Remote Mix and Master

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Full of character, immediate, warm, big.

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

A: I'm competent with all types of music.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I run all audio through various levels of mono and stereo processing using Neve Newtons and a Neve 5057. There are 5 stages of monitoring from classics like NS10 and Mixcube to consumer level grots and Sony MDR-7506 cans. My room is also extremely accurate and doubles as a tracking room with a 1970 Mahogany Slingerland in the corner.

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

A: I am a fan of the formative years of analog processing with companies like EMI and Rupert Neve as well as many of the modern pioneers like Dirk Ulrich in the field of analog modeling and plugin development. With music, I came up through the 80s watching the change from analog to digital so I appreciate what a lot of people are trying to do to help us achieve our vision. I think Chris at Airwindows is an example of what I like. My favorite sounds come from a wide array of genres but I've never gone wrong with the singer-songwriters of the 70s and the immediate sounds of the 80s. A lot of artists on Warp still blow me away.

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

A: I remember one time I was a sound tech for a large auditorium and Riverdance was about to go on in about 5 minutes and our old Soundcraft went down on a fairly critical group. I finally resorted to hitting the bus out of desperation (which worked) and the show went on without a hitch.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Mixing/mastering a project for a Czech band, collaborating on a song with a Swedish fella, releasing a ballad for another client, digging through two old hard drives for stems.

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

A: Is Bill Schnee on here?

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Depends entirely on what you're trying to achieve.

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

A: I hold myself to the highest standards I can. Any mix I release from Greystone Zurich is a direct reflection on my professional capacities and I don't want artists to feel "good" about my mixes. I want them to be be ecstatic about them!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: That I can grab a tea whenever I want.

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

A: Q: What's your dog's name? A: Bjørn

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

A: There's no "Secret Button", just applied methods and lots of objective listening. That's why I like to use a lot of cooking metaphors ;)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What are your goals for the song, album, and as an artist? Who are your influences? What's the vibe you're going for? Do you have any reference material you'd like to share?

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

A: Know that the engineer wants it to work as much as you do and that process can sometimes require critical input from both ends. Know what you're trying to say. So many musicians have a lot of sounds and nothing to say with them so make sure you have a distinct vision of what each song is really about. If you have at least that, you're well over halfway there. A good mix won't fix a poorly thought-out song. A good master won't fix a poorly thought-out mix. Remove anything from your song that doesn't help the song say what it needs to say.

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

A: SPL Iron, Pultech EPQ-1A, Neve Newton, NS10M Studio, Mac Mini

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

A: I started as a jazz percussionist, played in dozens of punk, rock, indie, and electronic bands, toured a bit, licensed a bit, worked with a few labels, built my own studios and started bringing people in to record. It's been an organic path built on a desire to make wonderful recordings.

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

A: The one I'm working with now.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Have the patience to always keep learning from your experience and the experience of others.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Being able to remain objective i.e. "there is always a solution" and knowing when to take a break and organize a re-approach when necessary.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I think my greatest strength as a mixing engineer lies in my wide knowledge and appreciation of dozens of different genres and the fact that I treat each song as its own little work of magic instead of a production-line item to stamp and roll out. I am still consistently learning, listening to other engineers, and still bettering and refining my approach. A retro song needs to feel retro and may require different processing than a modern pop song for instance. A good engineer has to have a feel for what the artist is attempting to achieve and communicate that idea effectively.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First, organization. Some mixes can take at least an hour to label, group, and send properly. I work tonally from the foundation of a mix (drums and bass) toward a relationship with all instruments and vocals and typically stay on the NS-10s until a mix is around 80% dialed in. Then I can begin toggling between different monitors to check other characteristics like depth and width and begin the more subtle aspects of psycho-acoustic enhancement, mono compatibility, and the relationships of various stereo elements so in the end, the mix is present, clear, and full of character. Depending on the type of music, it may benefit from analog summing. I will often send private links to a client when a mix is around 90% for any last-minute adjustments.

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

A: Recording, Mixing, and Mastering