Vocals, Songwriting, Guitars

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid. I don’t know anyone using just one, and I wouldn’t trust them if they did.

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

A: To try my best. That’s usually more than enough.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love music. It’s the only part of my life where I feel at peace, and like I’m doing what I should be doing. I love bringing joy to people with music, either clients or with my band.

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

A: Most customers ask me if I can make their song sound like a song that’s completely different from their’s with just the vocals. The answer is not usually. Usually the track plays the biggest part of the sound.

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

A: That I can just turn on the computer and sing a few takes. It takes hours to get everything set up, warm my voice up, sing many takes, comp, edit and print. I take my time to deliver the best I can.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you hoping to get out of my performance and this song? Are you making it for yourself or an audience? Are you open to collaboration and suggestions about how to get your track to where you want it to be?

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

A: Be honest about what your track does and doesn’t have. If you want it to sound a certain way, ask yourself and your team working on it how to make it like that. As a singer, I can give great performances but many times you need the track to provide the sound and energy you’re looking for before you bring in a singer.

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

A: My J-50, AP strat, a 1965 les paul, my Manley, the best interface and computer out there.

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

A: I’ve been singing since I was 5. I started with the Ragazzi Boys Choir, which was intense and led to quite a few tours. Then I majored in music at Fordham while starting a solo project. After that I moved to LA in 2015, and started Victory Kid, picking up work with SoundLife Academy, Songlorious and Tunedly.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: As a singer, I’d say I sound a lot like Ryan Key from Yellowcard.

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

A: As a singer, I’d love to do a features with bands like Zebrahead, Stand Atlantic, Goldfinger, etc. there are so many though.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Mess around with transformers. If you don’t like the signal going into your interface straight, it’s not going to be better going through a fancy hardware piece or a bunch of plugins. Get the signal sounding right from the start.

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

A: Pop-punk, absolutely

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Songwriting. I listen to music as a writer first, then figure out what I want to hear. If the writing isn’t there, chances are no amount of production can save it.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My attention to detail combined with talented mentors allow me to always find the sound I’m looking for. Sometimes this includes working with flexible clients on making changes to aspects of the song I’m not working on to make it better as a whole. If that’s not welcome, I always do the best I can.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Always changing. I love working on vocal tracks or guitars, but also love doing full song production.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I live on the top floor on the ues, where I have a control room set up in my living room, treated with sound panels for absorption and dispersion, and a live room in my bedroom. This allows for me to mic my guitar cab and really lean into my tube amps when recording guitar.

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

A: I’m inspired by the producers and musicians I’ve worked with immensely. They’ve been kind enough to help shape my sound and process as well. John Feldmann as a producer always amazes me, as well as Joey Bradford.

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

A: Through soundbetter, punk vocals seem to be what I do most often. I have these down to a science, running two signals for each take. One goes through my millenia, the other straight into my interface, so that if you want the analog sound I have great but you get both.