Great Sounding Mix & Master

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

A: I am a massive fan of reggae\dub engineers, like King Tubby and Lee Perry. They pioneered the use of the studio as an instrument and the mix as a performance through the use of effects and the mixing board. My approach is heavily influenced by this ethos, the mix engineer is part of the performance, not just a fader monkey!

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

A: I'm a popular music sound engineer, I produce, record, mix and master music of all sorts. My main speciality is recording and mixing bands who perform "live" in the same room, retaining the energy of live takes and capturing special moments on record rather than manufacturing fake songs. It's a dying art!

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

A: Heavy Metal is not my first choice of music but mixing Slipknot for the BBC Rock Show was incredible, the energy was just off the scale! There is nothing more satisfying for a sound engineer than fading up Clown's keg mics!

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

A: Don't trust their gear, trust their ears, that's what you're ultimately paying for. Have a listen to their portfolio, if you like what you hear, you're on the right track towards choosing the right person.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Horses for courses: analogue for the sound, digital for the workflow.

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

A: I will take you on a sonic journey and will make your song sound not only great but best possible.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The privilege of collaborating with extremely talented musicians, I never get bored of that.

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

A: Can you take away the stress of finishing my song? Of course I can!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What's your sonic vision for the song? Once I know that, I can help them getting there.

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

A: A great pair of speakers, my headphones, my laptop, an echoplex tape echo and a fisher spring reverb, everything you need to dub it up!

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

A: I joined the BBC very young, and was very fortunate to learn from an incredible group of pop-rock engineers known as "group 2", responsible for thousands of hours of music across all BBC stations. That was 16 years ago..

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

A: James Brown, for his endless energy and funk power.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A session for a band from Leeds, UK called Nubiyan Twist, a great 10 piece afro-jazz collective.

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

A: That I'm a sound technician and not a musician.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Exciting, punchy, big. I believe good music has to make you move, that's why I spend a lot of time on the drum sound, it's the key to a successful song.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Gain structure, gain structure, gain structure! If you're disciplined with it and create a great balance right from the start, everything else will be easy, whether you're recording or mixing.

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

A: My main pool of experience comes from my 15 years career at the BBC, where every year we service hundreds of bands across the whole musical spectrum. I can tell you what I don't work on: classical music, orchestral scores etc.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Everyone can learn how to operate a complex console, edit and comp hundreds of vocal tracks etc. but sonic instinct can't be taught, you either have it or you don't. I have a natural feel for balance, perspective, tone and how those elements translate into a great mix, call it "good ears"!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When you've worked for months on a song, it's easy to lose direction and either under or over produce. I bring fresh perspective and focus, helping your song to cross the finishing line.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I am obsessed with gain structure, everything starts at the top of the channel strip and flows through the signal path as seamlessly as possible, maximising signal to noise ratio and making sure sounds are in the optimal working range. Unity gain is the name of my game!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: For analogue tracking and mixing, I have access to a full SSL 9K J Series large format studio, all bells and whistles, classic compressors, the lot. For digital workflow, I have a mac system fully loaded with all the industry standard software (Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Logic, etc.), all Waves and UAD plugins, Excel 301 Speakers, a bunch of analogue outboard (tape delay, spring reverb, analogue echo).