Session Drummer & Engineer

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

A: I released a solo album in 2016 that I wrote, recorded and mixed all of the parts starting in 2012. The only thing I didn't do was mastering - and it was my first top to bottom record and it was an extremely good way to learn how to do it all. I wrote and demoed 50 songs and then picked my favorite 10 and did the real recording of them.

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

A: I get hired often time to record drums for rock, pop, and metal projects, but most of my production work comes from rock artists.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I'm a drummer at my core, and while I've been playing guitar and singing and doing everything else for over a decade at this point, more than anything I'm a drummer.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Generally, I will listen to the demo sent over to me and chart out the structure. I then play along to the song a couple of times and begin to record several takes. I then comp between the best 2 or 3 takes to get the performance I like the most.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a large mic collection of various Shure, AKG, Blue, and EV microphones. My typical drum recordings are 16 tracks. 3 kick mics, 2 snare mics, stereo overheads, stereo rooms, and single close mics on all toms, hi-hat, and ride. I use two Focusrite Saffire Pro 40s with a UA 710-d connected via ADAT to the main Focusrite with my Lunchbox routing through the UA into the ADAT as well.

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

A: Ken Andrews and Chris Lord Alge are two of my bigger production inspirations. Coincidentally they both worked on Paramore records - two very different sounding records that both sound phenomenal to me production-wise. The drummers that influence me the most are probably Portnoy, The Rev, and Bonham.

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

A: The bulk of the work I do is recording drums for artists. A lot of the time, I also act as the mixing engineer for those projects. Artists will send me a track - sometimes with programmed drums, sometimes without - and I will record real drums and send them a mixed version of my drums, a stereo bus of my drums, as well as the raw tracks. When I also act as the mixing engineer - we will record a scratch vocal and primary instrument take, then add real drums and start to add all of the layers.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Why not both??? I use real mics and real outboard gear going into the box...but once it's there, there are so many invaluable tools at our disposal that trying to re-reroute it back out afterward doesn't create any inspiration for me.

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

A: I cater exactly to your needs - as no two clients I've ever had have been the same. It's a very individual personal work relationship.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I set my own hours.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: How many songs are you looking to do, what is your time frame, how married to your midi drum parts are you?