Session Guitarist

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

A: Yesterday's Princess debut EP. My role in the group is composer, producer, guitarist and bassist.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: The release of Yesterday's Princess debut EP, which is my cinematic jazz-funk group.

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

A: Not yet. But I will add them here when I do.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Analog for tone and digital for convenience.

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

A: I always deliver high quality files, I always aim to deliver parts that sounds like what the client hears in their head and I always serve the music.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: To create and give back to the music, what the music has given me.

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

A: -

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

A: I don't know if it applies to me specifically, but a session musicians job is not to make the track about them, their instrument or their part. It's ALWAYS about serving the music.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What's your vision and what role do you want the guitar to play in your track.

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

A: The clearer you are in explaining your vision, the more accurately I can capture the sound you're imagining.

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

A: Well, if we assume that there's electricity, then I would bring a laptop, an interface, a pair of headphones, a pedalboard (with an HX Stomp on it) and a 335 style guitar.

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

A: I started as a producer around 15 years ago and I used to sample a lot of records and I kind of quickly felt like I hit a limit to what I could create in terms of what I heard in my head, so I started playing guitar and bass to expand my pallet. A few years into my career I took my bachelors degree in audio engineering at SAE Institute and started working as an audio engineer parallell with playing guitar and composing music. When the pandemic hit I put all of my energy into working on my craft as a session guitarist and have since the pandemic ended been working as a hired gun, both live, in the studio and remote sending guitar parts for clients tracks.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Melodic, Harmonically rich and in the pocket.

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

A: I would love to work with Madlib because I think he's one of the most creative and original producers.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If the electric guitar tone feels a bit muddy, one of the best ways to solve that is by using a EQ with a low shelf set at 650Hz with a reduction of -1dB and a high shelf also set at 650Hz with a boost of +1dB.

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

A: Chill/Lofi, Jazz-related genres and Cinematic music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I never overplay, I play with intention and I always play melodically.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Musicality, creativity and great tone.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Listen to the clients track, get to know their vision, write a chart, record what the client wants and what the track needs.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a professional home studio. I use miced tube amps and amp modellers, depending on what the track needs, both running through a Neve 1073-style preamp.

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

A: Yussef Days, Tom Bukovac, Khruangbin, Matthew Halsall, Peter Bernstein, John Coltrane, the list goes on.

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

A: Deliver musical guitar parts for their tracks, with great tone.