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Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Analogue for its humanised feel, digital for its clarity and accuracy.

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

A: We try harder.

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

A: That we're overpaid ;P

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your goal?

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

A: Choose somebody that resonates with you and that has proven experience.

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

A: 1. Macbook Pro 2. The Genelec rig 3. GML 8200 EQ 4. SSL Buss Compressor 5. Lavery Gold Converters

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

A: Chief Mastering Engineer Matt has over 20 years in audio experience. He holds a Bachelor of Audio Production with Honours. Has lectured audio production and mastering at SAE College and now focuses on working with other motivated artists and producers exclusively at Forte Mastering.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: 1. Free-flowing but concise 2. Pragmatic 3. Fun

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

A: Lachlan Bostock from Mansionair - He's producing music ahead of his time.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always use your ears and not your eyes. Music production has moved onto computer screens almost entirely, so never forget to honour the sound and not just follow the meters or swanky GUI of all your plugins.

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

A: Absolutely Everything! - And we love it this way because it means we're always learning.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: The ability to narrow in on a sound's finer details. For example, hearing if a compressor's release time is too quick and does not match the overall release of a song. Hearing extraneous noises in audio that are not contributing musically to the song. Being able to equalise or compress an element so that it fits within the context of the overall picture.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Experience, Diversity, Uniqueness

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Establishing a great working relationship is paramount to us. That's why we prioritise unmatched communication and access to our services. We answer emails at night, on a Sunday, essentially whenever our Clients need us, we're there. After clarifying what visions our clients have, we then get to work on our side of business whilst checking in at every stage to make sure our clients are thrilled with what they're hearing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: We have 3 sets of monitors in a professional acoustically treated room. We also have a select amount of outboard gear which we use in hybrid with DSP plugins. Genelec split system as our mains as they have unmatched clarity and separation. Acoustic Energy large format custom with ring radiator tweeters. These give a soundstage like no other. Good old NS-10s to check that the mid-highs aren't screening and that it sounds good on a car stereo.

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

A: 1. Rick Beato - If this name is new to you. Go check him out. "Inspiration" and "The Boss" sums him up. 2. Tame Impala - Kevin Parker's Punk attitude to recording techniques and drum sounds that inspire his work. 3. Coldplay - Some of the best songwriting and collaborations have been found during this band's time together. 4. Mansionair - Some of the most beautiful, intricate and explorative music being produced. 5. Jacob Collier - I hadn't heard 'Harmony' until I listened to Collier's music.

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

A: 1. Provide mix feedback to get a mix 100% before we add our 20% on top. 2. Assisting unsigned artists obtain record deals and understand aggregators. 3. Inspiring the amazing people we work with by helping them learn new things.