Producer, mixer and songwriter with an ear for feeling and melody and an intuitive sense of what makes a song memorable. My job is to take your fledgling idea and make it breathe. I also frequently write songs to an artist's brief and produce music for visual media. Emotion is everything in my projects. I Consider myself a professional listener.
I'm a pretty focused producer with a solid background of several years experience as a pianist, guitarist, performing vocal artist, songwriter and session multi-instrumentalist. I've been a full time professional producer making records from my Abuja studio for the last 7 years. I have a strong commitment to turning over high quality productions that evoke lasting emotional responses. Top lining, writing from scratch, putting lyrics to melody or creating a full fledged production from an already written song all the way to a finished master - these are all fair game for me. I frequently play all the instruments in a production myself. When that's not ideal, I'll call in and track a handful of trusted session musicians. A large part of my workflow involves listening... to the client, to references, to my instincts. Regardless of the client or the material, I can guarantee that no punches will be pulled on any project I'm involved in. If I'm in then I'm in. I give everything.
Glad to work with all kinds of talent, regardless of your location. If you're interested in working together then contact me and tell me about your project and what you have in mind, and we'll take it from there.
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Interview with Atta Otigba
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That there's a strong relationship between great records and expensive gear. Nothing could be further from the truth in 2017. The game has changed. An exceptional studio means a lot less than it used to these days.The real find right now is an exceptional producer. The playing field is reasonably level with respect to tools. So you'd be wise to shift your focus from kinds of cars to kinds of drivers.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Greg Wells - I respect his path and where it's taken him. John Mayer - whatever controversies surround him you can never question the man's musicianship. Dave Pensado - amazing human being. A true legend and someone that a lot of us self starters are eternally indebted to for sharing his knowledge with the world. More names? Ryan Tedder, Jose Gonzalez, Laura Mvula, Sara Bareilles, Imogen Heap. Incredibly gifted people - Technically and musically.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: In 2016 I produced an album called 'And the Bass is Queen' for an artist called Lindsey Abudei. I wrote a few of the songs myself and co-wrote some others. I produced all but one of the 12 songs on that album from my studio and mixed all 12 of them. We made some memorable music on that album. Beautiful record. One of my favourites.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Folk, soul and singer-songwriter stuff the most. Followed by rock and pop. I also do a lot of cinematic type work for film, television, web series and documentaries.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What music do you listen to? What music do you love? What sound are you after? What's your vision for this project?
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Hmm... A helicopter, the Waldorf Astoria, the entire staff of the Waldorf Astoria, Abbey Road studios and Dave Pensado. I promise I did my best to answer this question.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: Started playing piano at 9. Picked up the guitar in my teens. Played and wrote tons of music from high school all through college with all kinds of musicians in my 20s; jazz bands, rock bands, choirs - you name it. Graduated college with a computer science degree. Discovered I had a gift for writing, arranging and producing 10 years ago and started learning how to do this professionally. I'm 34 now and I haven't looked back. Every experience I've had since that first lesson at 9 years old has prepared me for now. I'm always learning.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Thoughtful.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Right now... James Bay. Because... James Bay.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Writing. I don't mean songwriting. I mean writing. I think of producing as writing. I think of mixing as writing. I consider any scenario where you're making a set of permanent creative choices that a consumer is going to process exactly as you intended to be writing - and I'm pretty good at writing.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: An intuitive sense of what's memorable and what's not.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I mix almost entirely in the box. Tons of software. Tons of plugins... guitars, keys, drums etc... but more importantly, my personal taste, ears and experience.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I mostly produce and mix music developing a client's basic idea into a full fledged production. The bulk of my work has been with artists and musicians. I frequently write songs to an artist's brief and deliver a rough mix with my vocal included. I also do a fair bit of producing for visual media..
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Ears first. Vision second. Feeling first. Reasoning second.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Find a listener.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Why not both? But if we're picking sides then definitely digital. It's faster and the possibilities are endless in 2017.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I give everything. Every time.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Client: 'Sounds good... are you sure you recorded all of that right here?' Me: 'Yup.'
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That moment when something that began as a vague formless idea suddenly takes shape and 'becomes'. It's as close to pure creation as it gets and immensely satisfying.
- ProducerAverage price - $1000 per song
- Mixing EngineerAverage price - $400 per song
- Songwriter - LyricContact for pricing
- Songwriter - MusicContact for pricing
- Ed Sheeran
- James Bay
- Asa
