Mix Engineer & Ghost Producer

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I LOVE enhancing people's music and helping them hear their ideas come to life.

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

A: The mastering process involves broad strokes, not specific tinkering. Clients sometimes expect everything to get "fixed" at the mastering stage, but nothing could be further from the truth. The mastering I do can sometimes reveals problems in the production, recording, and mix. Also, clients can confuse mix engineering with mix editing. I do both, but they are not the same! :)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I usually ask for my client's favorite songs to use as references.

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

A: I recently created an original soundtrack for a short film about a fish who goes from the prey to hunter. Fun stuff

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

A: Don't hesitate to invest in yourself! You have to take a risk eventually to move forward, why not choose a professional that can get the momentum going for your music. It will be well worth it. Remember this ol' saying: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now! 😉

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

A: over 20 years already.... wow I'm getting old. I started out just working on my own music through a cassette tape recorder and a casio keyboard. I eventually went digital in the early 2000s and never went back. heheh

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Fans tend to label my music as synthwave, electro industrial, dark synthpop, dark electronic metal, and dark fantasy electro. There's a few "darks" repeated there. hmmmm... :)

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

A: Super rough! Wow. I guess I'd bring my Korg Volca Modular (and plenty of batteries to go with it?) to experiment with sounds. I'll need an upright piano to compose endless depressing songs (cause I'm stuck on an island apparently 😅). My seagull acoustic guitar for singing worship songs around the campfire at night. Any noise cancelling headphones and some sort of walkman so I can slip away to dreamland while listening to music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Mixing, Arrangement, and vocal comping. I guess I'll include my ability to narrate emotions with the right instruments and genre.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I know many artists that throw up some software and experiment with a beat or synth riff until they feel inspired. I've done that, but typically I already have a song concept mapped out in my head! I think its because I think in terms of imagined "movie scenes" I ponder throughout the day - and that dictates the vibe, arrangement, and various elements that need to be used to match the emotional moment I've made up out of thin air. When its time to actually map everything out, I start programming beats and bass work first. Then I'll use my keyboard controller to work on progressions and melodies. Vocal work is usually the very last thing I track. And I write my lyrics AFTER I figure out the topline and melody I want in my songs.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: While working for clients, I use my intuition to enhance the artist's vision for his/her track with instrumentation and arrangement ideas. I might suggest some cello on the second chorus to your quirky folk song. I'll show you a version of an industrial track with some car door slams for toms. It doesn't matter if ideas fail. you can always help others by showing them what's possible. Even if they don't go with exactly what suggested, they at least start thinking outside the box and come up with new ideas of their own. That's my true desire - just to empower song writers and composers to do their best work. An important aspect of that is staying humble. It's not about adding MY footprint to a song, it's about enabling a song writer to achieve their dreams.

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

A: I love Trent Reznor's exploratory approach to music. I would love to b a fly on the wall and watch him experiment with modular sounds. Working together would be a dream! 🥰 I'd like to see what his experimentation and my music arrangements combined would achieve.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Mixing is like putting furniture in your house. You can't put the couch and your TV in the same spot. Same principle works with boosting or cutting frequencies for multiple instruments.

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

A: Industrial, Uplifting Trance, Dark Fantasy Electro. Clients come to me for folk music too, since I remain gentle with their material while mixing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work upstairs in my own studio home, where I have eliminated meaningful color and reflection to the music while monitoring for mixing. I use a Behringer DEQ2496 to modify the signal before it gets to my Behringer monitors. This is how I emulate a "true sound" in my studio. Without this device, a lot of mixers end up making a mix that might sound great in their studio, but TERRIBLE in your environment (e.g. sounding to "tinny"). 😖

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm working on my next album, Valley of Eden, which has a mix of synthwave, industrial, and chillstep genres, all woven together with a sci-fi story. I'm aiming for a release date of Halloween, 2022!

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

A: Yes! If you are looking for a flexible and powerful vocalist, check out Kris from BoomFox Productions! She can play a wide variety of characters and styles in your music.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I use a mixture of both. Most of my work is "in the box", because with today's plugins and software, you can get the same warm analog sound that comes with analog equipment if needed, like tape saturation, etc. (and yes, there are exceptions!) SometimesI I switch it up for creative purposes, however, and need to play an analog synth or mess around on my mini Korg Volca devices to bypass the autopilot in my brain. Turning those real nobs and dials does have an effect on experimentation.

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

A: I do WHATEVER I can to make you satisfied! I want your music to sound just like it did in your head and heart. I promise we will find the sound and vibe you are looking for. Let's do it!

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

A: I often get asked if I will perform vocals on a new track without pay ( "promised" future streams and royalties instead). The short answer is... No. 😬 In *most* cases, I prefer to work for hire - you can keep the royalties to yourself.

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

A: Nine Inch Nails, Hans Zimmer, Gareth Coker. I love all things "dark fantasy" as well :)

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

A: Mixing and music production!