Analog Mixing/Production/

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

A: I just finished mixing 54-40 Live At The El Mocambo. They are a very famous Canadian band celebrating their 40’th anniversary, (for my US friends they wrote the song “I Go Blind”, made famous by Hootie and the Blowfish. It was a huge challenge mixing a live show with my standards of clarity and fidelity. I wrote a feature article about the process for Professional Sound Magazine for their June 2022 edition!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A song for a band in Toronto. Very grunge, the drummer is from a pretty well known stoner rock band and it sounds awesome. I’m contemplating mixing the drums in mono because I have one room and one OH mic. I love mono drums ✨

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

A: I’m new here and can’t even find myself on here. I’ll keep lookin around and update.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog! Because I’ve invested too much into gear to allow myself to think that I could do it all in the box with plugins! 😉

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

A: I do as I say, I take absolute accountability for what I do and I promise to exceed your expectations.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Exceeding the clients expectations

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

A: Can I have it good, cheap and fast! My answer is pick two of the three.

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

A: No idea

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your goals for the music? Who is the point person? Who is paying? And is that person the point person? So often I get endless advice from the wrong person and the one that is actually funding the project is inexplicably laying low. Chaos ensues! Know who’s who in the zoo!

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

A: Find someone who’s work you really like, speak to them and see if you vibe with them. Chemistry is so important. Also make sure they can handle criticism. That is essential!

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

A: A guitar, a mic, a 4 track and a reverb.

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

A: I was a touring guitarist with major label bands and had been recording my own music since I was in my early 20’s. I had Pro Tools early on so I could record and mix at home. Eventually I was hired by bands to produce and mix their records which I really liked. I also spent about 17 years as a lead guitarist and singer with Classic Albums Live performing Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors and The Beatles albums at theatre all over North America. I basically studied the production of those records while learning them to perform. Through this time I also wrote many songs for film and TV as well as theme songs for brands such as Honda and Mattel’s Hot Wheels. Eventually I started a studio with Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin) who had produced a couple of albums for me. I acted as an assistant and co-mixer which lasted about 5 years. After this I spent several years as the head of production at the legendary El Mocambo studios in Toronto before relocating to Tennessee. I’m total it’s been about 30 years of performing and 20 years of mixing and producing.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Adaptive

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

A: For mixing, Chris Stapleton,, his records sound incredible, big, warm, full and punchy. They are masterfully produced. He blends country, Americana with rock and blues so perfectly. For producing and mixing I’d love to work with The Cure and make a gothic, moody, psychedelic modern masterpiece! They have all of the elements of the 80’s and 90’s that I love.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Look for happy accidents that often lead to amazing things. (Phil Collins drum fill sound from the talkback mic, the coning effect on the guitar in Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy….. great mistakes

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

A: I mostly work on rock of all types. Classic, psychedelic, metal, pop. I also really like working on country and americana. I also have been doing beats and mixing for trap and drill artists as well. I’ve also written/performed and produced over 30 songs for Sir George Martin’s Grandmaster Music (Extreme) for film and TV recreating the vibe of the 60’s, 70’s and 90’s.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Being a former recording artist myself and deeply understanding the clients point of view when getting songs produced or mixed. I strive to be very respectful of their ideas and creative input. I usually never say no to trying something in a mix as well.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My aim is to bring the best out of what I was given and make a song have as much emotion impact as possible. Each artist has their own voice and sound and I want to help them discover that. I have no blanket approach to mixing. I do however love the low end and impact of modern mixes and love the depth and clarity that comes with mixing on my console.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually start by being my own assistant and cleaning everything up, sometimes clicks and pops, tuning, too much ambiance on a vocal etc.. then I may choose some samples to work with on Kicks and Snares, not every time. After everything is layer out on the console I start with the drums, compression and EQ, removing unwanted frequent and back buss compression. After that I will often create drum ambiance of the kit needs it. From there I’ll go onto the bass, guitars, extra instruments and vocals, adding EQ, compression, effects, notching out frequencies. I’ll bring the faders down at this point and then start again with everything ready to go. I spend a lot of time making sure the gain staging is correct and nothing is distorting digitally or on the consoles mix bus.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is a Neve Genesys 64 channel console loaded with 1084 and 88R EQ’s. I have ATC SCM 50 pro speakers and some Auratone’s. I have a rack of vintage and new gear that I’ve been collecting for years. Lots of vintage Neve eq’s and compressors , Teletronix LA2A’s and old URIE 1176’s. I also have a lot of reverbs, multiple Bricasti’s, Lexicon 480L, spring reverbs and an original stereo EMT 140 plate. For mics I have a vintage Neumann U47, Neumann U67 on hand for mostly vocals. My DAW is 2 Pro Tools HDX cards and have a great collection of plugins. All the UAD, Waves, Plugin Alliance, Izotope RX8, Native Instruments Komplete 13 Ultimate Collectors Edition and many others. I have two tape machines, an ATR 102 4 track for mixes as well as an Otari for slap on vocals or guitars.

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

A: I’m very inspired by certain producers and engineers. I’ve had the opportunity to do a Mix With The Masters with Tchad Blake (The Black Keys) and I learned so much from him. I’m also a huge fan of Tom Elmhirst who mixes at Electric Lady Studios. For pure creativity it would have to be Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, MGMT).

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

A: I receive files and vocals from the band or producer and prepare them for mixing. In most cases I also tune the vocals which for me is very time consuming because I am meticulous about not loosing the natural feel and emotion. Once payed out on the console I will spend several hours getting mix to a place where I’m ready to show the client. I use Audio Movers so they can take a feed off of my console at home and we can go over things in real time. More often than not revisions aren’t needed since they are part of the process. I also offer printing the mix from the console to tape as an option for mastering.