Songwriting/Mixing/Mastering

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

A: The two artists who have inspired me the most throughout my career are Michael Jackson & Ryan Leslie. However, I take a lot of inspiration from various artists across all genres. The mixing engineer who inspires my techniques is "MixedByAli".

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

A: The most common work I do is: mixing & mastering records and writing songs for my clients. I primarily work on Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, EDM, and Acoustic Singer-Songwriter records.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Well I grew up listening to a lot of Motown records as a kid. So I grew up really loving soulful R&B and "oldies". As I got older and started expanding my musical taste I got into Hip Hop, EDM, Pop, Alternative, & Indie music. This musical journey has helped me craft my style and sound. I would describe my style as very soulfully modern with shades of hip hop and pop influences.

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

A: The artist I would currently love to work with is Ryan Leslie. Ryan Leslie has been an inspiration of mine since high school. Watching his Youtube videos in 2009 gave me the confidence and inspired me to write and produce my own records.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I have one tip and one piece of advice. My number one mixing tip is to mix in mono. My piece of advice is to never be afraid to experiment. This goes for everything from writing, producing, & mixing your music.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My passion. I really believe that my passion for music and what I do allows me to have the confidence in creating sonically beautiful music. Not only do many artist love working with me because of my experience in taking their music to new levels but also a creative energy I provide through my passion.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring passion, confidence, and quality to a song. I have been doing this passionately for over 10 years now and I've been able to develop not just the skill in quality but also confidence in the music and sound quality I create.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Every song is bit different but this is usually how I work on music. When writing a song I almost always start with melody. I believe melody is King. I believe you can write great lyrics but if the melody is lacking then the lyrics won't be as potentially impactful as they can be. Melody to me is what provides "mood", "atmosphere", and is really the main catalyst to driving emotions from the song. Once I write a few different various of the melody I then move on to the lyrics. I start with the basic idea and message of the song and slowly start to add more complex and interesting variations to the lyrics until the lyrics add to the melody's movement of the story. When mixing and mastering a song I always listen to the song a few times and write down notes. I asked the client and then intuitively myself, "What is the most important part of the song?". I start and build there first. I make a list of all the elements of the song and number them in order of importance. Most of the time the lead vocals, main instrument, kick & snare are where I'll start first. I believe if the song sounds great with just those 4 parts then I can strategically add all the rest of the elements back to the song to fill out the stereo field and give it a "full sound".