Mixing/session musician

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

A: One of my death metal bands Tombseeker just released a new single a few months ago called Catacomb Crawl. On this track I handled the mixing/mastering duties as well as drumming duties. Having live drums on the tune really brought the song to life, and I'm especially proud of my minimal need for sample replacement on the shells which most metal producers typically do very heavily.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Working on finishing up the second Hypaethral, my technical death metal project, record. This record is featuring live drums and will be re-amping using real guitar amps too.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: In a full mix, no one is going to be able to tell you if something was recorded using an expensive console and tons of out board gear in a studio or if it was tracked with a focusrite 2i2 in a bedroom.

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

A: That I only listen and work on metal music. I have previously worked with a hip-hop artist and gotten amazing results out of those sessions and I also compose contemporary classical music as well.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What their budget is and for similar artists or reference mixes. I am always willing to be flexible to fit in a client's budget and want to make sure they come out being completely satisfied with the work I do for them.

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

A: Remember that someone having loads of expensive gear doesn't automatically yield professional sounding results.

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

A: I primarily work in extreme metal styles like technical death metal but I am no stranger to hard rock, and even hip-hop.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My guitar skills. I've learned and played loads of iconic and difficult guitar pieces from Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Paul Gilbert, etc. Throw me a guitar part to learn and I will get it down. I also am very proud of my original solo work that I do on my own music and others, I provide a very shreddy style of soloing while leaving room for being tasteful when the moment calls for it.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have Fosusrite Scarlett 18i20 and Focusrite Clarett Octopre that I connect via ADAT to give me 16 XLR inputs. I use primarily Audix microphones for drums along with 57 for snare, a WA87 for vocals, JCM800 and Peavey 6505+ for reamping along with loads of different guitar plugins.

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

A: Mixing/Mastering and Guitar/Drums Session Work