Engineer/ Session Guitarist

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

A: Nolly, Misha Mansoor, Trent Reznor, Kevin Parker, Rick Rubin, Damon Albarn, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, Kenny Carkeet, Sir George Martin, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Tosin Abasi, Guthrie Govan, Dave Grohl,

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

A: The most common work I do for clients in audio is tuning vocals and mixing songs. On the composition side of things, I write and track guitar solos or parts for existing songs. I also help clients with writing and finishing song ideas.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I was proud to write, record, mix and master my own EP. As well as make music videos. It was my first solo music project and I’m proud of the work I put in.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My own project.

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

A: Alex Gozza, Kenny Carkeet

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. Analog has its advantages and theres a lot I like better about the coloring of the sound with analog. But digital converters are always improving and at this point, we all work in the box.

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

A: I promise that I will make their music sound as good as I possibly can.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love when the tracks finally glue together and become “a song”.

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

A: The most common question is “can you make this sound good?” And the answer depends on the quality of the tracks in the project.

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

A: The biggest misconception is that anyone can do it. Nowadays, anyone can do music production from their home computer. This wasn't possible even 15 years ago. And while yes everyone has the access to being able to make music and that is amazing, there is still a skillset that takes years to understand.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How do you track your vocals or instruments? Do you have experience tracking and getting quality sounds and good takes?

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

A: My advice is to make sure they have formal training, or can show you work they have done.

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

A: Macbook pro, Apollo interface, NS 10 monitors, guitar, midi controller

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

A: My career path started as a musician. I have an associates in music as well as years of jazz lessons. I then went to the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences for audio engineering. I have 10 years experience with audio, and 20 years experience with music.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Song writer/ creative. The song and its emotions are the number one priority. It mixes itself if it is a good composition.

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

A: I would love to work with Trent Reznor because of his background as an engineer. I would love to learn from his approach as a creative and how that

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: My best tip to getting the best out of a song/ mix is composition. The instrument’s arrangements and composition can make or break a mix. Also, I place a lot of importance on getting the instrument sounding good on the way into your DAW.

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

A: Rock, metal, Alt Rock, Pop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is song writing. I am a guitarist and my approach to engineering is based on the creative side of music first. The composition of a song has everything to do with the quality of a songs mix.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I have 10 plus years of audio engineering and 20 plus years of music theory and guitar playing. My approach is musical. I bring my experience and knowledge of music to make help finish songs in which writers are stuck on, help finish and add musicality to simple ideas that need to be built up, and am a very good vocal tuner due to my understanding of music theory. But I would say what i bring it each song, my main goal, is to make the song have “feeling”.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: That depends on the project, but I like to begin by organizing/ labeling and color coordinating all the tracks. Once everything is organized I like to put an SSL comp on the master and then start balancing the tracks. Once its leveled and balanced, the the eq and compression starts.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a brand new M2 Macbook Pro. Protools 12. All the plugins I could need (Waves SSL, Slate, etc.) Treated room. I work primarily in the box.