Producer/Session Guitarist

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A solo album of original electronic dub music for a Spanish label called Nutek, as well as various tracks for a few different singers.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: This is a question that literally doesn't matter. I make some of my own musical equipment, and in a real, practical sense it doesn't matter. It's like asking "t-shirt or sweater?", depends on the weather! Analog has its up and downsides, as does digital, so I use both for what they're best at. Not a single listener is going to ask if the track was recorded "analog", they'll only ask if the music excites them and if they want to listen to it again.

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

A: A stress-free experience in making your music come to life with minimal hassle, reliable delivery, a great sounding mix and a track to be proud of at the end of it!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I get to create a wide variety of music based on an equally wide variety of briefs, that keeps it constantly interesting and pushes me to keep growing and developing my skills.

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

A: Reference tracks are your best friend! Unfortunately words are not well suited to communicating creative musical ideas, especially if you're not versed in music theory or just not exactly sure what you want. A reference track (an already existing recording from someone else that features an element, or overall vibe that you are looking to recreate) can often communicate in a much more direct way what you are looking for. If you're not quite sure what you're after then don't be afraid to engage in a conversation/brainstorm to figure out what to go for. Producers like myself have often gone through this process a million times before and can assist you in figuring out a direction to take!

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

A: First and foremost would of course be a solar-powered generator, because my imagination won't work if my gear can't be powered.. the gear that it would power is my modular synth and guitar amp. The fourth item would be my electric guitar, and finally I would bring a double bass, just incase I needed a raft to get off the island you know?

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

A: I have been a professional musician in some capacity or another for 10 years. The first couple of years I was mainly focussed on being a performing and recording session guitarist which taught me many things as well as allowing me to meet a lot of musicians. During this time I studied music and performance at London's ICMP which allowed me to learn a lot about many aspects of the music industry as well as build up a network. Over time I moved more towards music production work, which is now my main gig although I still perform and record for others as well.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My biggest goal when creating a music piece is vibe, or the sonic landscape. I think that, even without lyrics or vocals, a track should transport you somewhere else in your imagination, it should set the scene, tickle your imagination and tell a story. That holds true regardless of the particular music genre I am working in at any moment. So, at the risk of sounding pretentious, I'd call my style.. immersive

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

A: Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age since I've been a big fan of all of his work for many years and he seems very open to trying new musical things rather than getting stuck in some niche, so I imagine it'd be a very enjoyable creative process as well as... you know.. working with one of my heroes!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: When creating music, even as a songwriter, you can become very attached to some of the musical ideas you come up with. Learning when to let go of that attachment and being able to delete parts that just aren't working will be one of the most productive and inspiring skills!

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

A: Just like my music listening taste I work in a lot of different music styles, at the moment it's primarily electronic pop, singer-songwriter and rock.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Patience and clear communication, and being flexible in my workflow and work attitude.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: A professional work attitude that puts the song first!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When working on a brief from a client I will first do my best to get as clear a picture of what they are after, both through talking about it as well as getting some reference tracks if possible. I then create a demo version with the general structure and sounds in place for the client to check if it's going in the right direction. If they are happy I can then finish the arrangement and mix it before sending it over.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use a mixture of outboard and in-the-box equipment. My primary DAW is Logic, supplemented with Ableton live as a more performance-based setup. Monitoring is done with Yamaha NS10 and Genelec speakers. I have an ever-expanding list of digital plugins and software instruments from (among others) Waves, Soundtoys, Native Instruments, Valhalla, and Fabfilter. I also have a modular synth rack that I use both as a sound-source as well as for analog outboard processing. There's also a collection of various acoustic and electric instruments, guitars, basses, synths, microphones and effect pedals.

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

A: Making a comprehensive list would take too much time here since my music taste is so eclectic. Some names that come to mind are artists like Flying Lotus, Jay Dilla, Shpongle, Radiohead and Queens of the Stone Age as well as more old-school artists like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash etc. Like I said.. it's quite a mess of a collection, but an inspiring one! :)

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

A: My most common work consists of a fairly even mixture of producing, recording and mixing original tracks for artists, and session guitar work.