Songwriter, Guitar, Producer

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

A: People often think that I am just a songwriter and they don’t realise that I produce, write, mix and master every single one of my songs all by myself.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your vision, what is the story that you want to tell and how do you want the listener to feel. What kind of instrumentation are you considering using in the track?

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

A: Go with your gut, if you feel like we will mesh well and create something amazing. I wholeheartedly invite you to collaborate with me :)

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

A: A laptop, UR22C, electric guitar, sm58, my phone

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

A: I have always wanted to work in the music industry, I have been doing this for over a decade and have been constantly working on getting better as an artist and beginning to take it professionally.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I would describe my style as alternative/acoustic pop

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

A: I would love to work with Paul McCartney as I believe he is a fantastic songwriter and he writes straight from his heart and experiences. I also just think he’s a really cool down to earth guy.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: My biggest tip for new music producers is, do whatever feels and sounds good to you. A good rule of thumb though is to cut frequencies that are unused for example subsonic frequencies in something like a lead guitar riff I would recommend cutting some of those low end frequencies to reduce muddiness and allow other instruments to breathe within the mix. Doing so will also often help the guitar shine a little more too as its harmonic material is not being all phased out.

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

A: I often work on bedroom pop, indie and folk songs

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Songwriting and lyrics are my strong point and I often utilise storytelling and poetic devices within my lyrics and composition

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring an organic and emotional vibe to songs, I like to utilise storytelling and emotions within my pieces and connect the listener to the artist through art. I personally write to express myself and allow others to feel heard/seen and I hope to bring out the best in you as an artist and help guide you along a path that shapes your song into a beautiful masterpiece.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I begin by assessing how I want the song to feel and what the story should be about I then begin to play whatever first comes to me and brings out my true emotion, often on my guitar. As I am playing these chords/melodies I begin to hum along side it and figure out a main vocal melody for what may be the chorus. I begin to write down whatever comes out and sounds good and try to structure it in a way that it makes sense and tells a compelling story. Usually I will open up voice memos on my iphone and record what I am playing/singing so that I can refer back to it and make changes or come up with new ideas based off of the rough recording. I then often times will write the entire song and then begin recording it into the DAW sometimes I will often just record only the chorus into my DAW (if I haven’t fully developed the song yet) and build off of that. As I am recording I mix as I go and try to keep everything well balanced and complimentary to each other in the mix. I often will begin to experiment with different instrumentation and sound selection to see what fits the vibe of the song, for example programming drums, percussion and using transitional sound effects such as risers and fallers. After I have pieced together an entire composition I will listen through it multiple times to make sure that everything flows well and the frequencies do not mask each other, I often like to experiment with different processing techniques such as pitching things up and down or adding effects such as reverb, distortion, saturation and delay. Every piece of music that I produce must capture the vision of the artist and connect them to the music. The feeling you get from a song is the most important part about a song for me.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Instruments I own: Ibanez JEM JR, Ibanez art core AS53, Epiphone J15 EC, Roland System 1, M-Audio Oxygen Pro 49, Squire J Bass, Ukulele, Kazoo, Accordion, Melodica DAWs I use: Cubase, Logic Pro X I have a variety of microphones: RODE NT1A, Shure SM57, Shure SM58 and Steinberg STM01.

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

A: I am heavily inspired by musicians such as: Cavetown, Conan Gray, Vansire, Rex Orange County, John Mayer and Jack Johnson

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

A: Songwriting and production are my main strong points, I often enjoy beginning a song by starting with the chorus and then branching out off of that as it allows me to build a strong foundation for the song and opens up possibility for more emotional development throughout.