Session Drummer

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

A: There is album called "All the Fears" by Lolas Ghost. I had total freedom to come up with really interesting drum parts. It was recorded at one of my favorite studios and with my favorite producer to work with: Tom Gardner at Rift Studios.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Tracking for some of my own material. Playing drums and guitar on it. Producing other singers and bassists, and keyboardists has been a real treat.

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

A: Yes, multiple other rhythm section players I have worked and recorded with outside of SoundBetter.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Mix of both. In a perfect world analog but digital is such a time saver and it also allows for people to be a part of a website like this with relative ease.

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

A: I will always try my absolute best to give clients the product they spent their hard earned money for. No artist is ever too small to work with, in fact thats completely irrelevant.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: It's my passion, as cliche as that sounds. I love interpreting peoples ideas and filtering them through my creativity and seeing what comes out the other side.

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

A: Usually how fast I can finish the recording or if I could do "......" kind of a drum part. My answer is usually 1-3 days depending on home schedule of recording and gigging. And 98% of the time I can do the kinds of parts clients request.

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

A: That drummers don't play for the song cause a lot of times they overplay or don't listen to clients ideas. It takes one bad egg to ruin it for all of us.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Do you have demo drums you'd like for me to copy or do my thing? Do you have clear ideas? Do you have a reference track I could check out so we are in the same headspace?

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

A: Take the time to read about people's influences and bios, check out their websites. Ask a ton of questions.

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

A: kick, snare, hi hat, guitar, old school 4 track recorder

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

A: Started playing at age 10 (I'm 27 now), it's all I ever focused on and devoted myself to it wholeheartedly. Started playing gigs in Denver at age 15 then studied Jazz at Denver University for 1 year during which time I was playing all over the city and leading my own jazz group. This is when I got into recording because we were self producing out EP. Then I moved to NYC to study music at The New School. Here I learned about songwriting, drumming, and a ton about recording. I studied extensively with Shawn Pelton, NYC's top call session drummer who has a home recording set up. Since then I've been recording and playing with many artists in NYC where I still live. I also run a drum lesson school now, which has allowed me to share all the wonderful things I've learned so far.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Inspired by the great Muscle Shoals, Motown, Stax era sounds and playing but with a modern twist on it.

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

A: Marcus King, his voice is like nothing I've heard and it makes me excited about where music can go.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't hyper focus on the gear. A great performance will still sound great in a $100 mic and in a $1000 mic. It's all about the creativity and care you put behind it.

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

A: Soul/R&B, Funk, Rock, a ton of singer-songwriter here in NYC is huge

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Relying on my vast knowledge and appreciating of many styles of music to be able to be a chameleon. I love playing all styles.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: First and foremost I serve the vision of the artist. I love to add my own sound and vibe to tracks but I equally love masking that and providing what the client wants. I can range from playing very subtle and sensitive brush parts to full on hard hitting massive drum sounds.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Listen to the song, make a chart, drive down to my studio, pick the appropriate gear, record, mix the sound and send out!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Fairly big room with wall treatment and 20 ft ceilings. 8 channel steinburg interface with 2 API preamps. A nice sized microphone locker and a massive array of snare drums, cymbals, and kits from years of recording and playing in NYC.

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

A: I love great songwriters. Since I started writing my own music I've become a much better drummer and have been able to weed out all the unnecessary things in my playing. It has really taught me how to play for the song and serve the writer's vision.

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

A: Learning many songs on short notice for recordings or live shows.