'Production/Recording/Mixing'

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

A: Every work I've done with "The Pigeonhole Project" since 2011, the single "O Xoros(The Dance)" that is a collaboration between members of ThePigeonhole Project with Alexandra Koka and some other session musicians, made me feel proud for the final result. On all these works I have done the production, recording (except drums on "O Xoros"), mixing and mastering. The reasons that these projects make me feel proud is that we achieve to create something emotional with personal character and in the end we are all happy with the final result.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Other than my two personal bands that we are planing to re-release some old albums and at the same time working on some new songs as well, I've just had a proposal from "The Pigeonhole Project" to do their new single and I have already finished the recordings with a punk rock band called "All Around Heroes" that they are interested to release a whole album. As soon as we agree to mix the album I will suggest them to join SoundBetter too.

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

A: I have a band that I have work with them in the past and they trust me. They are "The Pigeonhole Project" and we've done some interesting things with them. However I'll try to approach and other clients that I have work in the past to join SoundBetter. I believe that they will find it as interesting as I do.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both of them has their pros and cons. Nowadays, we have the luxury to use the best of both worlds. Do I need warm, fat sound with depth, etc? I choose analog. Do I need something more precise, surgical and transparent? I choose to go digital. Personally, most of the effects I use in mixing like reverb and delays are digital, but usually I prefer the "real" sound of analog equipment like EQs and compressors, tube guitar amplifiers, etc. in order to give a more special character to the sound. It always depends on the situation and the needs of the project, so every time I try to be objective.

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

A: My only promise, is that honestly I will try to do my best in order to satisfy my clients and my commitment is that I aim to give in their sound personal identity and at the same time to do the best representation of their vision.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The main reason is that I love music and then of course that this job gives me the ability to communicate with different people, share our thoughts about art and creativity and this for me is what I call the beauty of real life experience.

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

A: One of the most common things that many customers ask (especially those who are in the beginning of their career) is if I can make their record to sound similar to other famous artists' work. My answer always is that I have no problem with that and it's my job to give my clients what they are looking for in order to make them happy, but on the other hand, I try to explain to my customers that it's not going to sound exactly the same, because every link in the signal chain matters and every musician has it's own unique. The magic in everything we do is our personal character that is being reflected in our work. This is what the listeners want to hear, so they can recognize your work. This is your mark.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I believe that style reflects our character, so it totally depends on what I feel when listening to a song. Sometimes my productions can be described as dark or aggressive, sometimes open, clear, mellow, etc. The point is that I do more focus to the emotional content of the song and that leads me to decide how close or distant the artist wants to be from the listener and I try to give that sense. Usually, I tend to not make excessive use of compression without having a good reason to do it, because I believe that dynamics reflects the passion of the musician and I want the listener to perceive that. Also, I never was a fan of creating too much distance between the music and the listener. Most of the times I prefer a clear and dynamic production that is close to the listener. I admit that I love the days of warm analog recordings and I believe that analog sound is 'more real', but that is of course a personal opinion. If I want to describe my style I think it's a combination of instinct movements driven by emotion and the final result is an inspiration based on the impact that the song has on me.

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

A: Whatever it is recording, mixing or mastering some people believe that a professional engineer can make wonders. That is not always true. The final result will be as good as the weakest link in the chain. For example: If they are not good players or don't have good instruments we are ain't going to do a good recording. If the recording is not good, it can not be fixed it in the mix and if a mix is not good it can not be fixed in the mastering process. Unfortunately, sometimes even people with knowledge and experience tend to have these expectations.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: First of all I would like to know their musical influences and discuss about their favorite sounding records. Then I ask questions that has to do with their current project and try to understand their vision.

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

A: Two of the most important advises: 1. Always work with passion and make sure that first of all you love your song as a listener, before you decide to hire a professional, 2. Be open to new ideas and suggestions because it is possible to discover a different opinion you may like about "how it's going to sound".

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

A: It's really difficult to choose only 5, but maybe I would take (assuming it has electricity): 1.a computer, 2. an audio interface, 3. a pair of speakers, 4. a microphone, 5. a guitar

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

A: I've started to take guitar and vocal lessons at the age of 10. Sometimes I feel that music is all my life because I remember listen to music even before I was 5. Until I've finished school I was playing in many rock bands, but seriously, I've started to work as a professional engineer and musician at clubs and open live venues when I finished college, in 2006. At the same time I've started to work in studio with some musicians and two years later, I built my own small, but professional project studio. Since then, I didn't stop studying, watching seminars and work in my personal studio and sometimes as a session producer/engineer in other famous studios in Greece.

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

A: I don't have any problem to work with everyone that is talented and loves to make good music. I'm not the person that chooses to work with specific artists, everyone has his/her own personality. I pay attention to the songs. If I like the song and have great communication with the artist, then I'm happy.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: First, you have to listen with your heart, not only with your ears. That way you will discover more effective ways to achieve better sonic results. If you know what you want, then it's easy to get there. The equipment is always important, but the most important are some simple things that when combined can make wonders. These are: talent, perception, personal aesthetic, knowledge and experience.

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

A: In my career I have done almost any type of music, but usually I work on everything is being associated with rock music. To be more specific that includes: alternative rock, pop rock, grunge, classic rock, classic heavy or modern metal, punk rock, hardcore and lately acoustic rock ballads.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is that I use my technical skills as an engineer to serve music and serve music as music artist. That's what music production is all about.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: 1. Character in order to stand out from the mass, 2. Sonic clarity in order to be pleasing to listen to it and 3. Excitement in order to express artist's vision with the most interesting way. All these elements that are needed to create a classic hit.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When I produce a song the first thing to do is to understand what the artist's trying to express with his work and then I try to transform these feelings into sounds. The same goes when I 'm mixing or mastering a song: the first thing I do is to listen carefully to the song, in order to feel the vibe and understand artist's vision. So I start with editing and everything else if needed like tuning, quantize and the next thing I do is to listen again and figure out what is needed to be fixed. In this phase the most important thing is to understand what the song needs and then it's easy to choose the tools you need to give it life.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: My current setup includes: Computer: Apple Mac Pro with 2 x Quad-Core at 3.0GHz, Memory 18GB, HDD 2 x 500GB / D.A.W.: Avid Pro-Tools HD-10 with 192 i/o AD/DA Converters / Mic-Pres: AMS Neve 1073 DPA and Millenia HV-3D / Analog Gear: Empirical Labs Distressor EL-8X, Teletronix LA-2A, Manley Massive Passive EQ / Monitors: Focal Solo 6Be / Microphones: AKG, Electrovoice, Neumann, Sennheiser, Shure, Solomon Mics, etc. / Cables: Vovox / Musical Instruments: Fender American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul Custom, Fender American Deluxe Jazz Bass V (Ash body), Fender Americal Deluxe Jazz Bass V (Alder Body), Martin D-42, Tama Acoustic Drum Kit, Korg MIDI Keyboard / Amplifiers & Cabinets: Mesa/Boogie Mark IV Rev. B Widebody combo, Mesa/Boogie Roadking II head, Mesa/Boogie Recto Traditional 4x12 cab, Ampeg SVT Heritage 50th Anniversary Head, Ampeg SVT 8x10 Heritage cab / DI & Reamp Boxes: Radial J48, Radial X-AMP / Many plug-ins and virtual instruments.

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

A: I grew up listening to pop, rock, punk and heavy metal music and later I discovered and other music genres that I also liked such as: House, E.D.M., Reggae, Hip-Hop, R'N'B and generally any kind of music, when something is really good it doesn't matter. In the beginning of my career, I was inspired by many engineers and producers that do rock and metal music, but there are so many great professionals out there, that it wouldn't be fair to choose only a few.

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

A: The most common type of work I do is to produce a whole song/album. That includes recording, editing, mixing, mastering. Sometimes I help the artist work on the arrangement, the structure or the groove of the song, or help singers with vocal melodies and everything is needed not only to achieve professional results, but also to create songs with impact. My primary aim is not only to achieve sound perfection, but to create a unique emotional experience for the listener.