Electro-acoustic film composer

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

A: That it's easy. Creating a hit song or amazing mix is based on years of practice and skill and requires effort to do properly, without a doubt.

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

A: Independent artist Kenny Wesley. I produced, mixed, played guitar and bass (and other instruments), and co-wrote the entire album. I'm proud of it because it's a very original-sounding project that melds soul, funk, pop, and creative rock, yet manages to sound like a big pop album at the same time, with some of the coolest guitar work I've done.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: A lifetime of doing music ranging from bleeding hard rock to be-bop to gospel to pop to almost everything in between. Mix-wise I bring an impactful pro sound, making sure it's always musically best for the song. Guitar and bass-wise people often have me re-cut the guitar and bass tracks or add new ones to a song I'm mixing for them, and I bring musicality and a strong groove, whether that be a stripped-down garage rock song, a lush atmospheric track, or a D'Angelo-inspired soul slam -- a unique groove is in every type of music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My desire to always make anything I do the best it possibly can be, with as original a flair as it can possibly have.

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

A: In the past few years I've been doing a lot of rock, pop/rock, indie, and modern urban/soul.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: There's a place for both. One is not better than the other, and you can make the highest level music with either. Vibe-wise, analog has more unique character and a certain undefinable joy that's impossible to get with digital, but digital has much more flexibility, and you can get even more creative due to that.

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

A: I promise to listen intently to what their vision is and to do my best to get them there. Also to give them a piece of the flavor, originality and experience that I have.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to start by getting as many details from the client as I can, and learning where they're coming from and what their vision is. If I'm mixing I like to check out a rough mix and move from there -- there are no rules when it comes to mixing, and the best mixes start in a variety of ways. If I'm playing guitar or bass I like to experiment with sounds as I'm coming up with parts, be it a dry, cranked Bogner, or a plug-in to create a unique texture. That will influence what I'm writing and how I'm coming up with it, then I'll add elements as needed.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Unique and large. I always try to bring an interesting texture, feel, and sound to whatever I'm doing along, whether it be a guitar or bass part, a mix, or a production, with an edge that applies to all sounds from aggressive to ambient.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm working with The Artizonals on new songs.

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

A: I mix records and produce & write songs (including playing guitar and bass and other instruments, and programming) in a variety of genres, most often rock, pop, urban/soul, and indie.

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

A: Seal, Radiohead, Todd Rundgren, Muse, Jessie J, Sly and the Family Stone, Peter Gabriel, Prince, Alison Krauss, Jimi Hendrix, King's X, The Beatles, Trevor Horn, Bruno Mars, George Martin, Abe Laboriel Jr., Max Martin, D'Angelo, The Police, Stargate...

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

A: My Mac Pro w/Cubase, Detemple Strat, G&L ASAT Bass, Amphion One18 monitors, and '69 Fender Princeton.

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

A: My dad was a famous classical oboist, but I of course rebelled and went down the guitar and drums path from an early age. I built my music sensibilities by playing and writing in rock, pop and funk bands from grade school on, and ended up at Berklee College of Music where I got a B.A. in music production and engineering. Upon arriving right after that in L.A. I quickly got into writing music for television, which also enabled me to spend a lot of time producing, writing, and mixing records and artists. Currently I have a full studio in Santa Monica from where I do all of my work, and I'm also a member of the production team The Artizonals.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: A Mac Pro running Cubase/Nuendo (and Pro Tools if needed) with a 2nd Gen. UAD Apollo 8 and tons of plug-ins running through a Dangerous ST into Amphion One18 and Pelonis Model 42 monitors. I also use Neve 1073, Uad 2-610 and Avalon M5 mic pres and a Drawmer 1979 compressor. Guitar and bass-wise my main choices are a Detemple Strat, G&L S-500 and ASAT, Les Paul Class 5 Les Paul, Collings Dreadnought, Dingwall Super J bass and Fender '68 P-bass. Amp-wise I favor my '69 Fender Princeton and my Bogner Goldfinger amp and cab.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The fact that I get to do soul-satisfying creative work for a living!