Music Producer & Writer

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

A: I was the project manager for a live album release for a friend at our church. Although it was a lot of work, it was a blessing to be able to coordinate with vendors, guide and lead vocal and band teams as well as coordinate with all the technical teams. I gained a lot of experience and would love to do it again.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am currently working on a new visitor welcome song for our church as well as a live project.

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

A: Not at this time but I am looking forward to growing my network.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I am ore of a digital guy because I come from an IT technical background. However, analog teaches you things to help with troubleshooting and understand the foundation of what digital controls for you.

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

A: I will work hard to make this project what you wanted and more. While I will never be perfect, I will always work with excellence to provide the necessary service you are hiring me for.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love creating new sounds that are fresh and inspire people.

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

A: -What is your experience? "I. have written for over 10 years, but I am constantly evolving my style while educating myself on what is relevant today."

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

A: The biggest misconception is that producers can take anything and make it into gold. Even the raw material needs to be refined to produced into something of value.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: 1) What is your ultimate goal from this project? 2) What is your budget for this project? 3) What areas do you need help to grow in through this process? 4) What stumbling blocks have you ran into in the past when pursuing a project like this?

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

A: While I am a growing producer, you will get someone passionate about music and the creation process. I will give direct feedback but will look to create to what matches your style.

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

A: I would take a generator that never lose power, a midi keyboard, an iMac computer w/ software installed, a microphone & speakers. Simple but effective setup to create songs.

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

A: I have been writing songs for 11 years. I have been arranging cover songs for over 15 years. My goal is to write & produce for artist looking to grow and develop along with working with established artist.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is lightly eclectic. While certain songs can be traditional Gospel or CCM, many songs blend the two to make a unique sound.

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

A: I would love to work with Fred Hammond as he was the first artist that I was able to hear gospel music from a contemporary view. His music fit the Gospel genre but appealed to the younger generation. I would also love to work with Israel Houghton as his music connected the gap between CCM & Gospel music. To me it is the foundation of a lot of the music we have today in those two genres.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't get locked in to what the songs sounds like at first because as you progress, things may change such as lyrics, melody, parts, sections of the song. It is a constant developing process to get to the final product.

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

A: I normally focus on Christian music (CCM & Gospel) but I grew up singing quartet & choral music in school. I have arranged in all (3) genres.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is my ear for music. That guides me to hearing parts and chords along aligning voices to fit those chords. My ear helps me to be adaptable to needed changes as the song creation process plays out.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring creativity through how I hear music and parts. I also bring the ability to give someone all parts of a song from lyrics to music.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I normally get lyrics and melody at the same time but have adapted some songs that the lyrics & melody come separately. I normally start with chording out the song in the music software to establish a baseline. I keep it simple with just a drum kit and piano to create the foundation of the song. After I have all segments, I then start to customize each section before adding other instruments. Once satisfied with that, I add other instruments to help build the song enough to be a concept.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I currently have a home studio with 1 mic, a midi keyboard, scarlett interface, studio speakers, & logic music software.

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

A: Fred Hammond, Tye Tribbett, & Boyz II Men just name a few inspire me.

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

A: Currently I am writing for myself and for my church. I have performed background vocals for special performances at a friend's church.