Mixing, Mastering & Production

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

A: I have this project coming out with Neon Hitch called Wild Fire, and I'm incredibly proud of my production. I killed the pop game on this one. I can't wait for you all to hear it when it comes out! (I was/am the music producer)

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working with Brian King Joseph on his next youtube cover and I am working with Alize from PTAF on her new single.

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

A: Benny Steele...he knows his stuff.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Definitely Analog, however digital recreations of analog gear have gotten EXTREMELY good, but not perfect. Great mixers like Andrew Schepps are going "in the box" with their productions. Heres the thing - digital has gotten so good, and it is much more portable than analog. You can mix almost anywhere now with just a laptop. If you listen very very closely in terms of sonic quality though, analog still has digital SLIGHTLY beat.

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

A: I promise to treat your song as if it were my own. With my own songs, the song is not done until it sounds perfect. I'll treat your song baby as if it were my own.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Most people would say "I love listening to a song right after the mix has been finished, then I can look back at a job well done." I'm the exact opposite. I like to listen to a raw, unfinished mix. I get a rush - an excitement - thinking about what eq's to use and how to separate out the frequencies in the instruments.

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

A: Usually customers are trying to get comfortable trusting your artistic stamp on their songs. I say this: we will work together until you are completely satisfied with the song's sound.

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

A: That a mixer can save a bad production. Your job as a producer is not to let the mixer "save" your project. The best advice I ever got as a producer is to produce as if you are a mixer. My goal whenever I produce is to make the project sound filled out. Incorporate sounds that make your song sound "full." It's easy if you think of mixing like this: the mixer's job is to take a nice stone and polish it. But if the stone is not nice (say, a pebble) the mixer will still be able to polish it, but it won't sound like a polished thunder egg. Give the mixer a nice stone. Then the mixer will hand you an award-winning thunder egg.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What feel are you going for in the song? Excited and energy filled? vintage? Clear? Possibly a little grime and dirt? What is your vision? What example songs do you have to show me where you want to go?

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

A: Make sure your provider doesn't treat your project as another paycheck, but is committed to leaving their best artistic stamp on the song.

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

A: My laptop (I'm assuming with that my DAW, plugins and everything associated with that laptop), microphone preamp, microphone so I can record and remix all the desert island sounds, My speakers, and my headphones :).

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

A: I started playing trumpet and piano at a young age. I walked into my first trumpet lesson and I remember my teacher jumped out of his chair because I was able to accurately name any pitch he sang for me. I loved jazz in middle/ high school, and toured around the northwest with my trumpet. In high school I delved into music production and fell in love with it. Right after high school I moved to LA and started producing music professionally. Since being in LA (for 5 years now) I have done it every day as my love and passion.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Versatile. I am a music lover. I draw influences from arabic, funk, edm, hiphop, etc. You name a genre, I've probably poked my nose in it.

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

A: Calvin Harris. He has shown his versatility in so many genres. His last funk album (esp. his song with travis scott) blew me away.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO LISTEN TO A SONG ON SPEAKERS OTHER THAN YOUR STUDIO MONITORS. It might sound great on your monitors, but so often that mix can sound like BS on your earpods, car stereo, etc. The average listener doesn't listen to a song through HS 8's. Never forget this.

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

A: I started off doing quite a bit of hip hop. PTAF hired me to produce their follow up single to Boss Ass Bitch, and from then on I became a popular hip hop producer in LA. I got my start doing EDM, however, and I have been producing with youtube stars like Brian King Joseph (violinist) making EDM songs.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ears. I have spent years listening to what sounds good and what sounds bad. This helps me quickly identify problems in the original mix producers send and sort those problems out.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: First off, I bring my understanding of the feeling of the track. Then I bring my ears to listen for ways I can make the track 1) more authentic to the original message of the producer and 2) more exciting for the audience to listen to. Then I use my expertise of EQ's, Channel Strips, Compressors...etc to achieve the sonic goal the producer has in mind.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I first find the vibe of the song. What is the message? Then I bring out that message. I make sure to give the instruments that carry the song's message more presence. A mixer's job is to give everything a place in the song. Just like two children cannot fit down one slide at the same time, two instruments probably will clash if they are representing the same Hz in the EQ spectrum.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: The MOST important thing is that you know how your studio monitors translate to the outside world. While turning the bass up on your monitors may make your song bang in the studio, how does that extra bass sound on the car stereo? Not necessarily great. That being said....good equipment is still important. For listening I use my Yamaha HS 6 studio monitors and my DT 990 pro open-backed headphones. For mixing I use Waves complete, Fabfilter total bundle, Vocalign, Melodyne studio, Altiverb, Izotope, and a host of other plugins.

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

A: I love chart toppers. There is a particular sound associated with many songs on the billboard 100. Some aren't great, but if you listen to the production most push the sonic edge, while giving the listener something to relate to. I have spent over 6 hours a day for a few years now delving into pop and understanding how it is made. I have gotten to the point where I can listen to a song and know how the sounds were created, what waves were used (sine, square, saw, etc), where the eq boosts and cuts are, and whether they are letting the tracks breathe enough with their compressors.

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

A: Most of the work I do is production and songwriting. Since moving to LA in 2013 from Portland OR, I have been mixing songs for artists. I realized that I was delivering better mixes than anyone I was paying money to. Because of this, I decided to start mixing professionally.