Rock/Metal Production

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

A: I will treat your project as if it were my own, giving it the same level of care and attention to detail necessary to get it right.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Whether I'm helping a client take a song from a rough idea to a full production or putting a mix together, I enjoy the creative process.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I will ask for a few musical references so I can put together a Spotify playlist and get familiar with the material if I'm not already familiar with it. I would then ask them to point out some of the key aspects of those tracks they like in particular. If it is for a mix I might ask about such things as vocal treatment. Do they prefer reverb, delay, a mix of the two, or do they prefer things on the dry side? In a denser track I might ask if the client wants the bass to be present in the mix or just fill out the bottom end. What type of drum sound? Lots of click on the kick? Do they want big ambient drums or something tight and dry? There would be plenty of other questions along the way but I can get a pretty clear idea of the direction of a project based on the responses to questions like these along with the cited musical references.

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

A: The music that has most influenced me was shaped by people like Brendan O'Brien, Joe Barresi, Andy Wallace, Michael Beinhorn, Dave Jerden and Adam Kasper among many others. As far as guitarists, the usual suspects: Hendrix, Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Van Halen, along with Jerry Cantrell, Adam Jones, the whole Steely Dan roster. Drummers like Bernard Purdie, Bonham, Neil Peart, Danny Carey and Tomas Haake to name a few. Vocalists ranging from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson to Jeff Buckley, Chris Cornell and Mike Patton, etc.

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

A: It really varies. I might be mixing or mastering, or having a drummer in for a tracking session. I've contributed guitar, bass, drums, keys & strings, background vocals and sound design to various projects, sometimes all of the above.

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

A: If we're talking living or dead I would say someone like Jeff Buckley for his amazing vocal performances, dynamic and powerful arrangements and guitar work.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. Analog devices can help shape the sound, particularly on the tracking side while the convenience, precision and recallability of digital make it indispensable for editing and mixing.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: In most cases, less is more. A few interesting, complimentary and well-executed parts will typically be much more powerful than a bunch of ideas stacked one on top of another.

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

A: Well, since there would be no one to hear the music so I wouldn't bother trying to record anything, Then there's the whole lack of electricity thing. Therefore, I would want to have an acoustic guitar, kick drum, snare, hi hats and a crash/ride perhaps. Hopefully the necessary drum hardware would be included.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have a client for whom I am producing a 13-song album remotely. Many of the songs began as rough ideas with just guitar and vocals recorded to a phone. From there we arrange those ideas into structured, working demos. We'll live with those demos for a bit, modify them if necessary and then take them to full productions. For this project I am providing live drums, bass, guitar, some keys and even background vocals. I send a rough mix, he sends me his vocals. I'll then make any necessary edits add background vocals if the song calls for them. From there I finish up the mix.