Music Producer, Guitarist

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

A: I co-wrote, arranged, and recorded all instruments on "The Getaway Man" under the band name Blue Callahan. I arranged the rhythm section parts, as well as the horn parts on this project.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am re-working the arrangement an original song which I co-wrote about 2 years ago.Soon to be re-recorded as well.

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Not that I've seen.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Digital because of its ease in carrying out edits. Analog because of warm sonic signature.

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

A: As a starting freelancer on SoundBetter, I am highly motivated to establish a strong reputation for reliability and productivity. Your project provides the perfect platform to showcase my dedication and prove my value as a freelancer. I am a fast learner, adaptable, and always eager to take on new challenges.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I've been fascinated with music since I was a kid. After having decades performing experience and education behind me, helping other musicians get their music radio-ready is my dream job.

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

A: I find this question comes up a bit "Can you just make this small edit". Upon examining the change the client has asked for I find it's actually not a small change at all. I usually find myself explaining "that's actually a big change in the harmony and would require the re-recording of the bass, keyboards and guitar parts".

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

A: That I run a team of musicians, songwriters and other producers here. In which case I find myself saying, "nope it's just me here".

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I would ask the client to provide for 2-3 commercially released reference tracks before the project begins. I would also ask if they need me to perform and record any extra music parts on their song.

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

A: I'm easy to work with. Reach out and ask any questions you may have. I aim to respond within the first 24 hours.

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

A: My Apple Studio Computer, 20 x 400W Solar panels, UA6176, Guitars and satellite phone.

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

A: I've been a musician for 40years, and was there learning about midi in the 80s. At the time I had an Atari 1040STE, running Notator software, a DX7, Roland D110 & U110, and the Tascam 464 to record guitars back then. All that eventually gave way to Logic Pro and the the modern gear I have today.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Organic and earthy. In this world where AI is being pushed on us, I think the way forward is going to be simply to "keep it real" as much as possible.

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

A: Pat Metheny. Why? Are you mad man? :) ....Listen and you'll know.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Not all compressors are equal. Some like, the Fairchild 670 add extra harmonics to the sound. Even if they are not doing any compression, they can be used as a tone shaping tool.

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

A: I usually work in the following styles, Smooth Jazz style, AC Pop, Blues and Soul.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I grew up playing guitar and have had decades perform live as a guitarist worldwide. I am very familiar in Jazz, Funk, Soul, Blues, and Rock styles.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Back in 2013 I completed the Songwriting Master Certificate at Berklee College of Music. Through doing this course and my many years experience in music performance, I bring a well honed instinct for what needs to done musically to make the song competitive in the music marketplace.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It depends on the project. As my usual work is producing backing tracks, I start by listening to the reference track, then transcribing a chord chart. I would then follow these steps, produce a drum track, bass track, keyboard parts then record guitar parts. After that I would add horns parts if necessary. Then I would mix and master the track.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio setup is based at home. I run the latest version of Logic Pro, through the UA 8p interface. When tracking vocals, guitars abd basses, I use a UA6176 channel strip. I also use the UA6176 during mix-down as it really helps in giving digital recordings that analog warmth. I plugins from UAD, Waves, Fab Filter, Izotope. Melodyne and Virtual instruments by Native Instruments, Spectrsonics, Ik Multimedia.

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

A: I grew up listening to Pat Metheny Group, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Chuck Loeb, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Steely Dan and many other jazz/soul artists. When it comes to sound production, like many other music production professionals I still look to the sound gotten on "Aja" "Gaucho" and the "The Nightfly" albums.

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

A: The most common work I do for clients has been backing tracks. On these projects I transcribe the parts of the recording to be copied, then I record the drums, bass, guitars, and the keyboard parts. I do it all at my home studio.