Independent engineer with years of experience making records for Slumberland, Mt. St. Mtn., Castle Face and Smoking Room
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Interview with JPL Recordings
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: The "Silk Road" LP from TONER. They had some phenomenal tracks they'd recorded to analog eight-track, and more or less gave me free rein to mix it into a unique sounding record that really rocked! The vinyl has to be one of the loudest and most powerful I've ever heard. I was delighted to be a part of that project. Otherwise, R.E. Seraphin's "Tiny Shapes" LP, now out on Mt. St. Mtn. and Paisley Shirt, is a great place you can hear what I do as an arranger, instrumentalist, producer and mixing engineer! A wonderful project to work on where everyone walked away satisfied with the final product.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Phil Spector, Joe Meek, Brian Wilson, Jim O'Rourke, Kramer, Mayo Thompson, Steve Albini, Stephin Merritt, David Thomas, Lee Perry, Jim Dickinson, George Martin, John Chelew, James Murphy...
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Mastered by Kramer
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: No preference; all roads lead to Rome.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: We don't stop work on this until you're happy with it.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love to get inside a song and see how it works. I love to be part of the process. When producing, I love to see how an artist or band thinks about music, and how they interact with other musicians - somehow, that hasn't got old! And of course, it's the most rewarding thing when someone is happy with what you did with their material. This is a business where the getting there is as fun as the goal.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: "Can you make everything louder?" - the classic rock band question. The answer is, as always, in mixes, what you're hearing is a balance. If I simply put all the faders all the way up, it may sound plenty loud, but almost certainly won't be what you want. A mix is a series of contrasts, so the question is always what contrasts will serve the song, and the various performances. For an example of what I'm talking about, listen to a song off The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, then listen a song off Doolittle. It's the same band, one year apart - what's different?
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That if I've mixed one song, the rest should go even faster. Not true. Every song is its own world and has its own metrics, and problems to be solved on its way to a successful final product. You have to honor those parameters, always - anything less is a cop-out.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Can I hear demos? What kind of sound do you have in mind? Can you list some influences/inspirations? What's the timeline on this?/How soon do you need this done?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Make sure you like your songs and feel ready to give up the goods in your performance (if you haven't already), and then trust the process. Any number of curveballs come down the line in the timeline of record-making, but if you trust the process, you can see all of them through to have a product you'll be proud of.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A laptop, a decent interface, a great preamp, a great compressor, and a pair of Audio Technica headphones.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been a musician since the age of 3. Played in bands since the teen years, all that good stuff. I accidentally chanced into production at the encouragement of a couple wonderful friends. A couple other great friends showed me the basics, but once in the thick of it, I taught myself, devouring all the TapeOps and how-to books I could but mostly taking all the jobs I could so I could learn, hands-on, what it means to see the process all the way through. Since then, I've made hardcore punk records in a day, mixed and mastered multiple albums for all kinds of different artists, served as a studio musician - run the whole gamut.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Magical realism.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I wish I'd had the chance to work with Mark E. Smith and The Fall, to see the process lovingly deconstructed by a chaotic master. But in the realm of the living, I'd love to work with David Thomas from Pere Ubu for similar reasons, or Dean Blunt, to see his mysterious process.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Make the drums and vocals sound cool, and you can get away with anything.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Indie rock, Hardcore punk, Noise rock, Singer-songwriter, jangle pop
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm a great listener who's not afraid to take chances.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I'm always looking for the hook, or the appealing piece of the work to highlight in order to grab listeners' attention. I'm a highly attentive listener and a lover of multiple styles of music, with a unique perspective on popular music and its history. I bring all that to literally every project I work on, be it singer-songwriter folky stuff, avant-noise, hardcore punk....anything that crosses my path.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: There is no "typical work process." I wait to see what the client needs, and I supply everything I can to deliver the product we're all happy with, which could involve any number of machinations, any amount of intrigue and any amount of dirty work!
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Tascam 688 with analog gear (mics, compressors, preamps etc), Yamaha digital interface, Apple MacBookPro running Logic X
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I have produced albums from floor to master in quick turnaround times as needed. More and more, I've been mixing from digital multi-tracks; as recording gets more accessible, more artists are recording themselves at home - a wonderful development! - but need an experienced pair of ears to take their product into the endzone. I am happy to be that pair of ears!
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Recently, I was honored to be asked to mix the "Silk Road" LP from TONER. They had some phenomenal tracks they'd recorded to analog eight-track, and more or less gave me free rein to mix it into a unique sounding record that really rocked! The vinyl has to be one of the loudest and most powerful I've ever heard. I was delighted to be a part of that project. Otherwise, R.E. Seraphin's "Tiny Shapes" LP, now out on Mt. St. Mtn. and Paisley Shirt, is a great place you can hear what I do as an arranger, instrumentalist, producer and mixing engineer! A wonderful project to work on where everyone walked away satisfied with the final product.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Mastered by Kramer
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: No preference; all roads lead to Rome.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: We don't stop work on this until you're happy with it.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love to get inside a song and see how it works. I love to be part of the process. When producing, I love to see how an artist or band thinks about music, and how they interact with other musicians - somehow, that hasn't got old! And of course, it's the most rewarding thing when someone is happy with what you did with their material. This is a business where the getting there is as fun as the goal.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: "Can you make everything louder?" - the classic rock band question. The answer is, as always, in mixes, what you're hearing is a balance. If I simply put all the faders all the way up, it may sound plenty loud, but almost certainly won't be what you want. A mix is a series of contrasts, so the question is always what contrasts will serve the song, and the various performances. For an example of what I'm talking about, listen to a song off The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, then listen a song off Doolittle. It's the same band, one year apart - what's different?
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That if I've mixed one song, the rest should go even faster. Not true. Every song is its own world and has its own metrics, and problems to be solved on its way to a successful final product. You have to honor those parameters, always - anything less is a cop-out.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Can I hear demos? What kind of sound do you have in mind? Can you list some influences/inspirations? What's the timeline on this?/How soon do you need this done?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Make sure you like your songs and feel ready to give up the goods in your performance (if you haven't already), and then trust the process. Any number of curveballs come down the line in the timeline of record-making, but if you trust the process, you can see all of them through to have a product you'll be proud of.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A laptop, a decent interface, a great preamp, a great compressor, and a pair of Audio Technica headphones.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been a musician since the age of 3. Played in bands since the teen years, all that good stuff. I accidentally chanced into production at the encouragement of a couple wonderful friends. A couple other great friends showed me the basics, but once in the thick of it, I taught myself, devouring all the TapeOps and how-to books I could but mostly taking all the jobs I could so I could learn, hands-on, what it means to see the process all the way through. Since then, I've made hardcore punk records in a day, mixed and mastered multiple albums for all kinds of different artists, served as a studio musician - run the whole gamut.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Magical realism.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I wish I'd had the chance to work with Mark E. Smith and The Fall, to see the process lovingly deconstructed by a chaotic master. But in the realm of the living, I'd love to work with David Thomas from Pere Ubu for similar reasons, or Dean Blunt, to see his mysterious process.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Make the drums and vocals sound cool, and you can get away with anything.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Indie rock, Hardcore punk, Noise rock, Singer-songwriter, jangle pop
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm a great listener who's not afraid to take chances.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I'm always looking for the hook, or the appealing piece of the work to highlight in order to grab listeners' attention. I'm a highly attentive listener and a lover of multiple styles of music, with a unique perspective on popular music and its history. I bring all that to literally every project I work on, be it singer-songwriter folky stuff, avant-noise, hardcore punk....anything that crosses my path.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: There is no "typical work process." I wait to see what the client needs, and I supply everything I can to deliver the product we're all happy with, which could involve any number of machinations, any amount of intrigue and any amount of dirty work!
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Tascam 688 with analog gear (mics, compressors, preamps etc), Yamaha digital interface, Apple MacBookPro running Logic X
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Phil Spector, Joe Meek, Brian Wilson, Jim O'Rourke, Kramer, Mayo Thompson, Steve Albini, Stephin Merritt, David Thomas, Lee Perry, Jim Dickinson, George Martin, Rick Rubin, John Chelew, James Murphy...
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I have produced albums from floor to master in quick turnaround times as needed. More and more, I've been mixing from digital multi-tracks; as recording gets more accessible, more artists are recording themselves at home - a wonderful development! - but need an experienced pair of ears to take their product into the endzone. I am happy to be that pair of ears!
- Mixing EngineerContact for pricing
- Recording StudioAverage price - $500 per day
- ProducerContact for pricing
- Keyboards - SynthAverage price - $70 per song
- PianoAverage price - $70 per song
- Toner
- Tony Molina
- Color Green
- Tascam 688
- Roland Space Echo
