Composer, Sound Designer

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: An Asian cosmetics company and a Berlin based HipHop artist

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital with analogue samples as it speeds up the working process considerably.

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

A: We'll find the right sound!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: It sets me free - and subsequently my clients

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

A: How much does it cost to produce a musical piece? Every project is different, every demand is different, therefore the efforts vary vastly.

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

A: ...that the computer composes by itself.

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

A: Music is a very sensitive topic as it provides emotion - pictures usually send information so the fitting sound has to be chosen very carefully. Leave your personal taste out of it.

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

A: Laptop, my VST collection, my sample archive, headphones, master keyboard

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

A: Commercially I've been doing this for over 15 years. And it was, like always, a coincidence that I found my way to actually making money with it. It started with a student project when a colleague asked me to do music and sound design for his diploma film. It felt so right and easy for me that I started offering my services to other colleagues. It all went kind of straight on from there.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Although I like it big I have learned over the years that a refined minimal song structure can work better than piling on more mayo. :)

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: It's all about ideas. Great tools don't make great ideas - minds do.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Knowing music and what music needs to be special - and to work within the boundaries that it's put into.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually get a silent movie or a soundless piece for inspiration and from there I to start from scratch. As soon as the client and I agree on the fundament we'll further - as far until everyone is happy.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: To be honest, I focus less on studio gear (though I have everything I need for professional productions) but rather on what's IN my computer as I need to be fast and flexible in my line of work. I use a lot of instruments from East/West, reFX, many Kontakt-based instruments and like to create my own sounds based on samples I record myself.

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

A: Too many to list but I prefer artists who see and hear things differently, who are willing to go the extra mile of exploring their own genre and others too.

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

A: I produce mainly music and sound designs for commercial use such as commercials, trailers, (short) films, industry films, fashion shows and presentations. The most important thing is to find "that sound" that suits the client best.