Frank O'Sullivan on SoundBetter

Top quality electric, acoustic, and nylon string guitar recordings. Proficient in all styles, specializing in rnb-soul, funk, jazz, hip hop, afro-beat, rock, pop. Fast turn-around time, will provide creative and varied options for guitar parts on a song.

I'm a freelance guitarist, working professionally in Montreal for the last ten years. I'm a Berklee College of Music graduate and have extensive international touring experience.
I have a professional studio quality recording rig at home and can provide guitar recordings for any style or context, whether it be lush chords, tight rhythmic single note melodies, saturated guitar effects, or lead solo parts. I'm a composer/songwriter/producer as well, so my contribution to your recording with include varied options with the intent of helping shape the sound or vibe of a song, as opposed to just "adding guitar".
Versatility and diversity is my greatest strength, though I most commonly work in the rnb-soul, jazz, funk, hiphop aesthetics.

Send me a note through the contact button above.

Credits

1 Reviews - 1 Repeat Client

Endorse Frank O'Sullivan

by Hudomir
Verified
Amazing guitar player. Recommend!

Interview with Frank O'Sullivan

Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: My own music.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What's your vision? Do you have references?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Have a clear vision you can communicate well. Provide references.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I graduated from Berklee in 2012, and have since made a living performing, recording, and teaching music. Before the pandemic most of my income was from live performance and tours, and I'm now putting more time, energy, and resources into my home studio to have more work recording guitar remotely.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Depending on the context, I can bring a lot of different things to a song. I can give it that last sparkle or shine it needs before going out into the world, or I can provide it with the foundation on which it'll be built.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I'll usually put a track on loop and just vibe with it until something sticks. Then I develop and refine that idea, which might then inspire a new idea, and I just follow that thread until it runs out.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: My setup is minimalistic but effective and sounds great. I work with the Apollo Solo interface from Universal Audio, with Ableton Live as my digital audio workstation. The plugin I most often use is the Neural DSP Cory Wong Archetype, and I use pedals for any other effects I need.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: My first LP as a composer bandleader was the most creatively fulfilling and rewarding project I've ever worked on because it was my first time honouring my own artistic voice in such an overt and unsubtle way.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Seb Perry for mixing services.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital because I'm not a gear head.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I promise that I'll do absolutely everything in my power to provide the song with what it needs to realize its full potential.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Music is what I love and trust most in this life, so I love that it's what I do for a living.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: -"Can you record some guitar on this?" -"Yes"
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I'm not sure...
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: A nylon string guitar, an upright piano, an upright bass, a drum set, and a trumpet.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Rooted in the blues, flourishing in all directions from there.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Miguel Atwood Ferguson, because I love his arranging style and incorporation of strings in modern hiphop/jazz. He's a modern day Gil Evans and I want to learn from him.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Be open minded and check your ego.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: neo-jazz, neo-soul, rnb, hip hop, jazz, funk, pop.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My proficiency on my instrument, my ears, and my intuition.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Pomo, Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Tom Misch, Mansur Brown, Jairus Mozee, Nile Rogers, Isaiah Sharkey, George Benson, Robert Glasper, Q-Tip, Miguel Atwood Ferguson, Big Yuki, Mononeon, Louis Cole.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: A producer or artist will send me an instrumental of an unfinished beat/song, and I'll record between three to five different options of what I think I could bring to the song. Sometimes the producer/artist will send me references to give me an idea of the type of guitar they're looking for.