Producer / Songwriter / Mixing

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

A: Olly Peel's debut EP. Produced and mixed it and just think it's so raw and unique.

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

A: That I'll bust a gut to make sure your vision is realised and that when we're done, you leave with more than you ever imagined!

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

A: Question: `Can't we just fix this in the mixing stage?' Answer: No, ALWAYS get right at tracking stage.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid - analogue warmth, digital efficiency.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Seeing something come into reality from concept to finished product.

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

A: Most people think you simply have a technical role but it is so much more than that as you are dealing with people's creations.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your main goal for your project and how do you see me helping out?

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

A: My Larrivee Acoustic Guitar, Slate Digital VMS (if I had one), Mac with Logic X, Midi keyboard and an egg shaker.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Drawing people out of their shells and giving them courage.

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

A: Get to know the person a bit. Relationship is essential for making good music.

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

A: I've always loved recording and mixing. Been doing this since I was 15.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Relaxed but with clear focus.

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

A: Dave Matthews Band - just so ridiculously spontaneous and musical.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Planning is everything...oh and ALWAYS record everything. So man yof the best takes are the run through before 'recording'.

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

A: Acoustic / Rock / Funk / Folk

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Focus and clarity of direction. I cut away the things that don't add to the overall soundscape of the song.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I spend most of my time planning for a project. The better I plan, the better the final outcome and the more secure an artist feels. I prefer to spend a long time really nailing down the song and it's intricacies before getting anywhere close to recording. Once the songs are honed, I will initiate some rehearsals with various musicians to get a feel for the songs and make necessary arrangement changes with musicians. Often songs change when you add musicians which is why this happens well before tracking. Once we've run through the songs in rehearsal and finalised the arrangements I will tend to track everything live to click as this generally gets the best performance. We then overdub accordingly.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run a very simple setup (KRK 6 monitors, Focusrite SaffirePro40, Logic X and Pro Tools 11, Slate Digital & Waves Plugins). I work in the box for mixing and generally hire spaces and studios for tracking sessions. I love homes for recording once main tracking has been done.

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

A: Producers inspire me, especially in how they hear and conceptualise sounds before even the artist has.

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

A: I focus specifically on helping songwriters bring rough ideas into becoming fully rounded and complete songs. Generally I project manage albums/EPs from start to finish and walk alongside artists in a very relational and present way. I also mix songs for anyone.