Singer,Guitarist,Producer

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

A: My latest EP - Welcome To The Freakshow - is something I'm incredibly proud of! It is one of the most genre-diverse collections of music I've ever made, and I wrote, produced, and performed the entire album! Fun fact - I've also been learning piano over the past few months and this is the first album where I played live keys on a song as opposed to programming or hiring a session player. That was huge for me!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently producing a Latin Pop track for a client as well as an Industrial track for myself. I'm also on the lookout for new clients and constantly writing new material to record and release!

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

A: To listen to you, to understand you, and to help you make the song that you want to make. I will also be completely honest with you if I feel like I'm not the right fit for your project.

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

A: Typically things related to genre and who my influences are. I'm mostly a rock guy, but I have background in multiple genres and I actually started out as a jazz guy!. As for influences, too many to list to cover all of the bases, but my top ones are Guns N Roses, U2, The Doors, Glass Animals, and Our Lady Peace :)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I ask them where they want to go with the track, with emphasis on what they are trying to communicate. I may also ask for reference tracks if a client is looking to emulate a very specific style or production quality.

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

A: Make sure that you really jive with the person you're looking to hire. Take the time to suss them out and make sure that your styles are compatible. The person you're looking at may have tons of awards and be well-versed in your genre, but if you rub each other the wrong way, that can put a lot of strain on the creative process. Be really honest with yourself and trust your gut!

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

A: That's a tough one! I'd say my Minarik Inferno, my Avantone CV-12, a solid bass, my computer setup, and a good interface.

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

A: I've been playing and singing for almost 30 years, and actively producing for the past couple of decades or so. I started off in high school bands in my home town, and eventually graduated to playing the local scene. After moving to LA, I pounded the pavement networking and booking any shows that I could. Along the way, I paid a lot of attention to producers and other artists that I've had the good fortune to work with and made it a point to learn the technology of recording and the art of producing. I've always taken a very grass roots approach to things - playing shows, meeting people, and being open to learning and experiencing anything!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: As far as the breadth of my style, I guess diverse. Though I primarily have hovered in the realm of rock throughout my career, I've also touched on anything from country, to rap, to pop and punk and most things in between. I'm pretty fearless in the sense that I'm willing to take a crack at anything, and I've gotten really good at figuring out how to duplicate and deliver pretty much any genre.

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

A: First and foremost Slash, simply because he's been my greatest inspiration since I started playing, and I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for him as an artist. I would also love to work with Dave Grohl, mostly because I just think it would be really unconventional and a lot of fun - I really love his viewpoints on what it is to be an artist!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Keep the process organic and don't get stuck on fixed opinions. Also, don't overthink what you're doing. David Campbell once said to me, "Creation is hot, fast, and easy." In other words, first impressions/impulses tend to be the best ones!

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

A: Rock iI do a lot in the rock genre, though I've been branching out a lot more lately. This has included recent projects in the Latin and Electro-Pop genres as well as some pretty unique world music tracks!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I would say my integrity and my ability to really understand what an artist is trying to do and extracting that from the project. That and my honesty.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: My approach is to find out what it is that an artist wants to emulate and bring that to life. From my experience, most artists have heard umpteen opinions from multiple different sources about what a good song "should be." I personally think that what matters is that the artist creates the music they want to create, as their own communication. In my opinion, the best artists are the ones who do something a little different from the pack, so to speak.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Depends on the project, but I usually like to start with a scratch track - even a rough phone recording of a vocal will do. From there, I typically start with drums, followed by guitars and bass. After that, on to vocals and lead guitars, as well as any other auxiliary instruments ad programming.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run ProTools 11 through Focusrite preamps. Vox NightTrain tube amp and a Kustom Double-Barrel solid state for live guitars. Waves Gold Suite for DI recording. Avantone, Shure, and Audix mics are my mains. I primarily use Minarik guitars - I'm endorsed by them (www.minarikguitars.com) - and I also have a couple of Fenders as well as an LP-style guitar and a couple of acoustics for when they are needed.

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

A: Travis Allen at Nashville Tracks is pretty much as top-shelf as they come in terms of studio capabilities, and he's also an awesome guy! https://soundbetter.com/profiles/59551-nashvilletracks

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: With the way digital technology has evolved, I now use it for damn near everything. That being said, that's really a project-specific question.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love seeing the look in someone's eyes when the project starts to come together. Reminds me of being a kid at Christmas time. Really rewarding!

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

A: In my opinion, that it needs to fit into a well-defined, tight-reined box of how music is created. I find this not only to be not true, but to be a counter-productive viewpoint.

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

A: Slash is the reason I first decided to become a musician. I've never seen an artist emulate so much emotion from his instrument. Also the band Our Lady Peace is really unique and, after over 20 years doing what they love, they still love it. And it is clear - with them as well as with Slash - that what they are trying to say through their music is senior to everything else. In other words, they make the music they want, regardless of other peoples' opinions. This tends to be the viewpoint I take with the artists I work with.

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

A: Producing and writing are the most common tasks. This, inevitably, tends to lead to my performing something on the recording as well.