Session keyboardist w/FLAVOR!

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

A: Prince, Stevie Wonder, Anderson .Paak, Bruno Mars, Snarky Puppy, Lady Gaga, Timberland, Dr. Dre, Incognito, Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, Ella Mai, Anthony Hamilton, Babyface, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Beyonce, Bob James, Bobby Lyle, Boney James, Everette Harp, Brian Culbertson, Bruce Hornsby, Cameron Graves, The Gap Band, Michael Jackson, Michael Brecker,, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, John Williams, Christopher Young, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, Bill Conti, Dave Grusin, Michel Camilo, Pat Metheny, Michael Mayo, Mitch Foreman, Miles Davis, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Omar Hakim, Mike Stern, Richard Bona, Mint Condition...You get the idea.... The list goes on & on.

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

A: I recently finished a Christmas EP for an artist here in Japan. I played all the parts, engineered and mixed the project. He's already asked me to do his next project and also do the years end Christmas project again.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A 10 song album for a music library. A remake of a Bobby Caldwell song. Artist's original music for upcoming albums. My 3rd album project.

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

A: Gerard Hairston, engineer extraordinaire!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: BOTH! To me, options are what makes the musical world go 'round. Back in the day, Analog was it. It was all we had and it was fat and warm and loose and funky. Digital brought a cooler, tighter kind of funk and cleaness to the music and that was welcomed too. Now to have them both under a single roof....WOW.... now the possibilities are truly endless when it comes to sound!!

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

A: That I will ALWAYS do my absolute best for you!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: BEING CREATIVE!!! There is no better feeling than creating a part, listening back and saying to yourself....YEP! That's it!!

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

A: What do you think? My answer is never the same because each song is unique and needs different types of attention. How much time will it take? Usually between 3-7 days. What do you feel the song needs? If I feel it, I'll play it and you can decide later if you'd like to keep it, change it a little or discard it totally.

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

A: That it's always easy. I just make it look that way! Smile

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Can you provide examples of what you are looking for? When do you need it? Are you from the school that less is more? How fat do you want it? Who are your influences? Who do you consider you sound like, if anyone? Key & Tempo of song? Song Title? Do you have charts?

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

A: Ask me anything. I'm an open book and willing to please you however to get the job done. For me, the music is the most important thing and making it pop for the client, well that goes hand in hand.

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

A: Assuming there's no means of making electricity, I'd take an upright piano, an acoustic guitar, a trumpet, a swiss army knife... to make a drum set, and pencils and paper...(also assuming I can count those as 1 piece of gear considering ones not that great without the other. Smile...

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

A: Formal classical training, Las Vegas Style show bands, studio work, touring and now producing and composing. I've been on this path since the age of 5, so I'd say more than 50 years of experience inside this bundle of emotion and skill.

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

A: Snarky Puppy! I could learn a bit from their arranging skills. Stevie Wonder for his songwriting genius and Greg Phillinganes for his pocket!

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: FLAVOR like none other! I can be fierce or subtle. I can be strong yet delicate. I can be smooth or extremely funky and I can just lay in the pocket.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I use Logic Pro X with 3 rackmount keyboards, The Motif, Korg Triton and Roland 5080, and tons of 3rd party plugins. I use the Dexibell Vivo 9 stage piano for my controller and everything is integrated - running through the Behringer X32 Mixing Console. All analog gear, i.e., microphones, guitars, basses, etc., is ran through the UA 4-710d preamp. I use Yamaha NS-10's, Genelec 8020B nearfield monitors and the Sennheiser HD6XX open back headphones for monitoring & mixing. 3 visual monitor screens for a cleaner and faster workflow.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Exciting, energetic, full of love and emotion.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Always use parallel compression on your drums for great punch and duck the bass at least 3db when it hits with the kick. Oops... That's 2 production tips!

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

A: R&B, Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Funk Rock, Funk, American Jazz Standards.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening is my strongest skill. I listen to the artist and want they want and I listen to the track and use that knowledge from the artist to mold exactly what's needed to enhance the track to where the artist wants it to be.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: From 11:00am to 6:00pm like clockwork, with 4-5 15 minute breaks in between to rest the ears. Then Dinner, a small nap and then hit it again from midnight to 4am. During those times, I'm studying sound design or mixing / mastering techniques for an hour. Checking out the new gear for 15-20 minutes, then practice / warm up for 15 minutes and then I'm ready to either compose, mix, master or finish up existing project. Not necessarily in that order! Smile

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

A: I follow the instructions giving by the artist but giving them my flavor too. Most times it's a bed to help lay the foundation so that the artist can deliver his / her message without distractions, but also feel totally comfortable with the tracks instrumentation. I also do ear candy to help spark ideas for the artist and bring a sense of excitement to the track. And occasionally I'll do solos for jazz & funk artist's as well.