Mix | Recording Engineer

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

A: Tyrone and J.None easily!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently I'm working with a lot of local artists in Texas (Houston and San Antonio), as well as a French Jazz band based out of Paris. I'm also working with an incredible artist in Toronto, as well as some Legendary Producers in Houston. June The Genius (Drake, Travis Scott, T.I.) etc... and Dj XO (Finesse 2Tymes, MoneyBagg Yo, etc..). I'm also working on singles with artists based out of Cali and the U.K.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both! Everything has it's place and function, however I have all digital stuff because the military kept me moving around the world like crazy.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love connecting with people and helping them capture what they're trying to convey. Music is therapeutic in nature. There's nothing more fulfilling to me than creating music that resonates with people.

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

A: I've been making music since I was a kid, but didn't get serious until 2011, releasing horribly mixed music in 2013, and hiding on soundcloud honing my craft through trial and error until I was able to seriously release projects on all platforms in 2019. The growth is real, and the the mixing is exponentially better compared to my GarageBand days, lawd! These days I'm a professional Recording/Mixing Engineer, Artist and Producer. Graduated top of my class from Full Sail University with multiple awards in 2022, and casually work around Grammy nominated Engineers, Producers, and Artists. Came a long way from my bedroom back in the day lol.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It's a really simplistic set up at home. I have a new MacBook Pro, Logic Pro X, and ProTools, as well as my Presonus Eris E5's, Apollo Solo and Twin, and a Scarlett 18i20 with plenty of inputs. Between those and my Waves, Valhalla and UAD Plug-ins, I'm straight for now! At the Studio that I work at is a whole different story. There's over $60,000 in gear alone that I use for my in person sessions.

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

A: Primarily, I mix vocals for my clients! Getting the cleanest takes and performances I can is crucial. After that comes the EQ, Compression, Panning, Etc that comes with mixing. Often times, I'm vocal coaching and helping the artist dig deep to really convey the feelings they want to capture in their records.

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

A: Low-Key feat. Gabby Falcón. I love this song because I was stepping out of my lane as an R&B artist going into Afrobeat and she's an indie artist that stepped out her lane to go into R&B! Plus she never (at that time) had a good solid mix! It was straight unexpected vibes and magic with a great mix! The excitement we both had is something I want to chase and experience forever!

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

A: I promise I'll do the absolute best I can to bring your sound to life and make it everything you envisioned in your mind and more!

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

A: lol "Was that take okay?" or "What do you think?" My answer is honest and rarely abrasive. If something sounds bad, then I offer suggestions while giving honest feedback from an artist and listener perspective.

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

A: That's a good one... That we can take any type of audio and make it a billboard charting song off rip. The quality of audio is as important, if not more, than what's being said in the song.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What was your mood when making this? What point are you really trying to get across? How do you want it to feel to your fans/supporters?

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

A: Take the best recordings you possibly can. Avoid bathrooms and recording on EarPods, as well as loud clothing (like a windbreaker jacket or something lol). We're engineers, not magicians fam!

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

A: Macbook, interface (All wires included fam), mic, headphones, and acoustic filter/trap and a blanket (Travis Scott Method).

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Jazz, R&B and impactful/relatable, yet chill bars, with airy vocals. Vibbessss dawg.

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

A: Masego, because he doesn't make industry standard music, plus his roots derive in jazz and afrobeat which I can relate to heavy. Plus, dude is a multi-instrumentalist and artist. The vibes would be otherworldly lol. Buuttt, I also want to work with Soulection, Alina Baraz, Jhene Aiko, Alex Isley, Kiana Lede, and many, many more!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I know times are crazy now with everything going on, but if you're fortunate enough to be in the room with an artist, connect with them in every way you possibly can. That energy is contagious and directly translates to the music.

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

A: Hip-Hop, R&B, and Jazz mixed with lowfi type stuff!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Communication! Easily. Music is a collaboration experience. I'm not a printer fam. I'll never copy and paste and spit out a product like "Here ya go!". It's YOUR project, tell me what you got in mind and what you were feeling when you made/recorded the song!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: That refined energy you know!? Sometimes if an artist isn't sure what effects to add, I'll experiment with the mix (with their approval/suggestions of course) doing everything from chops in the beat to vocal chops and screws.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Hmm, I'll load up the sesh, listen to the beat first (or a reference file) and then listen to the vocals, then get everything arranged and start doin' my thing you know? I always have the artist on call via FaceTime or IG and make sure they listen to this mix as it progresses making sure it's in line with what they've envisioned or if we need to tweak something.

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

A: Ah man, we could talk for days about my inspirations, but to narrow it down, Soulection (Joe Kay & Andre Power) Alina Baraz, Galimatias, MixedbyAli, 40, Masego, Russ, I mean really the list goes on.