Producer & Composer

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

A: My first ever song - 'Aspirational'. I was the lead singer, producer, composer, instrumentalist and mixing engineer - did the entire thing alone, all from my bedroom! This was a big step for me, releasing my own music to the public. It was scary, and makes you vulnerable/subject to any criticism from people if they want to. Anyone can listen to it, anywhere. Fortunately I received a lot of positive feedback from people, but it helped me realise that no matter what you do, there will always be haters and people who 'don't like' your work - so make what you like and what your fans like rather than trying to 'please' everyone - as at the end of the day it's your work, and you should be happy with it, and truly proud of it.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm always working on new music to release as an artist. I am also working on the new EP for 'No Strangers' - which hopefully will be out in a couple of months!

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

A: I think there are some truly amazing artists, and mixing/mastering engineers on here. Andrew Scheps is probably the one I would recommend if you had an unlimited budget - he is truly a master at what he does.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital - less expensive, less 'stuff' and mess, and often more flexibility on the range of different sounds you can achieve.

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

A: I will always try and complete a mix to the best of my ability, and to meet your vision. It is your song, and your product. My job is simply to turn it into a professional-sounding mix, and achieve the exact sound and emotion you are looking for with it.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the creative side of it. Being able to try new sounds, and experiment with sound to test what gives you the biggest rush of excitement, or biggest hit of sadness/happiness/whatever emotion you are after is truly amazing.

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

A: Why do my vocals sound unprofessional? This could be for a number of reasons. Sometimes it comes back to the room you are recording in not being treated properly, or the mic itself doesn't suit your voice (eg: too harsh or too boomy). In other cases, sometimes you've recorded your voice too close, or too far away from the mic, or the plugins used on your vocal chain just don't suit your voice/haven't been adjusted properly to create the sound you are looking for. It really is a case-by-case basis - but it's super important that the raw recording is done right first. If you have a trash raw recording, chance's are it's still gonna be trash after all the plugins/edting is applied to it.

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

A: That stock plugins = trash sound. Not the case. Yes, some third-party plugins (eg: Plugins by UAD & iZotope) can have unique traits, features or 'colour' that other plugins don't have - but that doesn't remove the fact that if you know what you're doing with the plugins, and you truly understand how different parts of each plugin affects each part of the sound - you can likely achieve an almost identical/similar sound with any plugins that you use. It's about understanding how each plugin works and how you can manipulate different elements and features of soundwaves to get the result you are after/have in mind.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision for this project/song? What are you looking for me to do for you with it? What is the timeframe you need for completion of the song?

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

A: Look for someone who truly wants to help see your vision through - not just someone who wants to make it 'their' project. At the end of the day you are the one who is generally writing the song/hiring them - so they should do their best to follow through with your goals - not theirs. Also find someone who you get along with well too - if you're gonna be working with this person frequently over the next 2-3 weeks or months, it'll be a whole lot more enjoyable if you like them too!

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

A: A Macbook Pro (Maxed Out Spec) Laptop. Runs on battery and is portable (so no power or stand etc needed). A giant amp, maybe a Boss Katana 100W or some stadium amp, an interface, and a Shure SM58 Mic + XLR Cable. I would try run the amp off the Macbook's battery (unless I could just take a generator instead), and then plug the mic into the amp and scream for help ahaha

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

A: I have been playing piano basically my entire life (since I was 6 years old), and guitar since I was 11. I studied music at high school and at university, and got into music production about 3 years ago. Since then I've developed a passion and love for it, and continue to try and learn and improve my skillset everyday. One day I hope to be working with big name artists, creating music which helps the day-to-day lives of millions of people, through resonating and connecting emotionally with the music.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I generally focus on Pop and Rock, where my influences are generally Sam Fender, Arctic Monkeys and Jimi Hendrix. I do like a bit of EDM and electronic music too - inspired by Avicii, Martin Garrix and David Guetta.

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

A: Sam Fender - his honesty and passion that comes out in his songs is so awesome. He's smashed the 80's Bruce Springsteen vibe and created his own modern unique sound around it - which sounds amazing; and also his vocal range and power adds so much more emotion to his songs - what a guy.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Every time you start a new session, put -6dB of gain on your master bus. This will mean that once you have completed the mix, even if the 'gain' is maxed-out for some tracks, you can turn off the gain and have much more headroom and freedom to work with when mastering.

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

A: Generally Pop, Alternative, Pop-Rock, Rock and Electronic Music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Working with people - I try to be as empathetic and considerate of their goals and vision for the project as possible. It is also very important to make an artist feel comfortable and relaxed when working on their project - I do my best to let the artist feel free, confident, and in their element when recording.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring a unique perspective that may help an artist make their song even better, or suggest ideas which make the song even more exciting for the artist. My goal is to take their song from a rough demo to a polished, refined, professional mix and master - ready for streaming services and radio.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I love to discuss the artists' vision first, and really understand what kind of emotion, energy and story they are trying to convey in their project. Then I will record all the instruments, and work through the first mix I then send the first mix to the artist and ask for their feedback, and make changes as needed. This process continues until the artist is completely satisfied with the project - which is then sent for mastering. The master draft is then sent to the artist for feedback, and again refined and tweaked as many times as necessary until the artist is completely satisfied with the final master; which is delivered to them in .wav, and .mp3 if requested.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have KRK Rokit 4 7 Inch Monitors, and a Roland JUNO DS-88 as my main keyboard. I use a Macbook Pro (Apple M2) with 16GB ram and 1TB storage, connected to an LG27 inch monitor. For vocals, I have a Shure SM7B run through a Cloudlifter, which is connected to a Focusrite 2i2 Interface.

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

A: Jimi Hendrix, Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Lewis Capaldi.

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

A: Mixing and Mastering.