Remote Mixing,Composer

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

A: A stand-out is a short film I made about yo-yos that ended up winning several awards and being nominated for a BAFTA. I handled the complete creation from start to finish, including music, and it stands as one of my most expressive projects to this day.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently composing and sound designing for a documentary commissioned by Yellowstone National Park.

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

A: Not that I know of, though I may have some buddies floating around on here!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid! All the cool kids are doing it! On a serious note, it gives the best balance between sound and workflow.

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

A: I promise that you aren't going to get a cookie-cutter result that sounds like everything else. I want to know what YOU sound like, and help you achieve the best version of yourself, not a mediocre version of someone else.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love being exposed to all walks of life and all different types of creative people. Variety is what keeps me interested.

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

A: Q: How much do you charge? A: Here are my rates. Obviously, there may be some exceptions based on each project. Everyone has different needs, and I'm not against working with you to make it work for your budget.

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

A: Just because something is creatively driven doesn't mean there isn't a large amount of technical knowledge behind it. At the end of the day we still have to deliver a usable result that translates, but that should never stop us from trying the thing that excites us the most.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Who are a few artists you really love? How do you like to work? What is a movie, painting, book, etc that feels like what you want to do?

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

A: If you make decisions with the boring part of your brain, you will get boring results. Taking a risk and being a professional are not mutually exclusive.

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

A: Martin Acoustic Kali IN-5's. Ear Trumpets Labs Louise Microphone. Echoplex Mandolin

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

A: I began by playing shows as a young guitar player with my grandfather, who was a session guitar player most of his life. My father was a session drummer for most of his life, so my path seemed inevitable. Eventually, I began playing on my own as a guitar player. I went to school for a film program ( graduating in 2017 ) where I fell in love with the process of scoring the films for other students, as well as my own projects. From that, mixing became a necessity to get a great sounding result. It wasn't long before I also became obsessed with mixing. From the last year of college to now, I have worked primarily as a composer and mix engineer.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would say I am unconventional and never afraid of experimentation.

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

A: I would love to work with Blake Mills. He so thoughtfully breaks the rules of being a creative person, and the results are undeniably beautiful.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Never stop listening! Listen in your car, listen outside, listen to silence. There is music in everything.

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

A: I have worked as a slide guitarist most frequently, so there are a lot of Americana, blues, and singer-songwriter tracks I have worked on. I do not, however, like to box anyone in, because the least inspiring thing in my opinion is something that choses to be formulaic.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I am always listening. I carefully listen to new music, sound design, dialogue, et cetera to have as a reference for what sounds good. Because of this, I always have inspiration creative inspiration for that next guitar part, mix, or what have you.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring a myriad of different perspectives. I have been a session guitarist for quite a while, and eventually got caught up in the world of composing and mixing. Coming from a family of musicians, I find there are few musical situations I am not comfortable with. My main goal is to find the thing that makes you special and support that.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: While I have my templates and common work processes, I try to not to enforce too strict of a time limit on my clients. Given that I am able to assist with multiple stages of a project, I find it allows a more flexible and forgiving way to use our time as opposed to large studios that are in and out.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work out of a home studio that goes by Lighthouse here in Austin, Tx. My studio is centered around a small-format console. I am able to do work in surround in addition to the traditional stereo form-factor. I have a carefully curated and broad selection of instruments and studio gear that give me a mixture of unique sounds and high-fidelity quality.

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

A: I am a huge fan of mixers like Tchad Blake and Shawn Everett who have unique approaches to mixing, but also revere people like Bob Clearmountain and Chris Lord Alge. I am a huge Bernard Herrmann fan, and also love Danny Elfman. I find myself leaning towards creators with very signature sounds who make bold decisions.

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

A: I am most often doing either mixing, composing, and session work for my clients.