Music Producer / Mix Engineer

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

A: I am really proud of my mini-album 'Play This at a Party' with Black Prez. It encapsulates everything about our working friendship. It's a super fun collection of songs.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm always working on new music for clients. Every day is another day to create.

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

A: Plenty of great talent on the platform... but I don't think anybody I know professionally is on here just yet. Like I said before though, always try to choose somebody who fits the style of your project.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog is expensive, but there's something about it that sounds so familiar and nostalgic. You can't fully emulate that sound but a lot of plugins come close so if you can't afford analog, you don't need it.

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

A: I promise to deliver a product to the best of my ability. I want to give my clients something we can both be proud of.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love hearing new music every day. There's something really exciting about hearing tracks before they go out to the world. I feel privileged to hear someone's private work before anybody else.

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

A: I get asked to work for exposure instead of payment a lot. Unfortunately, we've all got bills to pay therefore I only take on unpaid work for a handful of projects every year.

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

A: That you need the best gear to create good quality music. You can use the cheapest gear on the market and get incredible results these days.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I always ask what music they love and what they were listening to when they wrote the track/s. It's a good reference point for what sort of production/mix they want.

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

A: Make sure you're compatible. Not every producer is right for a project, similarly with mix engineers. I'll always be honest with a client, if I don't think the project is right for me then I'll try to help them find the right fit.

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

A: Neumann U87, Neve 1073LB, Maschine Mikro, Genelec 8050's and Komplete Kontrol.

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

A: I started off on YouTube putting out cover versions. That's where I honed my production skills. Making things quickly is part of the YouTube game which meant I learnt a lot from the mistakes I made in productions. I started my channel in 2012.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I like to keep things simple. A lot of tracks in my projects are taken up by drums and percussion. Therefore the chordal/melody elements need to be super strong.

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

A: I'd love to work with Jon Bellion. The way he reacts when he hears something he likes is infectious. I love having positive upbeat people in the studio. It makes for a great working environment.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Pop production and mixes.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: One tip which I'm trying to action myself at the moment is to remember why you initially chose a patch or preset in the first place. When you listen to something over and over again it naturally becomes less exciting. Remember that when somebody listens to the finished product they'll be hearing that sound for the first time. Basically, don't edit the life out of the original excitement.

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

A: I typically work on Pop music and then secondly Hip-Hop and Rap. I have experience with Rock as well.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I like to think I bring an element of 'if it sounds good, it stays'. It's easy to fall into the trap of trying to emulate what someone else has done, but you waste so many hours trying to do that. I try to make every song sound unique.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I like to lay everything out on the table and start piecing a track together around one element. I create as many melodies and ideas as I can think of around the original concept and then go back and delete what I don't love. In terms of mixing, I work from the low-end up using a sort of building block technique.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I do a lot inside the box. I run Logic Pro X and use primarily Native Instruments, Soundtoys & Waves plugins. I use Genelec monitors, Fender guitars and Focusrite for my I/O chain. Neve preamps are a must and you gotta have Native Instruments on the MIDI hardware.

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

A: Acts like Lauv, The 1975, LANY, and Grey inspire me. I'm big into utilising vintage sounds in modern productions.

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

A: I primarily do mixes and full productions based around an original concept or chord prog.