Vocal Producer Engineer Editor

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analog in, and then stay in the digital domain. I love the sound of analog gear, but once it's recorded I love the flexibility of digital. I want full and instant recall, editing capability, and I don't want to go through the converters for a second time.

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

A: Neve 1073, Tube Tech CL1b, Telefunken 251, Pro Tools, and Melodyne.

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

A: I was born in Sweden, to parents who were full time musicians, and have two siblings. Growing up, we toured all over the world, performing as a family band. When I reached college age, I moved to Nashville and went to Belmont University, studying Music Business and Audio Engineering. Following college, I was hired to build and run country star Ricky Skaggs studio. This is where I learned the art of recording acoustic instruments and voice, under the mentorship of Brent King. After a few years there, I re-joined my brother (Producer/Songwriter Adam Anders) out in LA, as things were blowing up with Back Street Boys and other pop artists. There I focused on guitar, recording, mixing, and vocal producing. Eventually our focus turned to TV and Film music, leading to the phenomenon that was Glee. At this time, I moved in to working exclusively as a Vocal Producer / Engineer, recording and editing 832 songs over 6 seasons. This lead to many other TV and Film projects, including Disney's The Descendants and Zombies, Rock of Ages, The Prom, and American Horror Story. Meanwhile, I have also had the opportunity to work with artists such as CeeLo, Lea Michelle, Tasha Layton, For King and Country, and Nessa Barrett among many others, as a vocal producer and editor on their projects. I have recently moved back to Nashville, and continue to work on TV projects such as FOX's country music drama Monarch, Films such as Journey To Bethlehem, and on artist projects in Nashville, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: As a producer, I always want to develop a rapport with an artist prior to recording. If I don't know an artist ahead of time, I'll spend some getting to know a bit about them and developing some trust before heading in to record. This creates a safe and comfortable space for us to be creative, and push toward the best possible performance.

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

A: I was the Vocal Producer / Engineer for all 6 seasons of Glee. It was a massive amount of work having to create an albums worth of material every ten days, with varying degrees of vocal talent, from world class to novice. I think that what we were able to pull off under those conditions and time constraints was pretty phenomenal. The public seemed to agree. :)

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I recently finished a TV series for FOX called Monarch. I'm now working on a movie called Journey To Bethlehem, and records for a band called For King and Country, Tasha Layton, and Jordi.

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

A: Two of my former assistants, Nicolas Essig, and Travis Ference are on Sound Better. Also, my good friend Stephen Von Heyking is on the platform. They are all excellent engineers and mix engineers.

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

A: Many people like to record vocals through Autotune these days. If so, I recommend recording a clean track at the same time. That way, your editor has the ability to change how much or how little tuning is used.

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

A: Because I've worked a lot in TV and Film, I have worked on music in an extremely wide range of genres. Being Swedish, I tend to gravitate towards Pop music, but I'm equally comfortable with R&B, Gospel, Rock, Broadway, Bluegrass, and Americana. Really, anything.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: These questions make me uncomfortable, because I'd rather talk about an artist than myself. That said, as a producer, I love to find ways to encourage vocalists to go further and express themselves in new ways. As a SAG singer myself, I am able to express myself in a way that singers can understand, and make them feel comfortable with trying new things. I have a very musical ear, and tens of thousands of hours under my belt, working on some incredibly demanded projects. Whether a project needs a natural light touch, or extremely tight pop vocals, I can find just the right balance and musical pocket.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Years of experience in a broad range of genres, which helps me to elevate a project, and bring out the best in an artist.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My work process depends very much on where I am brought in to the process during production. I am comfortable starting out with a blank slate, or just putting the finishing touches on a project.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: While I often work in large commercial facilities, I have a home setup available for editing and mixing at no additional cost. This is a Pro Tools based room, with Focal and Dynaudio monitoring, Apogee Converters, outboard gear such as Neve 1073 preamps, a Tube-Tech CL1b compressor, along with a large selection of Waves, UAD, Fabfilter, and SoundToys audio plugins, among others. I also have the best in vocal processing, such as Melodyne Studio, Auto-tune Pro, Revoice Pro, Izotope RX, and more. Available mic highlights include a Bock 251, Telefunken U-47, and Blue Bottle System.

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

A: I am inspired by artists that bring authenticity and great work ethic to a session, along with their talent.

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

A: The most common work that I do is as a vocal producer and engineer. I often work on TV and Film projects, but I also do work for artist singles and albums. While I usually produce the vocals that I work with, I am also available to do vocal comping, editing, and tuning.