging/consulting/any instrumentation necessary--through the editing, mixing, and final masters. This is all done with high end gear in my home suite.