Steven Mullan on SoundBetter

Nashville-based. Beginner or advanced artists welcome: you don't need to know a lot of technical stuff. Describe what you want to express in feelings, colors, vibes, places, melodies, or artists you like, and I'll find the sound(s) to add to your music. I'm to help you enjoy being yourself through music.

What do you want to express? What inspires you? How do you want your music to make people feel?

I like to approach things like I'm painting, layering sounds and textures to fit the mood that best fits your art. I'm a sensitive and open person and hope to help you feel comfortable and heard through the creative process.

I trained as a classical singer and composer, have sung abroad in operas, collaborated with songwriters overseas, played in numerous Nashville based acts and touring bands, worked as a session player in Nashville studios and with independent projects, and I have completed building my own studio within the last two years. I'm continuing to record and produce my own projects and look forward to bringing 16 years of experience and care to your music.

My artist project is called Thunder Lily! Listen on streaming services or bandcamp if you want to explore more of my work.

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

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Languages

English
German
Italian
Spanish

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Interview with Steven Mullan

Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: It doesn't matter...in the end...it's all expression. My preference is to make music with my ears and not my eyes, so I stay away from a screen as much as possible
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I will care and be honest and kind
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Helping others, discovering new sounds, and finding different ways of expressing an idea or emotion
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What artists are you currently inspired by? What inspired this song?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: It's a really sensitive and exciting process to make art of any kind, and my only advice would be to keep learning.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Pop, pop-rock, and singer-songwriter productions
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Openness and personality, I'd like to say. I have many years of experience experimenting with sounds and studying music.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I like to start by talking with the artist a bit about where the song came from, inspiration, and goals. Then I sit and listen to the song, chart it out, and begin building a track.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I run all the instruments through a Harrison console, and I'm setup to easily explore sounds...anything from running a drum machine through a guitar amp to building a tone by layering multiple keyboards to singing into my leslie cabinet.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Passionate, kind people. Right now, I'm listening to a lot of Sufjean Stevens', Prince, J Dilla, Andrew Bird, Tingsek, St. Vincent, Tame Impala, Dr. John, and Penguin Prison. My roots are in classical music as an opera singer, so I love listening Debussy, Schubert, Schumann, and
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: *Production: I like to have a basic acoustic track of a song (piano/vocal or guitar/vocal or just vocal) and build a production around that. Anything from full songs to even a poem or instrumental that you'd like me to add music underneath. In addition to the instruments that I play, I also work with a lot of wonderful session musicians here in Nashville. **Keyboards/Programming/Overdubs: most clients come to me for synth work and programming to add dimension/color to their productions