Production & Composition

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm working on 2 EP's for other artists. 1 full length for myself & singles for a couple other artists! I'm also starting in on scoring a documentary.

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

A: Absolutely , Yan Perchuk, Krysta Youngs & Elise Hayes.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: They're both useful in different settings... The best part of digital is the flexibility and experimentation on the back end. But if you know EXACTLY what the target is, analog can be insanely useful with it's warmth/depth- however, because of the way we listen to music it's not as dramatic a difference. I'd say the most useful part of analog is actually the commitment it forces the creatives to make. I work digitally for almost everything- I have produced a couple records in more traditional settings where we're printing compression, eq & even using reverb chambers in advance, etc...

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I get to make music come to life in an everyday scenario. What you're envisioning your music sounding like- I get to make it reality when you're driving to work and listening to my production or when you're at the fire with your portable speaker... It's pretty incredible what sound recordings mean to us and our everyday lives & I get to be the maker behind the scenes for so many incredible moments.

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

A: Straight outta highschool I moved to Nashville. Packed my instruments into the car & left Northern NY to try & sink my teeth into the music scene. I immediately started mtg folks, co-writing & playing writers rounds. That developed into session work- playing acoustic guitar, bass & cello mainly. From there I was asked to be MD/arranger for a couple artists locally... Loved it, it challenged me to work on the engineering end of things, so I learned how to operate logic back in 2015. From there I started working on loads of "demos" for songwriters such as Allen Shamblin, Brian Simpson, Steve Seskin, etc... While I was doing that I made my first EP "Sweet Talk" with legendary producer John Alagia (John Mayer, Rachel Yamagata, Liz Phair, Jason Mraz) & Nolan Sipe. My career has been incredibly full & I'm grateful that I get to produce with amazing artist AND go on tours/release music as an artist myself!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My favorite music is really pop/funk/rock! With time in Nashville + my instrumental skills I also really appreciate & can create great music blues/rock/americana sort of range (Black Keys kinda thing).

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

A: Dua Lipa- I think her voice would be incredible to record. She's adventurous & leans into retro dance truths well pushing forward with such a modern approach. It'd be incredible to produce for/with her.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Yes- contrast is key to making the music feel like it's really developing/growing/evolving. If you've chosen instrumentation that sticks to only 4 different elements, you have to use space & shifting of the layers to your advantage, when everything's in at once THAT'S your peak so make sure that it is clearly that! Even when i'm working with well over 100 tracks- I think about how it could be more impactful if I remove a sound for 2 beats before it coming back in. Also- rhythm editing is everything!

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

A: It ranges- but majority of what i've done could be in the following categories POP/Dance/Rock/Indie/Folk

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My ability to quickly translate what I'm hearing or what a client's hearing into sound. I have a really good ear- so if there's a melodic idea or thought it's very easy for me to translate it into a piano, guitar or bass part. My roots are in classical piano & guitar, so I understand theory well.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Energy. I love to bring a strong sense of movement & excitement, I'm also very inclined to make things catchy/hooky. Something tangible & a bit addictive. I like to step back & make sure that the music bed is SERVING the song & not getting in its way at all.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I dive into references- if the client doesn't have any I spend time coming up with them. A "vision board" if you will to make sure we agree on the general target region. After that I make an initial "sketch/arrangement" and make sure we all agree on structure & basic chordal ideas before diving deep. Then it's time for editing & getting things really cleaned up / tightened up.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have an AKG C414 condensor mic which is gorgeous for vocals & versatile because it's great for guitars, cellos, etc... AKG P170's (Pencil mics), SM57's Ableton 11 for my main DAW as well as Logic Pro for certain things. Additionally for software I have Keyscape, Guitar Rig & Hollywoord Strings Opus Edition Splice for my main sample catalog

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

A: Pharrell, Imogen Heap, Shellback, Quincy Jones, Tal Wilkenfeld, Paco De Lucia, Joni Mitchell, Max Martin, and many more...

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

A: Listen to your song & come up with a clever way to arrange it / flesh it out! If you say "I have this song & I imagine it could sound a little like Imagine Dragons meets Michael Jackson" I'm really good at finding a creative way to make these sonic ideas work in tandem. People ask for these to be recordings for their records & ep's and sometimes ask me to record demos to pitch for other artists. I also will record things with tv/film in mind if that's my clients goal!