Mixing & Mastering Engineer

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

A: Honestly? I love them all. That's not a diplomatic answer — it's the truth. The indie singer-songwriter who's been sitting on a record for two years waiting for it to feel right. The jazz quartet recording live in a room. The electronic producer who works entirely in the box. The world music project that blends four languages and six instruments. Every single one of them has something that no other project has — a specific emotional problem to solve, a specific human being behind it who cares deeply. The diversity is the point. Twenty-five years across every genre and every continent has taught me that the only thing all great records have in common is intention. Someone meant it. My job is to make sure that comes through.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Sync Music for Hulu and Disney.

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

A: Sure, Manny Marroquin.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Full ITB — in the box, all digital. I know that's not the romantic answer, but it's the honest one. I've worked both sides and at the end of the day I get better results working digitally. The tools available now are extraordinary — the gap between analog and digital closed a long time ago, and in many ways digital has surpassed it. What matters is not the signal path. It's the ears behind it and the taste guiding every decision. Gear doesn't mix records. People do.

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

A: That I will listen before I touch anything. That I will treat your music with the same care you put into making it. That I won't stop until it feels right — not just sounds right. And that the mix I hand back will sound like you, only more so. Not my taste imposed on your vision. Your vision, fully realised.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Working with people from all over the world. A singer-songwriter from Australia, a jazz producer from Brazil, an indie band from South Korea, a folk artist from Ireland — all in the same week, all trusting you with something they've poured themselves into. Music is the only language that works without translation, and mixing is the moment where you get to serve that language at its most essential. Every session is a conversation with a stranger who becomes, for the duration of the project, someone whose dreams you're responsible for. I never take that lightly. Twenty-five years in and that feeling hasn't changed.

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

A: "How long will it take?" Usually 3-5 days for a mix, depending on the complexity of the session. I don't rush — the mix is ready when it's right, not when the clock says so. "Can I hear samples of your work?" Yes — I have a full playlist of recent mixing and mastering work on Spotify. Listen before you reach out. I'd rather you made an informed decision. "How many revisions do I get?" Two rounds are included. In twenty-five years I've rarely needed more than that. If we've communicated well about the feel of the song upfront, the first mix usually lands close. "What format do I send the files in?" Stems exported at the original session sample rate and bit depth, labelled clearly. I'll send you a simple prep guide when we confirm the project. "Do you work with my genre?" If it has emotion in it, yes.

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

A: That mixing is about making things loud. Loudness is the last conversation, not the first. The biggest misconception is that a good mix engineer is someone who makes your record competitive on streaming platforms — hits the right LUFS, survives the master limiter, translates on phone speakers. That's the floor, not the ceiling. The real job is making your record feel alive. Making the listener forget they're listening and just feel. Volume is easy. Emotion is hard. Anyone can make something loud. Very few people can make something feel inevitable.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Three questions. First: what does this song want to feel like? Not sound like — feel like. Second: who is this record for? Not the market, not the genre — the specific person you made it for. Third: what's the one thing you don't want me to touch? Every artist has something they love about their rough mix, even if it's technically imperfect. I want to know what that is before I start. Everything else I can work with. Those three questions tell me more about a project than any technical brief ever could.

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

A: Know what you want your music to feel like before you reach out. Not technically — emotionally. Don't come with a list of references and say "make it sound like this." Come with a feeling. Come with the story behind the song. Come with what you were trying to say when you wrote it. The more you can articulate the emotion, the better the mix will be. A great mixing engineer isn't a technician who fixes your record — they're a collaborator who helps you find the best version of it. Find someone whose taste you trust, whose work moves you, and then let them do their job. The worst clients are the ones who hire an engineer and then try to engineer the mix themselves. Trust the ears you're paying for.

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

A: Laptop and headphones.

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

A: I was born in Gijón, Spain. One month old — open-heart surgery. I made it. My father was a keyboardist and I grew up surrounded by music without fully realising it. At fourteen I picked up the classical guitar. At sixteen I asked for a tube amplifier — my father came back with a four-track cassette recorder. I hated it at first. Years later I understood that mix-up changed everything. By nineteen I was performing over 120 shows a year. I started working as a studio guitarist while studying at the Conservatory — until audio engineering crossed my path and I never looked back. I worked across Madrid studios as a guitarist, engineer and producer. In 2004 I performed alongside Bob Moog on his last visit to Spain. In 2009 I moved to London, where my production projects earned several award nominations. In 2014 I shifted focus exclusively to mixing and mastering. Twenty-five years in. Still asking the same question: what is this song trying to feel like?

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Emotionally driven and sonically precise. I don't have a signature sound I impose on records — my job is to disappear into the music and serve the song. What I bring to every mix is clarity, depth, punch and emotion. Not as technical goals — as emotional ones. I come from classical training and flamenco roots, which means I understand dynamics, tension, and release at a level that goes beyond plugins and processing. Style, to me, is knowing when to add and when to take away.

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

A: There's a long list — Herbie Hancock, Jamiroquai, Sade, Rosalía, Beyoncé, Cory Henry, Snarky Puppy. But if I could choose one: Sade. Her records are the most perfectly balanced between restraint and emotion I've ever heard. Nothing is wasted. Every sound earns its place. The space in her music is as intentional as the notes. Working on a Sade record would mean being trusted with silence as much as sound — and that's the highest level of craft there is. Though if Cory Henry ever called, I'd pick up on the first ring.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Stop mixing with your eyes. The moment you start making decisions based on what the meters look like instead of what the music feels like, you've lost the plot. A mix that looks perfect and feels flat is a failed mix. Turn off your screen, close your eyes, and ask yourself one question: does this song make me feel something? If the answer is no, no amount of EQ is going to fix it.

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

A: Urban and EDM genres, World, Singer-songwriter, Pop, Sync...

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening. Not just technically — knowing where the low end sits or how wide the stereo field should be — but emotionally. Understanding what a song needs to feel the way the artist intended. After twenty-five years working across genres, from flamenco to jazz to indie to electronic, I've developed the ability to hear a rough mix and immediately understand what's missing. Not what's wrong. What's missing. There's a difference — and that difference is where the work happens.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Twenty-five years of listening. Not just to music, but to what artists are trying to say — and the gap between what they're hearing in their head and what's coming out of the speakers. I bring classical training, flamenco feel, jazz sensibility, and the kind of taste that only comes from having played 120 shows a year, engineered in real studios, and spent decades obsessing over why some records move you and others don't. I bring all of that to every mix. But mostly I bring ears that have learned when to act and when to leave something alone.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: It starts with listening. Before I touch a fader I spend time with the rough mix — understanding the artist's intention, the emotional core of the song, what's working and what's getting in the way. Then I work systematically but always with feeling as the compass, not the meters. I deliver a first mix, we discuss, and we refine from there. Two rounds of revisions are included. The process ends when the music sounds inevitable — like it could never have sounded any other way.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: ITB

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

A: From Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Keith Jarret, Paco de Lucía, ACDC, Aerosmith, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Kanye West, Pantera, Beach Boys...to Rick Rubin, Tony Maserati, Tony Platt, Bob Marley, Sade, Dave Pensado...

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

A: Most of my work is mixing and mastering for independent artists who care deeply about how their music sounds and are ready to invest in getting it right. The projects vary — singer-songwriters, indie bands, electronic producers, world music — but the starting point is always the same: a conversation about what the song is trying to feel like. From there I work until the music sounds like the best version of itself. Not my version. Theirs.