Composer, Producer, Pianist

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently about to score a documentary film about Dr. Chester Pierce, a renown psychiatrist and visionary who made history as the first African American to play collegiate football in the South. This is going to be the longest piece of music I've ever done. In addition, I am music supervising the project as well so my team and I are creating a soundtrack album for the film that includes 2 original songs that will be in the documentary.

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

A: That I'm not busy. That I'm home all day playing on my piano. That I don't have a real job because I'm not behind a desk in a 9-5 job. How much time do you have? Haha. But here's what I tell people: I don't expect you to understand this industry just like I'm sure you don't expect me to understand yours. Often times what you all don't see when you're able to leave an office on Friday afternoon and not have to think about work until Monday is that I'm still on the clock: traveling to a gig, meeting with clients, working on music, promoting. This is an industry that really is paycheck to paycheck until you strike gold with a air of consistency in work and in income. But 90% of the work really is just creating for exposure, for the hope that someone will hear you and/or advocate for you. This is the TOUGHEST industry in the world, I will go as far to say that. Because it's uncertain. It's unfair. It takes all the backbone you can give and all the determination you have to succeed and not fall. It's hills and valleys and back up the hill again. But you know what? We love it. I love what I do. I'm proud to work a 24/7 job, never having the opportunity to turn my mind off. So for those out there who still think I'm not busy, check my record. Look at my results. These didn't just happen overnight. They took and take tons of work. It takes that much work to be able to give the public what they want, which is the escape through music that everyone loves.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do YOU want? Because if I can have an idea of what they're going for off the bat, then I know where my freedom to be creative from my own interpretation lies.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is music interpretation and musical intuition. I began playing piano by ear at the age of 4 and I always defined my "gift" as piano playing. But as I came up in the industry and started getting my feet wet in different aspects of the business, I realized that musical interpretation really is the "gift". This falls into every part of my line of work: the ability to compose music and write lyrics; the ability to produce, make instrumentation decisions and arrangements, vocal produce (even though I don't sing), arrange for choir, hear other instruments and be able to instruct them on how to fit into the project; and the ability to perform, create a show and an experience, arrange recorded music for live performance. The ability to do all these things comes from a place beyond this world I'm positive and the honor of being a conduit of the Most High to the public to make them feel joy and inspiration through my creativity? You can't put a price on that.

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

A: Two words: David Foster. I didn't grow an appreciation to DF until more recently as I started producing music on a much larger scale for people. While I could go on and on about his immaculate love ballads from the 90s, his dense production, how he's behind some of the most iconic songs of our time, what really makes me a superfan is the fact that he has created and produced timeless music that will last. No one makes music like this anymore; everything's for immediate followers or influence or TikTok looped that might go viral in the now. But the ability to create evergreens, TIMELESS ageless music is something I strive to do. I treat every musical opportunity I have the blessing to be involved with as a chance to create something that will live forever, that will one day become a classic (however you define that word). Like DF, I want to create music for the present and future, not just for the present. Real music. With a real message. Delivered in a way that makes you feel. Substantial music. A lot of music today I feel is missing substance. We all could learn from the art of 'The David' and strive to make music that lasts and is real. David, I wanna be the black version of YOU!!! Haha.

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

A: The most common type of work I do for clients is composition and production. It's the two of these because most times if I am tasked with the opportunity to create music for a particular client for a specific purpose, most of the time I get the opportunity to produce it as well. This is so important and valuable to me because it's almost like completing the vision/creative process. Whenever I'm hired to simply compose or songwrite -- and the opportunity to produce goes to someone else -- part of me feels like I'm being cut off from the flow of the vision. The way I work is that when I create a song from scratch, I immediately go into musical mode and I begin hearing production. While I'm happy only creating a song OR only producing an already written song, just the chance to lend my own creative interpretation to a project for someone else is a true honor. It comes so natural to me and it's everything.