Producer / Artist Development

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

A: It's really hard to choose. I love something about every project. It's like they're my children.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I work on so much music. When you read this I'll already be onto something new.

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

A: There are lots of great people on SoundBetter. It really depends on what you're looking for. I mix all my own stuff, but I've recommended Sefi Carmel to a lot of people who are looking for somebody else to mis their stuff. I've worked with Dylan Wissing a lot for drums. Also Nate Barnes and Larry Aberman.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I use both and the ratio depends on the project. Sometimes we want live instruments, analog synths and a very organic sound. Sometimes we want a very clean stylized digital sound. Usually it's somewhere in the middle. They're just tools and we want to get locked into too many rules. We care more about the feeling and the end result. You're better off leaning into humanity, personality and inspiration.

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

A: I have no agenda for what your music should sound like and I'll never push you to be somebody else or chase a trend. I will take extra care to vision and do my best to help make it a reality.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love connecting with people on a deeper level, exploring art, chasing passion and learning new things.

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

A: I don't like to say that I have customers or clients. I prefer to say that I work with artists. It's an important distinction. A lot of times artists have the most trouble understanding how to connect with an audience. We spend a lot of time talking about world building, authenticity, social media strategies, marketing and rollouts. It's important to tell a story and stay consistent. A lot of it comes down to having a vision. Ideally we have a clear vision that is expressed consistently through the songwriting, performances, production, visuals, social media and any other parts of the project. I spend a lot of time on vision and artistry. That can really help separate an artist in a saturated world. Artistry and personality make the difference.

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

A: I don't think people really know what a producer does, and that includes producers. Our main job is to help realize the vision and make sure it translates. Each experience is different and we should always be flexible and really try to listen. In general I think that nobody really knows what they're doing. We're all just trying to figure it out. It's important to leave space for discovery. Sometimes the magic happens in unexpected moments. I usually say that the music is the easy part. Figuring out what we're doing is the tricky part.

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

A: Some of my favorite producers (in no particular order) are Jack Antonoff, Dan Nigro, Daniel Lanois, Nile Rodgers, Phil Ramone, Pharrell Williams, Berry Gordy, Timbalad, Nigel Godrich, Dr. Dre, Glyn Johns, Quincy Jones, Bob Power, Jeff Bhasker and Kanye West. In terms of artists, it's too hard to give a list. I'm mostly into an authentic expression. I listen to music from all different times / genres, and am especially excited about new music and where things are headed. I think now is an incredible time to be making music, and I'm always thrilled to hear new compelling music. The only person I've been a true fan of is Jimi Hendrix. I spent a lot of years trying to play like him, and even have a cherished '68 Strat that I've beat to hell. I eventually grew past that and my favorite thing is to combine influences to come up with a new sound. But Jimi was my first love and brought me into this world of music in a very profound way.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Please tell me more about your goals and vision for the project. It's really important that we understand who you are as an artist and what you are hoping to get out of the process. It's my job to try to understand an artist's vision and help them communicate with the audience.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring a tremendous amount of care and experience to a song. I've produced over 1000 songs, worked with more artists than I can count and produced music in all ranges of styles and genres. I've produced a 150 person orchestra at Abbey Road, to solo acoustic, very authentic rock, soul, hop hop, electronic... I bring depth and life to songs. Excitement and quality.

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

A: You should come to me if you are focused on quality and want to push yourself to do more, do better and grow. I try very hard to make the experience fun and rewarding, but it is work. I take this very seriously, even if the mood is light. And sometimes the mood if heavy. It depends on what you're looking to do.

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

A: To be honest I have a deep love and appreciation of gear and instruments. I've handled many millions of dollars of equipment over the years and I have a ridiculous amount of stuff in my studio that I've collected. Gear can help a lot, but it's not really all about the gear in the end. A lot of the old blues guys in the deep south started out by taking the wire off a broom and nailing it to the side of the house and playing it with a coke bottle or baby food jar as a slide. Look up One String Sam. The music comes from inside you.

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

A: I started out in middle school playing guitar in my room. My dad recently reminded me that I would be in the for 8 hours and not think about it. Then I played in bands and fronted bands. I was always into recording and that was what I really wanted to do. I was shopping for record deals in college, but got pretty heavy into production starting with recording my bands. When I was 22 I was working on my friend's record who was signed to a major label and then we started getting commercials. We turned that into a pretty big production company that I was partner and creative director of, and kept pushing forward. I've worked on hundreds of commercials for all the big brands and around 20 films. 8 of the films were nominated or won Oscars, including 3 Best Original Song nominations. Also a bunch of Emmy's, Cannes Lions and Sundance Audience Awards. Through the films we produced songs with a lot of high profile artists and the record projects grew from there. For the past two or three years I've been primarily focusing on doing albums and EP's independently which is something I absolutely love to do. I have a lot of stuff coming out and am excited to keep moving forward. I've spent more time in the studio than is probably healthy for a person, but that is really where I am at home.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is pretty expansive. I always like to work in a little soul when appropriate. I want people to feel something when they hear the music. If I'm doing electronic music I still try to put some live instruments in there, even if they aren't featured. Bass clarinet sounds really good blended with synthesizers (just saying). The goal is to work across styles effortlessly.

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

A: The artist I want to work with the most is the one I haven't met yet.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Leave room for mistakes and discovery. Good art is a process of failing forward, making decisions and moving towards what's working. You have to trust your instincts and make decisions with each step. Imagine you're walking in the woods towards a mountain. Your path will not be a straight line. You might zig-zag, go around obstacles, the path can shift and turn, but you're always walking towards the mountain. The mountain is your goal.

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

A: When people ask me what kind of music I make, I usually say in a half joking way... "whatever they want". I've been doing this for 20 years and have seen a lot. From my perspective the vision and feeling are the focus, and the genre, style and technical execution are the dressing. I prefer to combine elements and influences to come up with an original sound. I want to get excited about the music and for it to feel new and exciting. I'm not good at exactly copying references or doing hyper specific sub-genres like deep tropical house. You come to me if you want to grow and make something new. If you want a note for note re-record of your demo, than I am not the right person for your project. The process should be about discovery and trying to make something real. The music has to be authentic, real and full of feeling or else nobody will care about it.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is that I really care. I care about the artist progressing, reaching the next level and coming away from the experience with the tools to keep pushing forward. A lot of what I do falls under artist development. I try very hard to connect with the artist and understand their vision. My job is to help the artist focus, realize their vision and make sure that it communicates with the audience. As an artist it's important to start with a strong idea and feeling, but the crucial step is to catch the audience's attention and draw them into the artist's world.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: My process is different every time because every project is unique. The most important thing is to listen. First I listen, then we discuss, and then we move forward. This happens constantly throughout the process. I try very hard to understand the artist's vision, and then do everything I can to make sure that vision communicates to the audience.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: At this point my main instrument is Pro Tools, and I play it very well. My studio looks like an eclectic music shop with a huge assortment of instruments. I have a lot of vintage electric guitars, tube amps, acoustic guitars, basses, analog synthesizers (my favorite is the Prophet 06), percussion, woodwinds (tenor sax, flute, clarinet & bass clarinet), a Wurlitzer 145 tube electric piano, and my favorite instrument right now is my Yamaha C5 grand piano. From my serious background in electric guitar I'm drawn to tubes and primarily use tube mics, Manley pre's and ribbon mics, but I also have Neve and API pre's. I'm also very into UAD plugins and hardware. From my background in Oscar films I have an extensive library of virtual instruments, and I love to combine programmed and live instruments when projects call for it.

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

A: I produce music for artists. Each project is different, some I write / co-write and some I just produce. My process is to help artists communicate their vision. I work in all different styles and don't have any pre-conceived idea of how the music should sound. I do a detailed creative discussion and tailor the music to support the song, singer and artist's vision.