Producer, Songwriter, Mixer

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

A: After graduating from University College Dublin with a degree in Sociology and Psychology, I decided to follow my passion for music. My first foray into the music industry was attending a Sound Engineering College, "Sound Training College", for two years in which I graduated with honours. From there I spent a couple years engineering for different bands and singers around Dublin along with being a regular engineer and programmer for acclaimed Irish composer Daniel Figgis. During this time I was also honing my production and writing skills. I first started writing songs when I was 16 and started producing at 22...I am now 29 so I've essentially been doing this for 13 years! I moved to London in 2015 and have been heavily involved in writing sessions through publishers such as Tileyard, Phrased Differently and Pieces of 8. Through this I have gotten several cuts and more on the way!

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

A: Yes. I have written and collaborated with James D. Cash several times. He is an amazing writer and cool guy. He also has an incredibly unique voice with a great tone to it.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love absolutely everything about my job. It is amazing to do something that you are so passionate about and earn a living from it. One of my favourite parts of the job is when you send a client the finished production and then they reply saying how they love what you have done...that is a great feeling!

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: If I am producing an already written song I will typically start by listening to it several times to understand the song concept all the while getting ideas of where to take the production. Naturally it is very important to converse with the artist/writer on what their vision for the song is....it is my job to bring that vision to life after all!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. By working digitally it means I can work on a track while waiting at an airport or on a bus. It is a very practical way of working. Also in the digital world there is so much manipulation of audio at your disposal that can lead to truly unique sounds.

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

A: My laptop, external hard drive, midi keyboard, headphones and an electric guitar.

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

A: There are two types of artist I would love to work with. Somebody established and boundary pushing like Beyoncé or somebody up and coming in which we can create something that will be career defining for them such as Ryn Weaver.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: For truly unique sounds don't use presets that come with software synths. Make your own presets or manipulate audio through sampling techniques.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I believe my production is very contemporary and cutting edge. I can bring unique sounds to a song due to my expertise in sound manipulation.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work out of either Tileyard studios in London or my home studio set up. I use a macbook pro with a huge amount of plug ins and samples at my disposal. I also own a Fender Telecaster and Fender Precision Jazz bass. My speakers are dyynudio Bm5a's.

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

A: Producers and writers that inspire me include Benny Blanco, Stargate, Rick Rubin, Ryan Tedder, Cashmere Cat, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and many more!

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

A: I specialise and thrive best in creating contemporary sounding productions for clients. I love coming up with unique sounds to give a track a cutting edge feel.

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

A: I am especially proud of my first major label cut as a producer. This was for the song 'Little Babylon' performed by Polina. The session was organised by Pieces of 8 Publishing...it was their first session that they set me up on, and out of it came a cut! I co-wrote the song with Polina and produced it. Along with Polina, I oversaw the whole project including mix revisions when it came to sending the stems to an external mix engineer.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently working a lot with an artist called Wolffe. Together we have just placed a song to be used in the end credits of a Margot Robbie movie. I have also been working with Antigoni Buxton signed to Island Records.

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

A: I promise that I will work very closely with you in a very friendly and professional manner. The happiness and satisfaction of my clients is very very important to me. I shall deliver to you a production that sounds competitive with what you hear on the radio.

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

A: How long will it take to produce the track? It can depend on how busy I am at the time but generally I can promise that it will be done within 7-10 days. There are of course times when turnaround can be much quicker.

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

A: A common misconception is perhaps what a true producer does. It is not simply making a beat...I like to oversee a project in complete conjunction with an artist, making sure that every part of the song is correct from the backing track, vocal performance, mix and master etc.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I normally would ask them what is their vision and how they want their music to sound. Sending me reference tracks is a good way of giving me an idea of what direction you want to take and how to use those as inspiration rather than copying them.

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

A: Be sure of what you want. The stronger the vision you have enables me to provide you with exactly what you want all the while adding my own expertise.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Contemporary, boundary pushing and fresh.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is the ability to make your song sound fresh and unique.

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

A: I mainly work in pop, indie pop, EDM, r'n'b and hip hop.