Remote Session Drummer

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

A: I have been fortunate to have been doing music professionally for the past 12 years. During college, I started playing gigs and recording professionally with a wide variety of different artists and just have not stopped! In addition to playing live and recording, I teach private lessons.

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

A: I'd love to work with John Mayer. John is arguably one of the greatest guitar players and song writers over the past decade. Also, he has worked with all of my favorite drummers over the years.

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

A: I typically work on pop, pop rock, indie, singer-songwriter, jazz and anything adjacent.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First, I always discuss the direction of the production with the artist. Once we develop a game plan, I will chart the song and then pick drums and microphones I think will work best for the production. After that I'll start setting levels and checking phase. From there I will start tracking takes until I land on something I am happy with. I always send clients reference mixes during the recording process to get any feedback on things they may be hearing. I'll repeat that process until both myself and the client are happy with what we have. From there, I export dry stems, as well as processed stems to give the client the option of what they want to then work off of. I also send a stereo print of my drum bus as well. Everything goes to Google Drive and you will get an attachment to download all your stems!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I currently am running a ProTools on an iMac. My rig consists of a RME Fireface 800 interface, Audient asp880, and a FMR Audio Preamp. My room is fairly small, but it is well treated with both absorption and diffusion from GIK Acoustics. I have a wide variety of both modern and vintage drum sets to choose from, as well as a plethora of snare drums and cymbals. I also have a wide variety of different microphones for different sonic choices. Whatever sound your songs requires, I have the gear to make it happen!

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

A: I am constantly inspired by other session drummers such as Aaron Sterling, Dan Bailey, Matt Chamberlian, and Blair Sinta (just to name a few). I love the way they each bring their own unique voice to the music they play on. Additionally, I am really fascinated by Eric Valentine's approach to production; especially they way he records and mixes drums.

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

A: I record live drums/percussion for a variety of artists and bands. I either replace existing demo/programmed drums that artists have composed, or I'll work with the artist directly to compose parts for their music.