Music Producer

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your favourite artist?

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

A: "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." --John D. Rockefeller

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

A: - Dark Side of the Moon - An Acoustic Guitar or Ukulele - A book about Music Production - Some Flip-Flops - and a snack

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

A: Julian Stella (Born Julien Michaud: 22 April 1996 ) is a French multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and music producer fusing modern pop & synthwave music. From pioneers like the unique Daft Punk to underground synthwave artists like Ollie Wrid Julian Stella music will make you dance all night long and make you feel happy & nostalgic at the same time. Everything can be heard in his music including in the great 'Summertime'. After discovering he could learn to play the drums as a self-taught person and play a full repertoire of songs from his favourite rock artists (U2, Muse, Queen, Pink Floyd and so many others) Julian started taking on guitar, bass and piano and …. BOOM !!! A skilled multi-instrumentalist was born! In 2015, Julian arrived in London, the city of music, to study at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP). He graduated from a Higher Diploma (Level 5 BTEC Professional Diploma in Popular Music Performance) in 2016 from which he learned the core principles of being a musician and a professional drummer. From 2016 to 2019, He studied songwriting, composition, production, music-making, collaborative work & music business and successfully obtained a Bachelor of Art in Creative Musicianship in 2019 with first-class honours. In the meantime, Julian was the official drummer of Russell & French Boys. An Indie/pop-rock band formed at uni. The song ’Turn me on’ reached 10.5 K streams on Spotify. From October until May, Julian co-released and produced a synthwave song called JINE - Runaway available on Spotify. In the summer, Julian wrote an entire E.P in his bedroom. Meanwhile, Julien continues to produce and release covers and/or personal songs on social media platforms.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Pop, Retro music, Nostalgia, Dreamy, Funky (sometimes)

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

A: Ollie Wride because I think it's one of the greatest voice I ever heard.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Mixing Trick : You don't like how something sound like ? Don't always go to reach Multi-band compressor or De-Esser ... Try first to lower the volume and see if that works ... Sometimes it's working like magic. Trust me I learned that from the great Tom Lord-Aldge (sound engineer for Weezer, Sum 41, Rolling Stones, P!nk, Peter Gabriel, Dave Matthews Band, Blink-182) and I apply it a lot!

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

A: Pop; Synthwave; Disco; Retro music; Funk; Alternative; Rock; R&B

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Efficiency: I want your song to be memorable and impactful for your audience/ fans. I'm multi-instrumentist and I can reproduce everything you want me to.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I can make a great sounding production for your songs, make everything sounds more professional and suggesting or helping you out to reveal its uniqueness.


Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I first have a brief with my clients (written or oral), to catch the main ideas and directions they want to reach. I make a diagnostic of the song and analyse the good and less good points, without denaturing the idea. Then I create a first draft, that I send to my client. Then there a dialogue between my client and I and we repeat the process until the client is satisfied.


Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My Home studio is full of instruments: Guitars: - Fender Stratocaster American & Mexican - Gibson Les Pauls 2012 and Epiphones Les Pauls - Yamaha 12 Strings, Fender Acoust. Guitar CD-60, Cort Acoust. Guitar - Yamaha Bass & VGS Pro Bass Drums: - V Drums Roland TD-9 - Roland SPD-SX Drum Pad Keyboards: - Roland FP-50 - Moog Subsequent 37 - Midi Keyboard Native Instrument Impulse 61 Microphone : - Rodes NT-1 I'm using KRK Monitors, Beyerdynamic open-back headphones for mixing. My laptop speakers, another Beyerdynamic closed headphone, some Bluetooth monitors (Marshall & Harman Kardon Go + Play) & my car speakers (Peugeot 208 2012) to make sure my mixes translate well into the reel world. I use an audio interface Focusrite Clarett 8pre USB to get sounds from my instrument into my computer. I'm working on Logic Pro X & on a Mac Computer.

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

A: My production heroes are people like FINNEAS, Paul Epworth, Neil Rodgers, Prince. What do these people have all in common ? They all worked hand in hand with successful artists : Finneas co-produced all the songs for Billie Eillish Paul Epworth co-produced Rolling in the Deep for ADELE Neil Rodgers co-produced Like a Virgin and Let's Dance for Madonna & David Bowie I love retro-modern music. The production of The Weeknd is a great influence, with its simple efficiency, its modernity, its hooks, and the use of the synth pads that leads to a really groovy and catchy songs. I'm inspired as well by synthwave pop artists Ollie Wride, FM-84, The Midnight, Kristine, NINA and French DJs : Daft Punk, Kungs, Synapson.

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

A: First thing first is to make sure I understand their vision for a song. What do they really want to sound like? What message or meaning they want me to underline production-wise. I like to get feedback from clients and make sure I'm doing the right things for their songs to stand out.