Session Guitarist, Producer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm writing lyrics and melodies for my upcoming album "Antecedents to the Modern Cynical Spectrum"

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: yes... admittedly more digital than analog. why? price and abundance of tools.

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

A: I'll listen to you and allow you to be the ultimate arbiter of your sound. it is YOUR sound, after all. I also promise to give you honest feedback and not blow smoke just to give you the feel goods.

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

A: that it requires turning the distortion all the way up and shredding a solo the entire time while some person screams incoherently the whole time.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: influences, tunings, comfort zones, feel of the song/album, and what makes your track stand out

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

A: Just ask. If it works it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't. pretty straight forward here.

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

A: I wouldn't want gear on an island. that's just dumb. fire starter, machete, pot for cleaning water, rope or cordage, shoes.

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

A: I've been playing everything I can get my hands on since I was 9. Started with a guitar, moved to drums in middle school, drums, bass, guitars, and signing from high school on... I started writing around 13, recording around15, and producing around 20.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Heavy but not entirely predictable. Melodic but experimental. Diverse, sometimes overly complicated, dynamic but tiptoeing the line of catchy.

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

A: Total pipe dream, but to collab with one of my influences would be to live out a musical fantasy. Deftones, Puscifer (tool, APC), Chad Gray, Sevendust.... etc etc.... like I said, total pipe dream.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Take ear breaks! Much the way your eyes need a break after staring at a screen for a while, your ears need a chance to relax too! Walk around outside, listen to a podcast on different speakers, watch a show or a movie. For every 2 to 3 hours in your cans or in front of your speakers, take at least 20 to 30 minutes to reset.

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

A: Progressive rock and anything surrounding the hard rock genres and sub genres.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: That varies from person to person and song to song. I don't care at this point that most of these responses are verging on total cop outs. It is what it is. On one track it could be guitar, on one it could be bass, it could be lyrics on another or a vocal part. It could be figuring out where a track goes next, it could be bouncing ideas around until the right one comes along. It could be having an ear for a beat or a drum fill. It could be finding a way to integrate a new time signature into a song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I don't try to bring anything in particular to a track. It may be another cheap cop out to some but honestly it's a matter of playing with an idea or a theme until the track unfolds. Tracks tell you where to go. The second you start telling a track where to go, that's the second you're churning out garbage.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Strap the cans on and dig in for a few hours at a time. I can typically pop a song out from scratch to final production in 8 to 12 hrs give or take.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Honestly it's minimalist both for comfort and necessity. I got to a point where I just had so much and I just couldn't write or come up with anything coherent or functional. I purged after my wife had our two kiddos and kept only the instruments and tools new songs fell out of with consistency. Guitars, Bass, mics, direct in box, digital fx, cans, software.

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

A: I get that it's a cop out, but there's really too many to list. Just start with the mid 90s and come to now in the rock scene for a timeline, Start with A Perfect Circle, roll up and grab some Deftones, holler at Mike Einziger and Incubus, swing though and grab Primus and Puscifer, pick up Rolo Tomassi and really just anything interesting, progressive, and soulful.

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

A: Provide innovative ideas and creative guitar riffs. Assist in songwriting and structuring. Bass, piano, drums, mixing, mastering, sound engineering, and producing.