Mixing/Mastering, Guitarist

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

A: That would be an EP I produced for my own band that made it possible to play more shows and got us attention from labels.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Right now I'm finishing an EP for a small Berlin-based Pop/Rock band

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

A: Currently not.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: For me: digital. Because it's faster, editing is a lot easier, it's cheaper and, with the newest technology, it sounds almost as good.

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

A: I'll spend as much time i possibly can to make the end result the best I can.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Hearing new songs every day and being able to help somebody make their song come to life.

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

A: I often get asked if I could have the finished product by the end of the day. To which I'd answer, yes, but it would not be as good as the product I'd finish tomorrow.

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

A: 1. you can fix everything in the mix. 2. mixing = mastering

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I almost ask for some sort of reference track and what exactly "mixing" or "mastering" means to them.

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

A: I'd say that a customer should shop around a bit and take offers from multiple providers.

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

A: My '52 Reissu Telecaster, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, my computer, a small Interface and headphones.

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

A: I started classical Spanish guitar when I was ten and started to write my own songs on the electric guitar when I was 14. Then I just started recording myself in my bedroom and decided to visit the SAE Institute of Berlin. After receiving my Audio Engineering Diploma I started recording and producing more and more up to this day.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I like to keep things natural and make them sound realistic. I'm not a fan of (too much) autotune or perfectly quantized drums. Of course I'll correct things if they need to be corrected, but to me drums should sound like their played by a real drummer

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

A: I'd like to work with a band called "dredg". In my opinion their album "catch without arms" is the best sounding rock record of all time.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Try to capture the best performance possible and don't try to fix it in the mix.

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

A: Anything from Pop to Rock to Noise to Metal is welcome. Or more easily said: "Guitar Music"

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I'm open to any idea the client has, mix every song like it is my own and I'm able to come up with guitar parts quickly.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I'm not afraid to think outside the box and like to add unusual stuff to a song. Like a tempo change or even playing certain parts in 7/8 for example. With that being said, tactics like these are used accordingly when their needed. Every song is different and needs different treatment.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depending on what type of job I'm doing, I like to listen to the band/the song first to get familiar with the material. After that, based on the budget I'll choose the fitting gear to record. While mixing, I like to work closely with the client and will do up to three revisions to ensure their happy with how it turned out. Generally speaking, the client comes first.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I'm running Pro Tools 12 an a 15" mid 2015 Macbook Pro Retina. I'm using a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 as my interface and my plug-ins include Waves, Native Instruments, the Slate Everything Bundle, etc.

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

A: My biggest inspiration is probably Kurt Ballou. Although he produces very heavy and technical songs, he still manages to keep the song sounding natural.

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

A: I mostly do everything at once. I help writing the song, I record it, produce it, edit it, mix it and master it.