Max Bourque on SoundBetter

Hi, my name is Max. I am a studio owner in southern Louisiana right off the Vermilion river. Just like the great studios of the past like Fame Studio's in Muscle Shoals located on the banks of the Tennessee River, music just flows from the ground down here. I have been in music since I was young and continue to pursue the passion every day.

I have been in music since I was a kid. I started out in church on drums and branched out from there moving on to guitar, keys, violin, and several other miscellaneous instruments. After playing and gigging live for lots of years, I decided to give studio work a shot and it was incredible. I couldn't get enough of the precision and endless possibilities that were possible in a studio production. So decided to learn how to be the guy behind the glass. I still play my instruments daily but have really taken a turn towards the production side of things. I have been producing and mixing now for 6 years and ended up opening my own studio. I've had several projects ranging from a grandmother who wanted to record an album of lullaby's for her grand children to a heavy metal album a few months later.

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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Interview with Max Bourque

Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Do the work it takes to be great. Track a thousand takes of one part until it has the magic. Your grandkids will listen to your recordings, make them pro so that they can last and impress for generations.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: I usually work on acoustic or rock style songs.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My strongest skill is when I'm wearing the producer hat, I can hear parts and pieces that usually don't just jump out at you but sit in the back but really subtly improve the song in it's own way.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I bring skill and precision to a song. I have been playing in studios for years now and a lot of musicians who are just out and about don't have time to practice to a click or clean their chops up so that they are recording/production ready. So I can take what they hear in their head and bring it to high quality tracking really easily.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Usually I have the client come in and lay down their song with a scratch guitar and vocal. We can do 3-4 of these a day some times depending on the size of the project. Then I will take a few days to really dig into the emotion and direction of the song and put together a rough demo and email it to the client to see if they approve of the overall concept that I'm aiming towards. If they like it great, if not, back to the drawing board until we find a sound that really works.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I have a humble home studio set up. My mixing console is in my master bedroom and my live acoustic room is in another spare bedroom. Nothing fancy but digital makes anything possible even in a small space.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I'm more attracted to song writers as opposed to musicians. Musicians are a dime a dozen and some of the best ones are twelve years old on youtube. It's hard for me to be truly impressed just by raw playing. But I do look up to song writers/arrangers like John Cooper from Skillet, John Bon Jovi (who has some of the sickest bass lines ever in my opinion), and Rick Hall of Fame Studio.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly do full band work for my clients. The type of artists I usually attract can only play one instrument but want their song to sound big. So I take their acoustic track and produce it up to where it sounds like a full production piece but it's really just me and them ;)