Metal Production Specialist

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

A: Isiliel's debut album, which I composed in entirety. There is so much talent on that record, including the idol and genius lyricist Himari Tsukishiro, the manager Ricky Wilson, and the producer Fredrik Nordström. The album was really well received, landed at top spots on itunes, resulted in hundreds of thousands of views on youtube, and I am both really proud of my contributions there, and in awe at the quality of everyone else's. I learned so much from it (and all the talented people I worked with), and it renewed my youthful enthusiasm for music.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My third full-length album.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog AND digital. Because a lot of analog is expensive, and I will happily do it if the budget permits.

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

A: That I take your project, your vision and your dreams very seriously.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: When the music connects, and the stuff we worked so hard to achieve pays off.

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

A: Q: Can you [do certain task]? A: Probably. Q: Can you do it by [time]? A: Yes.

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

A: That there's anything clinical or formulaic about a great song or a great mix.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I tend to ask questions relating to why the project matters and what you hope to accomplish. The rest widely depends on the project.

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

A: Be careful what you ask for; you might get it.

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

A: Tape recorder, guitar, microphone, cat, wife.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Deep and textured, yet very to the point.

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

A: Probably you, because if you're this deep into my page, it's probably because I offer something a bit unique.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: It's all about the big picture; great mixes translate to imperfect equipment because an odd frequency here and there doesn't matter. Some great mixes are built on sonic quirks. When "great music" goes undiscovered, I find that it is because it doesn't connect, which is where the majority of efforts should be placed.

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

A: All the extreme, symphonic and melodic variants - melodic death, black, etc. I typically specialize in what people call the "nordic sound" that relates to Scandinavian metal. There's a particular strand of authenticity in Western European metal of the late 90s and early 2000s that I think got the balance right.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Probably vision, seeing the big picture. Both songwriting and mixing are different aspects of that, and my personal approach stems from not seeing the sound, composition or arrangement as separate entities.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Victory.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Whatever the job is, I prefer to first and foremost understand what it is that you're really trying to do, and to figure out what your listener expects. The goal is really to figure out how you'll beat your competition in a saturated market. Depending on what type of work it is, I might spend a lot of time listening to references, or I might get straight to mixing. It might involve getting in touch with other professionals for when larger projects demand a bigger crew and directing the overall flow of the project. The most significant step, however, is taking the project for a walk in the woods to meditate on it. For mixing, I prefer to have all the files for all the tracks lined up in the same project. I spend a session arranging everything and doing the broad strokes of the mix. Subsequent sessions I prefer to keep short with frequent breaks in order to keep my ears fresh.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: That depends on the studio and what I'm working on. My composing studio is a dusty cabin-like environment by the woods. My mixing studio is a pretty surgical environment. The recording studio is in a house by the sea with lots of cool gear.

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

A: I've been doing music stuff since I was 10 (born in '95). I played in bands from 14-19. I started producing my own music around 16, others when I was 18, and from there, I've just been surrounded by cool opportunities. My first really interesting gig was working with Sylvia Massy for some local bands. Not long afterwards I was a hired gun in Earshot and Conclave for a while under Herbrand Larsen and Arve Isdalen (Enslaved). There I got the chance to meet and work with Gaahl, Tom Cato, Immortal, and many more. Over the past few years, I've written a lot of music professionally. One of them is Isiliel's debut album, for which I played the release concert in Tokyo and where I got to work with Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman. I've done a lot of remote mixing and production.

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

A: Starting out, I was mostly inspired by bands I looked up to, like In Flames, Death and Wintersun. After a while, I realized that the common denominators between my favorite bands were the producers; Fredrik Nordström, Peter Tägtgren, Jens Bogren, etc. Gaining more and more great opportunities, I got to meet and work with the producers behind the bands, and these ended up having a tremendous impact on my approach. When I got to work with Immortal, that had a huge impact on my approach to songwriting. When I got to work with Fredrik Nordström for the Isiliel project, that forever changed my approach to mixing and production. Herbrand Larsen and Arve Isdalen (Enslaved) were my music production teachers, and I worked a bit in their studio, so that naturally influenced me a lot.

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

A: I mostly write or mix metal music. As I frequently communicate and try to understand the needs of the music, I'm often tasked with big-picture production work as well.

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

A: My friend, Kristian Brynjulfsen, is great at authentic old Norse instruments, viking-esque techniques and music.