Music Producer & Engineer

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

A: People think a producer is just someone who makes beats or hits record. No, a real producer is so much more than that. A producer often has more vision than the artist does and their job is entirely based around fulfilling the void between the music's creation, and its eventual release. It means being a therapist when you have to or assigning another engineer to do a job because they're an expert at it. It's about making sure the music gets what it deserves, and not just hitting a record button and getting paid for it.

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

A: Don't choose me or anyone else based on gear or flashy tactics. This is about pairing you with the right person. If you choose someone because of their name, then don't expect anything more than a write off to pay the bills from that person. You need to hire people who genuinely care and understand your music. This has burned too many artists including some of my clients who decided to go with a 'big name mixer'.

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

A: I started recording demos as a kid in 2007. I got my first Mac desktop computer and quickly got drawn to Garageband. As I got older and started playing in bands in high school, I was always experimenting with recording and putting out music. I picked up my first "real" client in 2014, which then followed by going to school for it in 2015. Since graduating, I've been doing it ever since on a professional level.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm a bit of a chameleon, I don't rest too heavily on one type of sound. But if I had to nail it down, I like modern productions that are REAL. That doesn't always mean playing live or ditching programmed drums. It means utilizing whatever tools necessary to evoke the emotion out of the music.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Please for the love of God be yourself. Don't copy others, learn from them. I've watched some of the greatest producers and engineers of all time do their work, and the funny thing is nothing they were doing was out of the ordinary. What they all excelled in was creating something that was undeniably them and cultivating a sense of identity through serving the needs of the music. There is no secret sauce plugin that will help you, only results.

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

A: Mainly rock and metal because that's what I grew up with, but I do enjoy working on pop, hip hop, rnb, alternative, folk, etc. A song is a song and if I'm feeling it, no matter the genre, that's all that counts.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Seeing things for what they really are. It's easy as a songwriter to attach themselves to a piece of music, but people hire me to give them a REAL opinion, not just sugarcoated statements. I learned that every song has a maximum potential, you'll always write a better one the more you do it. It's about finding which ones execute this potential and not just falling back on music just because it exists.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Before I hit record, I like to have real conversations with clients. I want to get to know them and identify what their long-term goals are. Some people believe that every record is going to be their greatest work yet, but I'm under the mindset that you're whole career is really one giant body of work. Records are stepping stones, and so I want to make sure we're paving away the right path, not setting unrealistic expectations off the bat. Finding that silver lining between comfort and working outside the box is really where I'm at, and that's why everything I do revolves around maintaining that avenue for the artist.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a private studio in my home where I do the bulk of my work. It's a modest setup, but it's equipped with gear that I trust and has worked for me over the last half a decade. When I want to go bigger, my home is at Lynx Music. Lynx is fully equipped to handle every situation and has top of the line outboard preamps as well as your industry standard UAD conversion. It's a comfortable space with lots of vibe, and pricing is very flexible.