Recording, Mixing, & Mastering

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

A: While I didn't do any production or audio stuff on the project, I drove overnight to Baltimore in 2017 to record tenor sax on Bumpin Uglies' 'Beast From The East' record. One of the songs, "All in Stride," also featured Ted Bowne from Passafire, and was the first song I was involved with to hit 1,000,000 streams. I had been (and still am) a tremendous fan of both Bumpin Uglies and Passafire, and getting to work with them was incredibly inspiring.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Well, I just moved to Nashville from Ohio, so right now I'm trying to meet people and integrate into this beautiful city's music scene, and figure out where my new favorite dive bar is gonna be lol. I have some work leftover from before I moved that I'm wrapping up too, mixes and masters for a Christian alt hip-hop EP, a pop-punk/80's metal-hybrid full length, and an indie-rock EP.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: The convenience of digital is undeniable. Automatic recall of literally everything is incredible, and being able to confidently mix a record in a hotel room, or in my usual case, in a dressing room in between shows, is just such an amazing reality. That being said, I do have some secret analog sauce that I make sure ALL of my mixes get before the final send off ;)

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

A: I promise we're gonna have fun creating great music in a safe and friendly environment, and also obviously make millions and millions of dollars.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: That I get to help people create art! Seeing the look on someone's face when they're listening tangibly to something that may have only existed in their head, exactly as they pictured it, is incredible. I also love getting to constantly meet new people and develop new relationships.

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

A: Have a discussion about your project. Provide references of songs you like that you're aiming for the sound of. The more specific, the better. Look for someone that CARES about you and wants to help you succeed.

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

A: Macbook Pro (I assume that has to count??) Interface Beyerdynamic DT770s Nord Stage 2 Shure sm7b (not my fav mic, but it'd handle the shitty desert wind well lol) (if there's already a computer/interface set up to record, then add in a Fender P Bass and a Tele too)

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

A: I've been getting paid to record artists since 2011. I was a very inexperienced junior in high school doing pretty sub par recordings haha. But that led to making mistakes and learning from them and growing pretty early on for me, and I'm thankful for that! In college I was generally fully booked with clients while taking classes, and in 2016, created an LLC for my studio and got a real business license. In 2018 I began doing corporate performance work, playing in bands at theme parks in Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina for 2-4 months at a time. This would take up roughly May-December each year, and these gigs typically had a lot of downtime where I was able to make great friends with other phenomenal musicians and mix/master projects that I had recorded while I'd be home in Youngstown from Jan-May each year. This cycle lasted from fall 2018 to Jan 2022, when I decided to move to Nashville to more heavily focus on studio work.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing. I think I can make a good mix out of just about any decently-done recording. And while I'm still very confident with recording, mastering, producing, and all the instruments I play, Mixing has always stood out to me and the cream of the Frank crop.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: In terms of production, I think I'm very good at adding filler to songs: extra tucked in synths, chopped up heavily effected drum loops, buried guitars to add weight to the final chorus... that kinda stuff. Its easy to overdo as well, and I think I'm good at knowing when to keep buttering the bread and when to walk away, you know? In terms of mixing, I think I've got a very clean workflow and a Billy Decker-esque template setup that works well with most songs, allowing most of the time to be spent accentuating the vibe the artist wants, instead of technical "mixing."

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

A: Oh, it's all so wildly across the board, buckle up! I grew up a huge fan of Green Day, which led me to a heavy relationship with pop-punk and all of those different offshoots you inevitably get into as a pop-punk kid in high school-- emo, easycore, metalcore, punk, etc. Then I ended up sticking to the path of ska-punk in the likes of Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto, & Less Than Jake. I discovered Sublime and that segued into all sorts of reggae sub-genres, particularly American reggae like Rebelution, Dirty Heads, and Slightly Stoopid, and let to my extensive performing and recording with Tropidelic and Bumpin' Uglies. Simultaneously I was going to school at Youngstown State University in Ohio for music performance and recording, and there I discovered and quickly became heavily influenced by a lot of jazz/fusion/funk/soul along the lines of Snarky Puppy, Cory Henry, Moonchild, and Vulfpeck. Towards the end of college I got hugely into The 1975 and they quickly became one of my favorite bands of all time, and opened my world up to more indie pop and pop-rock bands like The Band CAMINO, Nightly, and The Wldlife, who remain heavy influences for my current band, Ravine. I've played a lot of contracted corporate gigs at theme parks, where you're placed into a band with other people you may or may not know, and have to generally play the same show (whatever they decide the set list will be) 3-6 times a day up to 6 days a week. Having no choice in a lot of the content of this music, I've learned to find things to love in every genre, and I feel that I'm pretty well equipped to work on whatever you might need, regardless of whether it's something I'm used to or not. In terms of music production professionals, I grew up with a big admiration of Chris Lorde Alge's "do WHATEVER" you need to get the sound you want attitude, and I love the Sylvia Massy's creative approaches to nailing recordings. I've also gotten big into Billy Decker recently-- his speed and precision is something I work each day to match.

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

A: I mostly do full song production. I've typically worked with artists, generally bands, that have already written music and have a good idea for what they want. Then we'll have a bit of a discussion about their ideas and goals, they'll come in and track it, I'll take on a producer role and share my ideas accordingly, and then I'll generally mix and master the project and send it back. I'm more than happy to just fill certain roles too, like JUST mixing a song, for example. I've done a good bit of work that entailed just mastering, but otherwise it's usually either that or the full process.