Alt-Pop Music Producer

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

A: Try by Ariana Tosado. I was the producer and mixing engineer This project was tough because there were a TON of vocal tracks. Comping and aligning vocals took ages. It was also one of the very first songs I ever produced, and most of the sounds were created on GarageBand of all things. It was a project that went through several rewrites, but the production was just what it was in my brain. It was also my first time working with a live recording from an instrument, with the flute being done by a close friend of mine (I literally paid her in Boba tea). The coolest part of this song is that there exists a before on YouTube. If you look up "Try Ariana Tosado" on Youtube, there'll be one with the proper cover art, and another that is significantly older that was put up there before Ariana and I started working together.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Currently... the unfortunate, scary, and exciting thing called US college applications. Funny story, I'm procrastinating one right now. I'm looking to book a few jobs for after the New Year, since I'll have a ton of free time then!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the process of creating. I always have and I always will. I enjoy creating art that will impact others, and I want to help other people do the same. I just love everything about it... aside from vocal comping. I do that because a good comp can add a TON to a song.

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

A: Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but we can try to get as close as possible. Being a perfectionist myself, I'm always frustrated at the fact I can't get everything to be absolutely perfect. But, there's definitely a point where songs sound amazing, and even though I aim for perfection, amazing is the ultimate goal, and it's just that: amazing.

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

A: There's two options here: pieces of gear to survive, or pieces of gear for stupidity. For the sake of getting to know me better, I'll pick the latter: 1. A ukulele, for the purpose of writing music. Also, I feel like a uke would be slightly easier to keep functional than something like a piano or guitar 2. A printed ukulele chord chart, because I have about 3 ukulele chords memorized 3. A 5x5 Rubik's Cube, because I gotta have one of these anywhere I go 4. Monopoly. What better way to pass time than being competitive in a game of Monopoly? 5. A softball; everything I've mentioned so far requires or encourages sitting. We gotta touch grass once in a while.

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

A: There's this quote from the Owl House, a Disney TV show about a human who winds up in a magical world. It goes, "If we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we’d die waiting." And honestly, it sums up how I function: We make ourselves become special, not the world. The day I heard that quote, I sent an Insta DM to Ariana Tosado, who I'd been following for a while, and we started a partnership in music. It was honestly very spontaneous, and it definitely speaks to how I decide to start doing something. Since then, I've just been emailing people and landing jobs slowly but surely (most of which aren't released yet). Now, I'm looking to take music production to the next level and get a little more involved with it.

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

A: Faouzia. I am in complete AWE at her voice. It's honestly incredible by itself, but the way her artistry has developed has just made it somehow better. She seems like such a nice person and it'd be completely amazing to have the privilege to help her voice sound amazing on a track!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Take the time to line up harmonies with the main vocal. Yes it's tedious, but I think it's super worth it. Start consonants at the same time and end words together. It adds a ton and helps the background vocals blend into the background of a song SO much better. On the other hand, having something slightly off from the main vocal can help it really pop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Probably my innate ability to hear elements within a song. I'll find myself hearing drums, guitar plucks, and synth sounds within the music that I listen to, and over time I've developed the ability to add what I hear to a song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I view music as art. My goal is to help a song convey a message that impacts the listener. I want the production to really highlight vocal performance. Ultimately, I want whatever I work on to take a listener to another world for at least a few minutes.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually give the raw song a couple listens to get some ideas. Then, I just start adding things that I want to hear in the song. It's honestly difficult to describe to someone who isn't me. I'll hear something that should be in a song and then just add it. When I do get stuck, I experiment with sounds and rhythms until I find something I want to hear.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: It's just me, my laptop, and FL Studio. And a nice pair of headphones and a midi keyboard that I have yet to learn how to use.

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

A: There's a ton of people that I could list. Billie Eilish and Finneas are probably the two biggest for me. Their music and story inspired me to start working on my own stuff.

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

A: Typically, I take a song from bare bones piano chords and melody, and add instrumentation that complements the vocal. I've also done vocal comping and mixed almost all of the songs I've worked on. I am a bit of perfectionist, so everything I do is to the best of my ability!