To The Ends Of The Earth - orchestral score - Recording (Ocean Way Nashville), Mix Stereo and Atmos (score not yet released on streaming) 

elkyn - singles - Something/ If Only It Was Alright Now - album - Holy Spirit Social Club

Kara Baldus Mehrman Quartet - ep - EP - Recording/ Atmos supervision (Used for Avid Pro Tools Webinar)

Yes Factory - album - A Compendium of the Imaginarium Menageries - Production/ Recording/ Mixing Stereo and Atmos

Housepet. - singles - Sugar Levity/ Kelly Klarkson

Music has always been in my life. I started Piano at six, sang in touring choirs, and learned Oboe at ten. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I learnt Guitar and that led to playing in bands. I toured in many bands and worked with many producers over those years until that side of the glass just started to interest me more and more.

Eventually, I started a small home studio, helped my regional music scene make records, and promoted via a podcast I co-founded called Sock Money Sound. After learning on the job at my own space I had the opportunity to mix live orchestra for the legendary Cheap Trick for their Dream Police and Sgt. Pepper with orchestra dates. This led to mixing many Live recordings for the band including an anniversary show of the bands successful Live at Budokan for AXS TV and a live New Years show with orchestra for Sirius XM. During that time it took over my time and I left my band to pursue Recording/ Production/ Mixing only.

I was always surrounded by music in some capacity as a kid. I grew up listening to orchestral music, choral ensembles, Opera, Musical Theatre, but also the Rock and Folk bands of the Sixties and Seventies. When I was finding new music for myself, I listened to much of the Nineties Alt music but also was a massive fan of Brit Pop and Power Pop. My musical taste these days is still as eclectic as my childhood, but I do have a soft spot for the Indie Folk happening now. There is enough of the Folk storytelling of old but the Rock aspect is more of an Indie Power Pop, so it ticks many of my boxes.

There are far too many to list. I try to learn from everyone and everything, even if it’s what not to do or forming my taste both what I like and don’t.

Cheap Trick really taught me a lot musically and professionally. I can remember Robin particularly telling me to get an interface and Mac and just start learning how to make records myself. I was 18 so I just did that. I had a 4 track PortaStudio in high school so recording myself wasn’t new, but taking the engineering seriously for a record, not just quick demo so I don’t forget, was a new experience for me. That led to a long time friendship with the band's front of House Engineer, Bill Kozy, with whom I’ve worked on many projects with and he and many others in that orbit were very gracious with their time and taught me so much.

When I first moved to the UK I became assistant to Mix Engineer Craig Silvey at Toast Studios, by recommendation of Jacquire King. I learnt much of what I know about mixing professionally from him.

There are pinch-me moments for sure. One moment would be, mixing Cheap Trick performing the medley from Abbey Road live at the Greek LA next to Geoff Emerick and later that night getting to pick his brain sitting by the pool at the hotel. Another was making some edits on a Noel Gallagher B-Side (always my favourite Oasis tracks) with The Chief himself. In all honesty though, creative people are still people and there is nothing like working in this field. The personality of every artist is special in different ways. I value every interaction with every artist I’ve ever worked with as they’ve all been vulnerable and open in some way. That is incredibly difficult to do, especially if you don’t know each other. That takes courage and I place immense importance on those moments.

The way I navigated my way might be harder for some and the most natural to others. The key is knowing yourself, your strengths, where you know you need improvement or guidance, and knowing how you learn best. I have ADHD and Dyslexia making it harder for me to learn in more traditional methods. If you are more of a traditional student, I highly recommend looking into reputable schools as they will teach to your strengths and provide the best experience and placement. If you are a divergent thinker like me, there are so many resources these days (Pure Mix, Mix With The Masters, etc.) and affordable equipment that you can learn on to grow your skills.

No matter your learning style, there are some things you should remember. This industry, as a whole, is very stressful and you need to learn how to take care of yourself. You might want a new plugin, but really what you need is that mindfulness app. On a health note, take care of your ears at all cost. You will only make poor decisions if your ears are knackered. See an ENT to learn how best to clean and care for your ears. They are the one piece of gear you can’t replace.

I’ve always had headphones as part of my listening experience. As one of six kids, speakers weren’t an option, so much of my sonic tastes were formed by which headphones I had. Once I was touring, I had in-ears on every night and the best I could afford while in the van. In the Studio is where I started to care much more about the quality of the headphones I was using. For recording, it’s amazing how your delivery can change based on what you hear and how you hear yourself. This has now become a critical step in setting up a singers HP Cue for me. I listen to what they are hearing at the mic through the headphones they are using.

My time these days is nearly half on headphones! Mixing in Atmos has made the headphone experience that much more important as this is the main way people with be listening to the mix. Since the iPod and then iPhone, it has really been the primary listening method, but with Apple Music prioritising Dolby Atmos “spacial audio”, it is now more than ever. My workflow consists of final session prep being done on headphones, mixing on speakers for an hour, listening on headphone to fix major discrepancies, then back to speakers, and the remaining time on headphones including QC checks.

My workflow has changed since using my LCD-X. I have adopted some practices from my Atmos work for Stereo. When working in Atmos I tend to prep sessions on headphones as I can immediately play with some Binaural meta data once everything is in my template. This has an effect on the space the track is living in but also the tone. I move things until things have natural separation or glue first and then change the Binaural settings. I am now spending much more time after a Stereo session prep doing similar placement and tonal shifts on headphones.

I almost take a pass fully in headphones before powering up my speakers. The ability to trust what I’m hearing even in extreme lows and highs as well as Delay and Reverb levels adds so much potential. With many of my clients not being on the same time zone, I don’t always get notes when I’m at my desk and everything is on. Since adding Audeze to my setup, I have done all my notes only on headphones and have had had faster approvals. The time that saves everyone involved is worth the upgrade.

I have been waiting to upgrade my headphones for so long I couldn’t settle on anything. I’m pleased to say that I am not sacrificing sound quality, comfort, or style. I even got vegan pads to satisfy that aspect of my life. The case that I wasn’t sure I was going to need (I was absolutely wrong about that) is of excellent quality and I feel comfortable flying knowing my investment is protected.

I do find myself needing some closed backs for production and tracking. I truly don’t like switching to other closed backs. My brain immediately tells me “this isn’t right”. (Hopefully soon!)