producer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm polishing up my second track for my pro-bono client.

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

A: I'm new to this platform.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Depends on what we're recording. Keys and SFX I do digitally, Bass is more analog (VSTs are horrible with bass). Guitars - I can do it both ways, digitally using VSTs, or analog (using my Helix LT).

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: To be honest - connecting with songwriters. Honestly. First time I worked with my first pro-bono client, she opened up about her confidence and her experiences. Understanding that helps me channel it back into the tracks I compose.

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

A: As I get more customers - I'll be able to answer that more thoroughly.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: - understanding their goals - what do they feel is holding them back? Prior to the call, I would have researched a bit on what they like musically.

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

A: Macbook, interface, Ibanez guitar, Fender bass and Gibson guitar

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

A: I've been producing 'in my bedroom' for 2 years, this year (2022), I want to turn these efforts into a business.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Different styles of playing elicit different types of enjoyment. Some people like a good shred on the guitar. Musically, I like groove and rhythm. I'd love to blend John Mayer with Flea (and maybe a bit of Plini's guitar work in certain sections of the song).

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

A: I would love to work with people like Tyler Joseph from TØP - people that have their own unique vision, and are in it for how they can help people through their music.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: You're not better or worse than anyone else. You're just you. Understand that - and learn to package it in a way that makes you stand out. And be different.

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

A: That depends on the client I'm working with. With the client I have currently, I'm creating pop tracks - relatively slower and more mellow, but with a groovy beat. Inspired by Jhene Aiko, some of John Mayer's 'Room For Squares' and 'Continuum' (think 'City Love')

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mastering process - how to adjust low, mid and high frequencies to make a mix sound less muddy - whilst panning the instrumentation to create a 3D experience.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Its not about what I bring - its about understanding and bringing out a songwriters vision.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I always start tracks by outlining beats - they work like a metronome for when I lay down guitars, keys etc - and they also stimulate the groove creating process.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: DAW: Logic Pro 10.7 Plugins: - Guitar: Neural DSP Archetype Plini, Amplitube 4 and 5, along with Line 6 Helix LT (which I record via XLR line out) - Bass: I use a Fender Rumble 100 amp, connected to my interface via XLR line out - Keys: Kontakt 6.0 - SFX: Kontakt 6.0, Massive and stock Logic Pro plugins. INSTRUMENTS: Bass: Fender MIJ Jazz Bass 4 string, single coil pickups Guitars a) Gibson 1981 Les Paul Standard, Tim Shaw hum bucker pickups b) Ibanez 2021 Prestige RGDR4427-FX, DiMarzio humbucker pickups Computer: Apple MacBook Pro 16 inch, late 2019 2.4GHz Intel Core i9 9980HX 64GB DDR4 RAM 1TB SSD AMD Radeon 5600M 8GB HBM for the GPU

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

A: Musicians that inspire me: Instrumentation - 70's bassists like John Paul Jones, more contemporary jazz/funk bassists such as Flea, and guitarists such as John Mayer, Tom Morello and Plini. Lyrically: I like Tyler Joseph and Twenty Øne Piløts - their musical vision stands out beautifully from the sea of most musicians. Tyler and Josh's music - and perhaps their vision - is to inspire original thinking. Not just about music - but about the deeper things. I also like the poeticism of Marcus Mumford and Mumford and Sons.

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

A: I do two things: a) Create full mixed and mastered tracks for singer-songwriters to write lyrics to, b) Create instrumentation for an unfinished song with a melodic and lyrical sketch.