Mixing and Mastering Engineer

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

A: Look for the provider that tries to get to know what you want to transmit through your art not someone who is just looking for another job.

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

A: 1. Neumann M49 Microphone 2. A pair of Neumann KM84s 4. A Lauten Audio Kick Mic 3. A Prism sound Atlas interface

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

A: I started as a studio bassist in Detroit in the late 80s and became a producer engineer in the mid 90s in Austin, TX. I have been making records professionally for 30 years as of 2025.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style as a engineer is hi-fi and high craft. I want to make records like the late 70s label era when budgets were large and studios were purpose built.

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

A: I worked on a record for John Medeski called St Disruption that I arranged, Produced, Played Bass, Mixed and Mastered.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on a reggae record from a legit Rasta man named Bobo.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I stated on analogue but feel tape has run its course now that digital conversion is in a mature state. This being said, I track, mix, and master in a hybrid rig with 200K worth of outboard analogue gear.

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

A: To make your project the very best it can be to the furthest extent of my ability.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love all things audio and music, and love to do this every day. It is a sincere pleasure to make music, even after three decades of work.

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

A: Q. Can we make it louder? A. Depends on whether your mix has enough energy in the presence range. Q. Can you make me sound like (x) artist. A. If you sing and arrange in that style we can get close to that picture, sonically.

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

A: That it can be learned in a year or two!

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are you trying to communicate with your art? What artists inspire you? How do you want your project to turn out and what do you want sound like at the end of the process? What details are important to you?

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

A: Peter Gabriel is my hero as a artist because of the depth of his lyrics and his sense of theater.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: It is best not to drown a song in a sea of tracks. Listen to the lyric and build around it, adding only what is needed to bolster the narrative. Use only Center, Left, and Right in panning and hard pan the sides.

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

A: Eclectic artists in Americana, Folk, Pop, and RnB music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is to bring out what is indigenous in a artists expression and to then have that translate in the media.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring coherence to every song I work on. It is of utmost importance that the message of the artist transmits clearly and that the product has impact and dimension.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First, I listen deeply to the song to get a sense of what the artist is trying to convey in the narrative of their music. Second, I analyze the technical considerations (If Mixing or Mastering) to to determine what needs to be enhanced or corrected.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have two facilities. One is a Northward Acoustics designed tracking room that I am a partner in called in Purple Ridge in Canton, NC. This studio has 32 inputs of Lynx Aurora N convertors a large selection of microphones and analogue front end. Two is a a Mixing and Mastering facility at my home which I have outfitted with Prism convertors, Dutch & Dutch monitors, and various boutique analogue mastering processors.

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

A: I feel that Daniel Lanois is a master at record-making and Bob Clearmountain, as a mixer, are both titans to be studied. I am a Madison Cunnigham fanboy! I love Snarkey Puppy and Trombone Shorty.

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

A: I Produce, Mix, and Master records for a diverse group of artists. This consists of reviewing a songwriter's catalogue, editing individual songs, preparing arrangements, hiring musicians and tracking engineering. After cutting, I edit, mix, and master.