Mix Engineer

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

A: How long will it take? The answer is that it depends on how much work I have on my plate at the moment. I generally order my projects on a first in, first out, basis. I don't cut corners and I won't hurry through someone else's project just to get to yours. After all, you wouldn't want me to hurry through YOUR record just to get to someone else's would you? I treat everyone with same respect and dedication and I treat ever record like it's my own baby. I do offer rush jobs, but I don't sacrifice other projects - I sacrifice time with my family in order to turn them around quickly. After I send a mix for you to listen to, the ball's in your court and you pretty much determine how long it will take based upon how long it takes you to listen and get back to me with either approval, or some revision notes. If I get revision notes in the morning, I typically send a new mix the same day. If I get them in the late afternoon or evening, they are generally the first thing I do the following morning before anything else.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is definitely bringing the emotion to the forefront of the record and making it sound like a hit, consistently. Almost anyone can make a technically good sounding record if they have a room like mine to work in and if they spend a few weeks/months/years tweaking and tweaking and tweaking until they are blue in the face. But making a mix that oozes emotion - that's something that you can either do or you can't... and I can definitely do it.

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

A: I'm most inspired by the independent or unsigned artists that I work with. They tend to be more passionate about their music because there is typically nobody watching over them trying to water down what they are doing. It's their pure creativity. And it's their own money they've put into their project instead of a major label's so they REALLY believe in it. And when you make a hit record without any major label promotion, then you KNOW you've made something special and earned it on the merits.

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

A: I played in a popular band in high school and soon after got my (rather rough) introduction to the music biz working with the Backstreet Boys. A few years later I threw caution to the wind and went full-time making records in the music biz. In addition to making records, I also successfully ran two record labels for a few years (not at the same time, obviously), one of which culminated in a joint venture with Universal. Eventually my reputation for mixing got big enough that I started putting production on the back burner. It's always mixing that I have loved more than any other part of the record making process.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like clients to tell me as much as they possibly can about them and their record. I don't mind reading a few pages of info. Aside from any technical info that I need to complete the record, I want to know what the artist/band was feeling when they made the record. What was their inspiration. If it's inspired by real life events, by all means tell me the backstory (I can keep a secret if necessary... you'd be amazed at what artists have told me). The more info I have that allows me to connect emotionally and build it into something even bigger for the final product, the better. To be honest, I'm a very empathetic person and usually I can get that without the artist saying anything at all to me, but it's certainly helpful to have (the most common mix instructions I get are "just make it sound like a hit!" and nothing more, believe it or not).

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

A: Listen to the records I've mixed and make sure I'm a match for you. Although I mix a variety of genres, you'll find underlying themes in all of them. An emphasis on melody, impact, and most of all, emotion emotion emotion. Why so much emotion? Because I've been an exec. on the record label side of the business and I know first hand that's what sells records more than anything: conveying emotion to the listener.

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

A: I don't know if it counts as gear, but the acoustics of my room. Hands down that is THE most important thing. Beyond that, honestly, the gear doesn't make the records - the people do. As long as I have a decent EQ, a decent compressor, a decent mic pre and a decent mic, I'm good. I'm assuming musicians come along with the package. If they don't, then I'll take 5 great musicians/songwriters and no gear.

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

A: I will bust my ass for you. I'm passionate about every project I work on. Your song is your baby and I'll treat it like it's my own baby while it's in my care.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being the icing on the cake. It's not MY record; it's YOUR record. I'm just here to make it sound better than you believed it could ever sound.

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

A: That you can do this with your home computer and a couple grand worth of software. You can't. Mixing records at this level requires a great amount of skill.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I view myself as being an emotional amplifier. Whatever emotion the artist/band is putting out, I view my job as taking that emotion and cranking it up to 11. I've learned a billion tricks over the years to do that from a technical standpoint, but it starts with my heart. After listening to the rough and getting direction from the artist, I follow my heart.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't record so loud! If you are recording at 24 bits leave PLENTY of headroom. There's no good reason to have things peaking above -6dBFS on the way in. And honestly, it will sound better too. Seriously.

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

A: The most common work I do is mix and it is my bread and butter. I literally mix records every single day of the week Monday through Friday. I try to save my weekends for my family.