Mixing, Mastering & Artist Dev

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

A: Music and sound design for a University of Phoenix commercial featuring Giancarlo Esposito — intensive project, tight deadlines, big stakes, and the result still holds up. On the artist side, every Beatport #1 that came out of this room is a quiet point of pride.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A rotating roster of private artist development clients alongside mixing and mastering for releases on labels in the techno, house, and crossover-electronic space. I'm also currently running an 8-week Artist Development Accelerator curriculum I built from the ground up.

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

A: Happy to make tailored recommendations based on what your project actually needs — message me and I'll point you to the right person for the specific job.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid. I run a top-tier analog chain (Neve, Dangerous, BetterMaker, Burl) for the work that needs it, and I lean on the best of digital where it's faster and just as transparent. The goal is the result, not religion about the tools.

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

A: Honesty about your record, deep care about the result, and a finished file that holds up next to anything in your genre. I won't tell you what you want to hear — I'll tell you what will get the song to where it deserves to be.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The moment a record clicks into place and an artist hears their vision come back at them, finished. That's the whole job.

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

A: 'How fast can you turn this around?' Answer: usually 1–3 days for mastering, 3–14 days for mixing depending on tier and queue. I give you a real ETA before you book — not a vague one.

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

A: That mastering is 'just slap a limiter on it.' Mastering is the final translation step — tonal balance, stereo image, dynamics, loudness, and making sure the record holds up across every playback system on the planet. A limiter is one tool in a much bigger toolkit.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Reference tracks, first — I need to hear what you're chasing. For development clients, I also ask what your real goals are: signed release, full EP, label of your own, festival booking. The answer changes the plan.

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

A: Two things. One — listen to the engineer's actual finished work in your genre, not just their demo reel. Two — email them a real question about your project and pay attention to how thoughtful (and how fast) the response is. That's a preview of the whole working relationship.

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

A: Laptop, interface, headphones, a good coffee setup, and a notebook. The first three to keep working, the last two to stay sane.

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

A: I started as a bass player, moved to DJing, then production, then engineering. Mastering came as a byproduct — I needed clean releases for my label, Fierce Animal Recordings, and once other labels heard them they started asking who was doing my mastering. That was 25+ years ago. Since then I've built one of the longest-standing electronic-music engineering practices on the West Coast and pioneered Artist Development inside electronic music — a methodology I've been refining since 2012 and named in 2017.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Transparent, musical, and built to translate. I'm not chasing a signature 'sound' — I'm chasing your sound, made finished.

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

A: Tale of Us would be a dream — the way they sit melody, atmosphere, and weight together is exactly the lane I love working in. After that, anyone building real arc into their releases — Mind Against, Adriatique, Ben Böhmer. I'm drawn to artists who treat the whole release as a story, not just a single track.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: If it sounds good, it is good. Trust your ears over the meters.

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

A: Primarily electronic — techno, house, tech house, deep house, EDM, trance, and electronic crossover into pop. I focus narrowly on purpose: deeper expertise, better results, faster turnaround.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening. The tracks that finish well are the ones where I understand what the artist is actually chasing — not just what they say they want, but the feeling underneath it. I customize every mix, master, and development arc around that.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: 25+ years of trained ears, a producer's instincts, and a label-founder's perspective on what makes a record actually move in the market.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Listen first. We talk through references, scope, and what 'finished' looks like for this specific record. I work the mix or master through my analog/digital hybrid chain, send the first pass, take notes, and revise. Every package includes two revisions — most projects close inside that because the front-end conversation does the heavy lifting. Turnaround is typically 1–2 days for mastering, 3–14 days for mixing depending on tier.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: A 2,000 sq ft loft with 14-foot ceilings in the San Francisco Bay Area. The signal chain is built around Rupert Neve Designs, Dangerous Audio, BetterMaker, Burl, and Antelope — a true hybrid analog/digital mastering and mixing chain. Sessions run remotely worldwide or in-person by arrangement.

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

A: Too many to name, but the honest answer is the artists I work with every day. Watching someone go from a folder of unfinished ideas to a signed release with real career momentum is what keeps me engaged after 25 years.

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

A: I'm an electronic-music-focused engineer specializing in mixing, mastering, and artist development. Whatever stage you're at — sketch, near-final, finished but not translating — I work one-on-one with you to get the record over the line and, if you want it, get your career on the right path alongside it. I've helped hundreds of artists move from rough idea to signed release on the world's top labels.