Remote Mixing & Mastering

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

A: I would love to work with Beck. I love his writing. I feel all the influences in his productions. He has great musicians in his bands.

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

A: I am a fan of 60s R&B and psychedelic folk and pop… Beatles, Al Green, Neil Young, Irma Thomas. 70s artists that inspire me are David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Todd Rundgren, Staple Singers, 80’s and 90’s artists Prince, Elliott Smith, PJ Harvey, Cat Power.

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

A: The music soundtrack for the Grammy nominated film I Am Sam. I mixed and recorded on Rufus Wainwright’s Across the Universe, recorded Chocolate Genius’ (Marc AnthonyThompson) Julia, and Produced and mixed Howie Day’s Help!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am mixing a live album of the musical Spring Awakening recorded in London at the 15th anniversary. I am co-producing and mixing a track for the artist Shane (Tommy Riggs), originally from the Electric Angels. I just tracked 20 songs for the songwriter Duncan Sheik with guitarist Spooky Ghost (Gerry Leonard), drummer Doug Yowell, keyboardist Jason Hart, and bassist Jeffery Allen. Performed project studio setups for songwriter David Poe and public relations company High Rise PR (Alexandra Baker).

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

A: I am new to the community. I am looking forward to working with folks that are residing here.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style as a mixer is pretty transparent. My goal is to be true to the artist, the song, and the track. What I will imprint on the track will be to amplify the existing energy and spirit, not to re-invent it to something unintended by the artist. If the artist requests that we reference or emulate other artists, that is also something I love to explore.

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

A: Singer Songwriter and Indy Pop/Rock.

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

A: Well before the pandemic, the most commonly asked question was, "Which way is the restroom?" Another question I always love to hear is "Where do I plug in?" Kidding aside, usually clients ask about process... What are those things an artist needs to anticipate in preparation for working with a mixing/mastering engineer in the mixing/mastering phase of a project? My answers will be based on where exactly the artist is in the process, and will offer guidance that gets them prepared to pass on quality assets which allow the engineer to get right to work

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

A: A guitar, a decent set of cookware, a sweater, a fishing pole, a large jar of guitar pics or maybe some trousers, not sure...

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

A: I took a traditional trajectory. I started out as in intern at a recording studio and work my way up through the various assistant positions. I then became a freelance engineer and then a studio partner and staff engineer. I have enjoyed working on music projects, film and media projects, and theater projects. I have built, managed and maintained studios and recording equipment.

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

A: Mixing and Mastering are my usual business. Often groove control, comping and tuning are addition tasks on the projects that come my way. Especially in these days of remote recording, it is sometimes clarifying to gently nudge tracks to help the track feel like everyone is playing in the same room together.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: 1) Work with passion. 2) Use every project as an opportunity to learn. Those are are conceptual answers. A couple practical answers would be, backup your hard drives and try to figure out how to keep your files organized. Finally, a studio trick... my favorite EQ in the studio is a compressor... before reaching for an EQ, try compressing with medium attack and release, or parallel compressing with fast attack and release. See what that does to bring out the air and the details of an instrument. After the compression, if you feel you need it, place a Pultec style EQ for some gentle EQ, or a parametric EQ for some more aggressive EQ. Hi and Low Pass filters, also can be exciting. Keep in mind with HP and LP, that they could also go before your compressor in the chain.

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

A: ...That the right plugin will do all the work for you... In truth, the job begins and ends with ears. We should all be letting our ears do the work. Throw away the crutches.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. There is magic in both of them. I am lucky enough to live in a world where I can utilize them together.

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

A: That I will do my best to realize the artist's/producer's vision.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: It depends on what I hear when I listen to the client's track.

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

A: Play your music for them. See if they feel it and can identify with your vision for it.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening is my strongest skill.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: A dedication to serve the song and the artist.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Every project starts with a conversation with the artist/producer about where they wish to take the sound of their project. My approach is then to understand what is magical about the project and to figure out how to highlight that magic and make sure that my work serves it and doesn't get in the way of it.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My setup is a hybrid analogue and digital setup. I have a fair list of analogue gear. This gear is wired in a way that I can quickly and efficiently digitize any analogue sources I utilize. I can combine the best of digital work flow and effects processing with the best of analogue warmth and class.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: That every morning I get to show up at the recording studio. We all have a blast doing this stuff.