Guitarist, vocalist & mixer

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

A: I was hired for recording and mixing a french indie album 2 years ago. I also contributed with a few guitar tracks and percussions. I was also hired for a live recording and mixing session of a whole concert involving more than 20 musicians (guitar and bass players, keyboard, drummer, male & female singers, brass section...). This experience was so interesting to work with so many instruments and tracks.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: My band just finished a full week studio residency and all the mixing work is underway. I'm also preparing new songs that we will add to our set list for next year and new acoustic records.

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

A: I promise professional quality tracks provided through great gear, great playing, great source tone, great mics and a very strict process to reach the best result. I also promise transparancy and honesty for every discussion.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love music in not only one style but many of them. I like also the diversity of my work, recording different instruments and mixing songs that belong to different musical styles.

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

A: I don't think there are any misconceptions about what I do as it is quite clear on my profile. I would say maybe one reminder: mixing is a process that has to be done with all available tracks ; it makes no sense trying to mix a single track without considering the context of the songs.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Some questions I like to ask: - Is it possible to hear a demo before sending an offer? - Can I hear an exemple of the kind of sound you are targeting?

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

A: I would advise a customer to discuss and explain his projects with the most details possible. It makes the workflow much easier and allows to get to the desired result quicker.

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

A: I would take my little Martin LX1E guitar, very small and so efficient. I would take my condenser AKG C636 microphone, great for live vocals and is able to record so efficiently any audio source. I would take a small audio interface to record at least 2 tracks simultaneously. I would take my djembe to bring rhythm to my records. I would take my computer with all my favorite plugins.

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

A: I have been a professional musician for 10 years. I started as a guitar and bass player and quickly extend as a singer. Since the beginning, I have explored recording and mixing but my skills really improved over the last 3 years as I worked on many different projects.

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

A: I would love to work with Boyce Avenue. Of curse they are so many other artists I would love to work with (Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Muse...) but Boyce Avenue is the closest to the acoustic covers I'm used to work on for my own project (Miar, The Ball's & The Bill's)

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I would say "Less is more". I always try to work as simple as I can and recording clean studio tracks is the best starting point for an easy mixing process and a great final result.

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

A: I mostly work on pop music but I'm also comfortable with rock, soul, funk, disco, R&B... Anything not too extreme is good for me.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I am very meticulous so my rythmic playing is very stable and groovy. My playing is also very clean and care about the details.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I always record a first demo track to listen to and improve my playing. Then I record the final track as perfect as I can. For mixing, I always start with a rough mix just with gain staging and fader/pan balance. Then I start to mix for dynamics and sound coloration (EQ, compression, saturation) and to add effects (reverbs, delays, sound design).

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a large professionnal and acoustically treated studio that allows for clean professional recording conditions. I have many dynamic and condenser microphones I use depending on the needs. (sE2200/2300, Sennheiser e614/MD421/e906, SM57, AKG C636, Neumann KMS105...) I mainly record through tube preamps for recording. I mainly mix in the box with different types of plugins (Wave, Plugin Alliance, Presonus...) as well as with outboard hardware units such as compressors and EQ's.

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

A: I usually record acoustic and electric guitars. But I'm also able to record bass guitar, lead and backing vocals as well as some percussions such us djembe, bongos, shakers, tambourine. I often work as a mixing engineer as well.

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

A: I was inspired by the guitar playing of Jason Mraz that I find very clear and groovy. I was inspired by Bruno Mars as a singer as well. He is for me the best singer of our time.

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

A: I'm used to perform on stage and record in studio very often with Jacques Maupeu-Wise from Toulouse, France. He is an amazing drummer, comfortable in many styles (especially for heavy rock) and a very reliable professional.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I'm used to record with great mics through tube preamps so I would say "analog for recording". Then I always mix "in the box" with high quality plugins. Nowadays they are so efficient they are so close to their analog inspired gear. Great analog mixing involves very high quality gear only available in very famous worldwide studios.

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

A: Customers commonly ask me if my style fits their song and if I'm comfortable playing/mixing it. I always take the needed time to listen demos and samples and answer with a maximum of honesty.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I like to be authentic and to respect the original audio source I'm recording and mixing. Obviously I use effects and I am creative but I try to stay close to the natural sound of instruments.