Heavy music mixing engineer

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

A: When that band walks home with a smile on their face.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Hybrid. It is more intuitive to turn physical knobs during tracking on my outboard and it forces me to commit from the get go. Mixing is done entirely in the box, to ensure maximum recall possibilities. I do have a 16 channel summing box to add something special to the end result.

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

A: It will sound as you want it to. That's what we have a thorough intake and 14 day max feedback loop going on.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Working with creative people.

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

A: I am not a mastering engineer. I can perform mastering services to my own mixes, but I strongly recommend to keep some budget for an external to do it. That set of fresh ears working on your tracks is really the icing on the cake.

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

A: Talk, ask questions and try to sense wether this could work out. Don't worry to tell me when you're not feeling it, that's the first step to make it work.

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

A: My ears, a Mac, Pro Tools, an interface and 1 mic. That's all you need.

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

A: I started out as a musician, got a record deal at the age of 16 and fell in love with studio life ever since. My first venture was starting as many bands as possible to land as many record deals as possible to have opportunities to "steal with my eyes" in the studios. When I finally gathered the funds after 15 years of hard work, studying and saving, opened my own studio.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Persevering, relaxed and always fun.

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

A: Those that have a clear vision for their music, but consider external input to strengthen their own view.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't focus on gear, focus on the movement of the song.

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

A: Anything in the heavier guitar driven genres like metal, hardcore, punk and rock. I'm feeling comfortably at home in all subgenres, from "pure" black metal to heavily produced "djent".

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening. To the track, your source sounds, your vision and your feedback.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Energy and an external vision on your piece of art. That can include creative additions like effects, production sounds and overdubs, but it could as well be giving that mute button a little workout.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Thorough intake before the session. I want to understand the artistic and sonic vision before diving in. The rest will follow and is aligned to the clients needs. So high or low involvement in the process is entirely up to your wishes, capabilities and desires. I do, however, always engage in a rather intense mix revision run for 14 days after the initial mix is delivered. This allows to keep the mix on par with your and my vision by including your ears to the process.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a hybrid set-up with some select outboard, mainly for tracking and summing. The quality of in-the-box productions has exponentially improved. The ability to recall sessions at any time with no effort outweighs the romanticism related to hardware x times. And the real winner will be your production.

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

A: I'm mainly involved with recording and mixing for bands in the heavier genres like metal, hardcore, rock, punk and any other subgenres. My approach is one of committing as soon as possible in the process. So, recording is half the mixing work.