Singer/songwriter/Mix Engineer

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I don't think my "style" can be easily pinpointed. "The versatility is strong with this one". I could be sliding on an RnB joint at 10, 1PM i could be making a drake inspired melodic tune, And by 5PM I could be doing a cover of "Body like a backroad" then switch from that country vibe to a "hello" cover by Adele.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Be confident in yourself and your ability. Trust your ears and your instincts. Writers block is nothing more than perfectionism.

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

A: It really depends on what sparks my emotions while browsing through my beats. I'm big on getting vulnerable and being relatable while still making something catchy.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My versatility for sure. I've been quoted as saying (I promise I'm a very humble person) "Can spit a bar like I'm Kendrick then hold note a note like Adele".

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

A: That would hands down be my more recent project titled "Windows'" which is my 6th full length project in the last decade.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My second collaboration album with the grammy winning Producer, Jayson "KoKo" Bridges. Who is a huge inspiration and he Chose me to do this album so its an honor to make it happen!

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

A: Jamal "PG" Brown. But since im just now starting out here id love to network with more Musical talent and make sure that we're all eating.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital because it is more readily available and far more reliable, as where analogue can fail or be physically damaged. Plus the sheer convenience of doing a lot of things digital.

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

A: To be %100 transparent with them about how i feel about the project no matter what, but you can bet on the fact that i don't stop working until any project im involved with, much less a clients until it meets, or exceeds their highest expectations.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love to watch an idea turn into an amazing piece of finished Art, and being able to get anything off my chest through that microphone its my therapy.

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

A: Depending On which side of the microphone im on its different, If im doing a feature i get frequently asked to promote the song as much as i would a song of my own because they don't know how to market themselves. Now if im engineering I typically get asked if i can revise something more then originally agreed to (which extends the Studio Session therefore pushing the schedule back.)

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

A: That its super easy, That its not very time consuming and repetitive. But being an artist i understand what its like to be the artist coming to an engineer and knowing what to expect.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What DAW do you record in? Do you know how to export WAV stems? Do you have an example/reference of what they are looking for particularly, like an older track that they liked how it was engineered the most because it was exactly what they wanted.

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

A: Always look for someone and decide on an individual that understands what you want your finished product to be, and will work with you to find that perfect finished product and make sure they are seeing the same vision as you!

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

A: Macbook Pro, Apollo twin Interface, Neumann U87, Beyerdynamic DT770 pros (headphones), Kali Audio LP-6 Monitors. Id be set.

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

A: I Served in the United States Navy for 10 years and was stationed in Hawaii as an active duty sailor, went on 4 deployments around the world, but i have been making music and working with the engineering part of the process for the last 13 years now, meanwhile I've been funding myself with all my studio time until i finally bought about $8000 in professional equipment, and started doing everything on my own.

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

A: Top artist id love to work with is Joyner Lucas, He has the most diverse catalogue and his work ethic strongly inspired me and so did the way he made it happen instead of waiting for his "chance".

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring versatility and vulnerability. I bring a fresh and often unexplored perspective. I bring the ability to tie a track together and make it sound complete.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I find it very difficult to leave a session partially complete. Pro Tools closes with the song in one of three stages; either 1) just a beat because I couldn't come up with anything within the first 10 minutes or so, 2) fully layered hook with no verses because I wasn't in the verse-writing mood or 3) totally finished and fine-tuned down to the last adlib.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Neumann TLM103, Apollo Twin USB, PreSonus E5, ATH-M50x, Logic Pro X, Pro Tools, Waves, Slate Digital, Melodyne 5, AutoTune Unlimited, Izotope RX9 and Nectar.

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

A: Of course I drew inspiration from Drake and the other artists I grew up listening to but Jayson "KoKo" Bridges has, hands down, been the most inspirational person in my music career.

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

A: The one thing I don't do is make beats. The most frequent repeat-offenders on my workload are performing hooks and verses which are often accompanied by a mix and master of the track.