Josh Westover

Audio Mixing, Sound Editing

Josh Westover on SoundBetter

With nearly 8 years experience and training from Pip Williams (Status Quo, Moody Blues, Nightwish), Josh has the knowledge and skills to elevate your songs to new heights of excitement, power and emotion.

You have awesome songs! You've worked hard writing them, recording them and producing them to the highest possible standard.

Now it's time to take your songs to the next level so they sound professional and ready to show to the world!

I will help you with harnessing the potential they have to convey strong emotions, hold attention and be remembered by those who love your music.

Mixing plays a huge part in the creative process of making music, so I want to make sure your songs are given the care and precision they deserve.

Whether you're a Folk Duo, a Pop Artist, an Acoustic Singer/Songwriter, or a Rock/Indie Band, I’ll bring a fresh and creative pair of ears to your project and elevate your recordings to new heights.

Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.

Interview with Josh Westover

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

  2. A: This is a weird one... but I teamed up with 4 other friends and we wrote a song together. It was a nightmare, with a lot of clashing styles, but the song turned out awesome and we had a lot of fun. This one isn't client related but it was certainly a memorable experience!

  3. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  4. A: I've actually been working on a lot of my own music recently. It's now time for me to get back into the swing of working with some other artists!

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

  6. A: I'm brand new to SoundBetter at the moment, so not just yet! But I hope to be referring people as soon as possible!

  7. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  8. A: I've already briefly touched on this, but digital is my go-to. It's way more convenient than analog and sounds awesome! I have no problems telling artists that this is how I work.

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

  10. A: My main focus of any mix I work on is enhancing the song's emotion, I promise to treat their music the way they would want it to be treated, with care and attention to detail.

  11. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  12. A: The most satisfying thing is providing something that the artist loves. Providing a great service is always the best part. I also love being a part of the artist's song-making journey.

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

  14. A: I get asked what gear I use quite a bit. I'm very upfront and say that I mix in-the-box. You can get the exact same results as analog gear now, so to me, it doesn't matter!

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

  16. A: I think mixing is somewhat mysterious and misunderstood by most people who don't create music. It's a tricky thing to explain to friends/family what it is I do without demonstrating.

  17. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  18. A: I generally ask clients what their vision is for the song, what the song means to them, what reference tracks they'd like me to use and what turnaround time they're expecting.

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

  20. A: I'd say make sure they're someone who wants to serve you at the highest level possible, and that they truly care about you and your music. In a way, that relationship is more important than the final product... because it's what produces awesome work that you're both happy with.

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

  22. A: I'd say an interface, a laptop, a condenser mic, a mic stand and a guitar. Somehow I'd then have to charge the laptop?

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

  24. A: My career is kind of mixed. I love music, I love sound production, but I also love teaching and building my own business(es). I've been doing audio production for around 8 years, but only recently have I decided that I'd like to offer it as a service in addition to other things I do.

  25. Q: How would you describe your style?

  26. A: That's a tricky one to describe. I certainly love to create a sense of space and depth in a mix. I'm all about keeping things sounding organic, rather than overly hard-hitting/produced. I guess that's my style!

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

  28. A: It'd be amazing to work with Fleet Foxes. I love their modern approach to folk music and how rich their instrumentation and arrangements are. They're a pretty amazing band!

  29. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  30. A: I'd say the most important thing is to have a vision for the song before you start mixing/producing. You need to know where you're going, so spend the time getting to know the song and where it's coming from emotionally.

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

  32. A: I usually work on Alternative, Rock, Pop, Acoustic and Folk music. They're my favourite styles and the ones I have the most experience in!

  33. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  34. A: Mixing is my strongest skill without a doubt. I'm knowledgeable in producing and have worked on analog gear in the past, but mixing is one of my main passions (therefore it's what I'm best at)!

  35. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  36. A: I aim for balance and clarity of instruments, first and foremost. I'm also all about attention to detail and holding interest for the listener. Therefore I like to add one or two hidden nuggets in a mix, which aren't always noticeable on first listen. I feel this keeps the listener interested and helps make the production part of the song.

  37. Q: What's your typical work process?

  38. A: I'm assuming this means how I approach a mix? For me, it's important I know and understand the song before I touch anything. Then I'll spend a lot of time balancing faders. Next, EQ. Then compression. Then effects. Then automation. Then reference. I mostly mix in mono as it forces me to balance everything properly. That's about the extent of it! :)

  39. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  40. A: I like to keep things simple. I love analog gear, but love digital gear more (just my style)... I like to travel and mix! I monitor through a beautiful Audient ID22. I use some amazing Slate Digital and Waves plugins and also use Lexicon PCM reverb (sounds amazing!).

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

  42. A: Nigel Godrich, who works with Radiohead, certainly inspires me a lot! I also love Brian Eno, Steve Slate and Tony Maserati as mix engineers. Some of my favourite artists are Arcade Fire, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Frank Ocean, Everything Everything, Fleet Focxes, Alabama Shakes, etc, etc.

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

  44. A: I typically work on sing-songwriters and bands who play live instruments. I personally love, and specialise in, working with acoustic drums, miced-up instruments, etc. I also specialise in Acoustic, Rock, Pop, Folk and Alternative styles.

Terms Of Service

2 Revisions Per Mix Included. Average 7-day turnaround per song (depending on project).

GenresSounds Like
  • Radiohead
  • Coldplay
  • Fleet Foxes
Gear Highlights
  • Lexicon PCM Reverb
  • Slate Digital VMR
  • Waves PuigChild Compression
  • Audient ID22 Interface
More Photos
More Samples
  • My opinion on choosing a DAW for mixing...Sep 06, 2017

    In my opinion, there's 3 things that will affect your choice:

    - Your computer
    - Price
    - What you need it for


    Eg:
    - Macs take basically anything, but Windows don't

    - ProTools is expensive, but it is the industry standard

    - Some DAWs are built for different things (Eg. Reason is more for electronic music)


    Which one you use isn't that important. If you can focus on making the music, that's all that matters!