Remote ROCK | METAL Mixing

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I love both. Both have their positives and negatives, I mostly work in the digital side, but love hybrid setups where you get the best of both worlds!

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

A: In this day and age, I only need 4. I'd take a mic, a set of headphones, a laptop and an interface. That's all you need to make great music really.

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

A: I started as a musician. I had to record myself and the bands I've been in and so I had to learn how to engineer. From there I just wanted to learn more and more and the producing/engineering seemed to have pushed being a musician to the back seat. I still play and release music, but the engineering side is my main gig. I've been developing my skills for almost 9 years now, since my early teenage years, and I've been doing it professionally for the last 3-4.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Know when to stop. That's probably the hardest thing to learn but also the most important. As engineers we tend to try and do as much as we can in order to feel like we're important for the project. A lot of times though less is more, when we keep tweaking a song at some point it only gets worse than before. That applies to musicians too, everyone needs to know what stage of their career are, what's their skillset, and when to say stop and finish the song, as there's nothing more that can be done.

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

A: Either heavier Rock, Alternative Metal or heavier metal genres like Metalcore and Deathcore.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work from 2 studios actually. My home studio is equipped with Yamaha HS7's, a few tube amps and a few guitars. It's ideal for mixing as I can access it and therefore turn-around the song super quickly. It's also perfect for editing and reamping with IR's. The second studio I work from is my university studio, which has a big mic selection, big live room suitable for recording drums etc, and a great control room that's equipped with focusrite preamps, 5.1 Genelec setup and an iMac Pro. It also has a few tube amps that can be used for reamping.

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

A: I find inspiration in almost every producer/ musician I check out, but the main ones would be: Producers/Mix Engineers: David Bendeth (Breaking Benjamin, BMTH), Dan Korneff (Breaking Benjamin, Paramore), Dan Lancaster (Lower than Atlantis, BMTH, Don Broco), Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi). Musicians: Benjamin Burnley (Breaking Benjamin), Eugene Abdukhanov (Jinjer), Anup Sastry (ex-Monuments), Joey Jordison (ex-Slipknot), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Andrei Galut (Goodbye to Gravity), Jared Leto, Shannon Leto and Tomo Milicevic (30 Seconds to Mars).

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

A: Mixing and vocal editing are the 2 most common jobs I get.