Musician, Arranger, Engineer.

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

A: Usually when songs don't have a set drum pattern it's "what can you play here?" When that happens I ask what artists inspire the composer, especially for that song, and what songs they love the drum sound. That way I can have some sort of guidance to what to interpret even if the composer has no set idea.

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

A: That the drums are basically timekeepers. There's much more to drumming than being just a "metronome" and every musician is responsible for their own "time." Once that concept opens up theres a lot one can do with the drums.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Besides teaching, currently I am working on a masterclass of adapting Argentine and Uruguayan folkloric music to drums and how to use that for jazz and other styles.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: There are benefits to both.

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

A: To give them a quality product to fit their artistic vision.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Getting to play music and collaborate with people who see the art differently than I.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: As a session musician it is my job to play what the artists envisions on the drums and bring that to life somehow. Usually I will ask what exactly they want the drums to sound and if they have any sort of drum chart or MIDI recording of what they want. If the idea of the drums aren't as specific, I will ask for drumming or musical references, like what kind of artists inspire them or which songs they like the drum sound. That way those pieces of music can be a guide to what I could bring to the song.

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

A: Do it!

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

A: I've been playing drums for 19 years. I studied Music Production and Engineering and drums at Berklee in Boston and a Masters in Contemporary Performance in Berklee in Valencia under the tutelage of people like Mark Walker, Rod Morgenstein, Mariano Steimberg, Mike Mangini and Kim Plainfield (for drums), and Jeff Largent and Prince Charles Alexnder (for redording and mixing). I have worked as a freelance sound engineer in Boston, Valencia, LA, and Toronto and have played drums alongside a variety of artists like Abraham Laboriel, Félix Martin, and Pablo Elorza in several different countries as well. I have worked as a sideman and session player in all different styles, like jazz, rock, pop, prog, and latin; and even worked as an orchestra musician for Royal Caribbean Cruises.

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

A: There are several artists but maybe if I had to choose one it would be Brad Mehldau. He has an amazing range from jazz to electronica to pop to classical and all he does is incredibly creative.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Probably the best production tip I got from both a mixing and recording and a music teacher was "mixing begins at the rehearsal." It's very easy to think of modern production with a "fix it in the mix" but the better your overall sound (as an instrumentalist or a band) the better the recording will be and by proxy the mix and master.

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

A: As of late I've been playing mostly jazz but I have done session work for all kinds of music (from metal and prog to pop and rock to latin and fusion). When I worked on a cruise ship orchestra musician we had to play all different types of music (usually learning the music on the same day as the show).

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Keeping an open mind and ear. Since I try to listen to a lot of different styles of music I always keep an open mind about all of it, even the genres that I may not particularly like very much. I believe there is something to learn from all different musicians and music.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Having played a multitude of styles with various musicians I bring an extensive knowledge to the instrument and may be able to bring something new and interesting to the song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It all depends on what kind of project I'm doing but usually I analyze the song I'm about to perform (or go over the chart) before trying to play it identifying the all the idiosyncrasies within the composition. If a chart is not provided I will make my own writing down things that I need to listen to and execute. I will finally play the song in its most basic form and then see what I can add or change to make the tune more interesting. This last piece variates depending to what the client wishes me to do as the drummer.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Interface: Digi 003r+ modified by Black Lion Audio Mics: AT 4040, SM57, Blueberry, Beta98 (x3), SM81 (x2)

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

A: The list of musicians that inspire me is enormous, but usually it's those who love what they do and bring something special to the music.

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

A: As a session musician and sideman, I am usually hired to play with an artist or group either in a live environment or a recording session.