Rock Mixing: Indie, Alt & Prog

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Wide, strong and lush. I strive for an organic, natural sound, and take great care that the mix flows in an exciting way from start to finish.

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

A: I'll leave no stone unturned until you've got the results you want! I'll give you a fast turnaround, and you'll have my full attention throughout the whole process. You'll end up with a pro quality mix that puts your music in its best light.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Being inspired and humbled by the creativity and skill of others. I love opening up the recordings for a new project and being in awe at how much effort, energy and ingenuity have gone in to performing and capturing them. I learn so much like that.

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

A: That it's easy! It's also a misconception that mixing is entirely technical; whilst there are very technical elements to it, there's still great scope for creativity, imagination and taste in the mixing process. At the end of the day, it's still music, and mixing is an art form in itself.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I'll ask you to describe, as best you can, what kind of a touch you want me to use on your music. For example, do you want to sound like a live band? Or do you want it to be more polished like something you'd hear on the radio? Or maybe you want to specify that you want a huge low end! We need to make sure we're on the same page before I touch your tracks. I'll also ask you to point me in the direction of some reference tracks you like, which I would use to give me a ballpark idea of your tastes. I'll also ask about turn around time in case you've got any deadlines. Finally, I'll also ask you if anything needs editing or any vocals need tuning!

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

A: Make sure to take a listen to any audio examples provided - do you like the sound the mixer is achieving? And how do they seem as a person - will they listen to you and serve your goals? Are they kind and friendly? Make sure you feel comfortable communicating with them. Also, make sure you've captured your recordings and performances as well as you possibly can, and sort out any editing too, before handing it over to the mix engineer - it allows for you to have more of a creative say in the source material, which then frees up the mix engineer to be creative too. It leads to better results!

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

A: The artist I'd like to work with is in love with their craft, and wants to see their art going out in to the world and connecting with others. They take their music seriously, and want to hear it sounding the best it possibly can. They don't have to be established, recognised or have a million listeners, they don't even have to have 1, as long as they're trying their best to make what really matters to them and putting their all in to their art.

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

A: I usually work on rock. It's a very broad genre, so there are lots of different flavours.

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

A: An SSL 4000E mixing console, a 64GB 2TB Macbook, a Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, a UAD Apollo x8 and a nice pair of trousers.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Get those performances tight and those tones dialled in! Nothing beats getting it right at the source.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening to my clients! I'm always interested and responsive to what you have to say about your own music and how you'd like me to handle it.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Respect, care and attunement to whatever comes my way. Each mix and each artist is different, so I seek to find what's special about every piece of music and bring out its unique character. There's also the more technical side of things, such as balance, dynamics, loudness and clarity. These are super important aspects to a mix other than creativity, so I bring a professional hand in making these qualities work so that the music can stand up to the rest.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I start by getting each session as organised as possible - track names, colour coding, routing etc - and then spend time dialling in a good fader mix. This is also the time when I'll trigger any samples, and also fix any issues I'm hearing such as timing and phase. Then the heavy lifting starts - EQ, compression, some FX and other necessities. I'm a big fan of working in mono, so I try and do as much in mono as I can, whilst also focussing on the midrange. This gets really good results in terms of translation. After the heavy lifting, I move on to automation and special fx. This is where the mix can really come to life. And once all that is dialled in... I sleep on it! A good night's sleep is one of the most overlooked mixing techniques out there. Then it's just a matter of refining :)

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work in Reaper with UAD and Softube plugins - I get the majority of the heavy lifting done with these. I also use hardware controllers to get my hands involved as much as possible - this streamlines my workflow and frees up my creativity!

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

A: I love Forrester Savell's mixing, ever since his work with Karnivool (one of my favourite bands). He gets his mixes so organic and dynamic. Kind of dark too. Love it! I'm always blown away by Nathan Boddy's work too, he's a genius.

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

A: Mixing! I take the client's recordings and mix them together in to an exciting, engaging and cohesive whole; capturing the artist's vision and maximising the song's impact on the listener.