Guitarist, Composer, Mixer

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

A: I promise you will get my absolute best. Whether that's a mix or a guitar track or a composition I will always put my best foot forward.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The music obviously!! Kidding aside, I would have to say the community. There just isn't any other field like music where you get to work so closely with other people and share something so personal. All of my dearest friends are musicians who I've met through my career and I think that's a beautiful thing.

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

A: "What's your turnaround time?" This one is pretty popular as everyone's time is so valuable but the answer is usually 2-3 days. If someone is under a really significant time crunch I can try my best to get it to them faster. "Can you get this sort of sound?" This one is also quite popular, a lot of people will show me a reference and ask if I can replicate that sound and the answer is usually yes. I guess that's what happens when you spend your life collecting instruments. "Can you play this part I wrote?" Some clients who play themselves will often have an idea of what they want but not the means to execute it. They will have demoed some parts out for me to play which is always nice cause I get to relax a little bit. This doesn't happen often though.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I will usually ask about references. I feel like these are so important as it gives me a feel for who you are not only as a musician but as a person as well. It helps me a lot with direction when I know a bit about the clients musical background.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style I would say is quite unique. When I was younger I didn't have lots of people to play with, as I grew up in a small town so I was drawn to players who were self sufficient and didn't need a band like Chet Atkins and Tommy Emmanuel. I started learning a lot of their music and over time started singing and songwriting like everyone else but that part of me never stopped writing instrumental solo music and I feel like it has worked wonders for my guitar playing and musicianship. It would have taken me so much longer to learn things like, melody is always king and if you can't hear it don't play it.

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

A: I'd love to work with Ben Howard. Growing up I listened to a lot of Ben's music. I felt like it was the perfect cross between guitar music and singer/songwriter music. He blends his virtuosity with the classic singer/songwriter aesthetic so beautifully. He also just seems like one of the chillest human beings one would ever have the chance of meeting.

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

A: Awhile ago I was invited to go to remote recording session up at a friends cottage for an artist. There was a bunch of us. We piled all of our gear together and rented the rest from long & mcquade and turned the living room into a studio. We spent about four days there tracking for this artists album. It was surreal, there were probably about 30 guitars laying all over the place and pedals everywhere and we got to wake up and make music every day all day. At the end of those few days we were able to listen to everything and it sounded just beautiful and made from love. I think that's one of the projects I'm the most proud of. I'm a huge believer in making art from love and that is what I'll bring to any client's project as well.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently in the process of recording my own fingerstyle guitar album. It's been years in the making but I've finally got enough material to make a solo guitar album. I'm also involved in a couple of albums right now with some colleagues in which I'm producing and engineering. They will most likely be out in the new year.

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

A: I'm new to the platform but I've worked with Wayne Cochrane who is an incredible engineer and I would highly recommend his services to anyone on this platform.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: They are both amazing. I also value my life so I'll stay impartial when it comes to this topic. Don't want to get ripped apart by any vicious gear gods.

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

A: That it's easy. I think specifically in the Folk realm people think this sort of music doesn't have a lot of technical merit which may be partly true but they are missing the point. The sort of music I make is all about restraint and that is a very hard thing to learn and continually show in the music that you make. Not only that but folk music is such a huge umbrella term and their is lots of incredible virtuosic folk musicians out there.

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

A: Have a clear idea of what you want. The process is always so much easier when the producer or artist who is hiring me has a vision for the project. So many times I've had to pry the information out of them which is time consuming on both ends. Even if it's just some references or a mouth noise it's still very helpful for me.

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

A: My guitar, a Zoom H4, a note pad, a compass and an ipod.

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

A: I started playing guitar when I was 9 years old and got some of my first professional gigs when I was 13. Even at that age I knew I wanted to do this for a living. So I auditioned for a summer guitar workshop at Berklee College of Music and at the age of 13 went to Boston. Things went really well and they offered me a scholarship back for the next year, I was hooked. So I joined as many bands as I could in High school and studied with some of the best guitar players in the country and that took me to Humber College where I got my Bachelor of Music. From then on I've been a professional in the industry touring with various acts and artists around Canada. So at this point it's been over 10 years since I've been gigging.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: It doesn't matter how you get there, all that matters is the final product. I feel a lot of producers feel hindered by the limitation of their equipment but there are countless instances where people have made critically acclaimed work with very limited tools. "For Emma, Forever Ago" by Bon Iver is a great example.

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

A: I primarily work with a lot of folk artists but there have been some exceptions to that rule as you can see in my credits. I feel that I'm drawn to folk music and instrumental music as a genre because it is so down to earth. Growing up in a small community surrounded by nature I really took to the peace and quiet and letting things breathe a little.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I would say I'm best at crafting hooks and melodies in an arrangement. I feel like as a guitar player it's so easy to just play some guitar(isms) on a song and shred all over it. The thing that I am always most inspired by in a song are those ear worms that follow you around all day. It's always my goal to serve the song and I feel like that's the best way to do it.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: It is highly dependant on the song as I feel like songs are children and every one is different. In general though I would say an ear for hooks. I love writing melodies into the arrangements of songs. I feel like the best songs have multiple melodies going at the same time, one in the guitars, one in the keys and the one the vocalist is singing.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I start by listening to a song all the way through. Usually, I'll hear something in my head that's missing and go through and make a note. I'll do this a few times until I've got a few good ideas and then I'll go ahead and play them in. Do that a few times and the song is usually done.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I've got a medium sized room with acoustic treatment on the walls and in the corners. A nice studio desk with room for toys, with a rack for my interface and a nice large bookshelf that gives the room some nice diffusion. The rest of my space is essentially filled to the brim with instruments and I'm running out of room as we speak.

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

A: It's an ever changing and evolving roster but my faves right now would have to be Gregory Alan Isakov, Novo Amor and Bon Iver. I'm also a huge fan of Blake Mills production work. I didn't realize he was involved in so many projects for other artists.

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

A: My most regular type of work is tracking guitar. I've been recording guitars since I was a teenager. The first song I recorded is actually the first one you'll hear in my demo reel which I wrote and recorded when I was 16.