Indie Pop Mixing Engineer

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: As a producer I'm very good at trimming the fat on songs and making the song the best it can be. As a mixer I'm very good at creating space and room, and making sections dynamically flow into each other.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio was professionally designed by John Brandt and is flat down to 15hz! I have a comprehensive monitoring set up where I mainly use a pair of Adam S3H's and Amphion Two15's. The Amphions are tied to a pair of subs which allow me to monitor sub frequencies extremely well (also thanks to my rooms design!). I use a hybrid mixing set up where I mix mostly with in Pro Tools, but also use a variety of outboard gear including Distressors, 1176, SSL 4000 bus compressor, Crane Song STC-8, and lots of fun outboard reverbs and delays. One of my favorite outboard reverb units is a 1960's tube spring reverb unit that has such a cool sound. Outside of my mixing set up I have a ton of guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, and percussion items I use when producing. My keyboards include vintage pieces from Moog, Roland, and Yamaha. Two of my favorite pieces are a real NES that's been converted into a synthesizer which gives VERY authentic 8-bit sounds, and a Roland Juno-106 which is such a classic sound and fun synth to use. Originally I'm a guitar player, so I have some fantastic guitars and amps that I've curated over the years. I have several guitars including a custom 59' inspired strat, a 72' Pawn Shop, custom shop 51 Nocaster (Telecaster), as well as a custom franken-fender bass, and a 1959 reissued Les Paul with PAF pick ups. For amps I have a Fender Bassman, mid 70's Twin Reverb, handwired Vox AC-30, and Marshall.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love being able to emotionally impact listeners through music. It's a dream job being able to sit in my studio every day and work on art that I know will help to improve peoples lives.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: They're both tools! It's like asking if you prefer a hammer or a screw driver. There are benefits to both, and appropriate times to use them.

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

A: I promise to push myself and your song as far as I can go with it. I also promise to listen to what you want and your desires, and then do what is best for the song.

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

A: The number one thing that will make a mix great is having a great arrangement. So with that in mind a mix will only be as good as the song allows it to be. I've certainly worked some magic in the past, but the better the song the better the mix.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: People tend to hire me because I'm constantly searching to make my mixes more explosive and interesting. When your fans listen to your songs I want them to be affected by the emotion and impact of the song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: After having an in depth conversation with the artist and/or producer, receiving the files, and organizing my session I first push up all the faders and start getting a sense for the song and what elements inspire me. After that I push everything down and start building up the mix starting with the rhythm section. I start my focus on getting the rhythm and lead items to work together and feel good, that usually involves starting with the drums and building a foundation with that, the bass items, and vocals. From there I start to fill out other rhythm items and build around the groove and feel I've established. At that point it's all about adding the rest of the elements and keeping things feeling good and dynamic.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I always like to know what their influence was for the song or songs we're working on. I often ask them to put together a Spotify playlist of the songs they were using as guides for the production, which helps me get into the same head space.

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

A: Have your files cleaned up and organized, keep effects on that are crucial to the sound, but take off any unnecessary compression, EQ, or reverb/delays that can be easily recreated by your mix engineer. On top of that understand the time and effort that goes into mixing or producing a song!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Vibey, explosive, and interesting!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Less is more!

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

A: As a mixer I'm heavily influenced by Manny Marroquin and Serban Ghenea. As a producer I admire the work of Blake Mills and Kevin Parker.

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

A: My full time job as a freelancer centers around providing either mixing and editing work, or producing and artist development.