Mixing, Mastering, Production

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I pretty much always record to Pro Tools. In today's music, precision editing and digital post processing is so important, and while tape and hardware recorders are cool, the flexibility of a modern DAW is critical. On the flip side, I love hardware synths and outboard mixing processors, like compressors and EQs. Software instruments and plugins are better than ever, but I find that I make decisions differently when I'm working with physical knobs. Whether or not there's still a significant quality difference between hardware pieces and their digital counterparts, I do end up with very different results when working with analogue equipment

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For mixing, I like to listen to the artist's rough mix while setting up my Pro Tools session. I can usually decide on what my approach to the mix will be while listening; if I'll be mixing mostly analogue or if the song will benefit more from the finer precision of a hybrid of digital and analogue processes. I like to spend a few hours in the morning and early afternoon mixing alone, then I love to either set up a call with the artist or have the artist come to the studio in the late afternoon. My goal is to have a mix 90% done, so when the artist has their first listen, we can focus solely on the more creative decisions about how to make the mix pop. For mastering, I similarly like to load a session with all the songs being mastered, and sit back and listen to everything before doing any work. The mixes and the songs speak to my artistic approach to the mastering. From there, I like to pick the song that I feel has the most in common sonically with the rest of the EP/album, and work on that one first. Once I have a sense for where that song wants to go, I can go through and see how I can make the outliers feel more unified with that song. As a producer, my approach varies so widely based on genre, but it almost always starts with a conversation about the direction of the music and with listening to demos, and letting the songs lead the way

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

A: Fiona Apple, Nigel Godrich, Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Mitski, Dave Fridmann, Adrianne Lenker, Ben Frost, Tchad Blake. I love when artists can time and time again surprise me with what they create

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Whether I'm mixing, mastering, producing, or recording a project, the most important question for me is what other artists the client is listening to. Even if their references are wide ranging or disparate to the client's music, that gives me a frame of reference for the sound world that the artist is used to hearing, and what they might want from our collaboration

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

A: My Ex Machina Quasar monitors, my computer, an Apollo interface, my Neumann U67, and my Teenage Engineering OP1. You can do so much with just a computer these days, as long as you have an accurate way to hear what you're doing and to capture great ideas

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If you or a collaborator has an idea that you think might not work or might sound bad, keep an open mind and explore it. Try to understand what aspect of that idea might work, or what aspects of it are important. I'm often wrong about thinking an idea won't work. Even if it doesn't end up working, it might lead you to another idea that everyone likes even better

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: One of the most important elements that I bring to a song is my deep understanding of so many different types of music. Regardless of whether I'm working on a more straight ahead indie folk project or a niche experimental project, I consider myself pretty well informed about a lot of stylistic decisions and facets of the music. I find that that knowledge very often comes through with unrelated musical styles in unexpected ways, and can bring out new and exciting qualities in a project

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I think my strongest skill is that I'm detail oriented, both in the mixing and mastering process, and ensuring that the artist is getting everything they need out of our collaboration

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My studio is set up around my vintage analogue console, a Neotek Elite. I'm using Ex Machina Soundworks Quasar monitors, which are extremely detailed, so I can make the most informed decisions possible for the music I work on. I have several racks full of high end and lo-fi-but-cool analogue processors that help me shape the sound in interesting and colorful ways. On either side of my console are a rack of synths, one patch cable away from being ready to record, and a rack of guitars and basses, which can be patched to an amp anywhere in the studio, if the artist would rather record in the control room. Every detail of the studio is designed to maximize creativity for the artist, and to not slow down their process