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I'd say a few projects that I'm proud to be a part of would probably be:
Tia Wood - Pretty Red Bird
Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
Finneas - For Cryin Out Loud
Omar Apollo - God Said No
SZA - SOS
Harry Styles - Harry's House
My main role as of lately consists of stereo and immersive mastering on most projects.
I got started in music when I was really young. It started with just listening to different albums and getting into a lot of different genres. I was heavily into rap, metal, alternative rock, shoegaze stuff growing up. I had a lot of influence from friends and family because they were all music fans as well. My taste in music has definitely grown over the years, I'd say now I pretty much listen to everything.
After just being a listener for a long time, I learned how passionate I was about music itself and began teaching myself how to play instruments like guitar and piano. Once I realized I probably wasn't going to be the next Jimi Hendrix, I started looking into other career options and discovered the engineering side of the industry. I enrolled at the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Phoenix, AZ and moved out to Los Angeles after graduating. I started out as an intern and bounced around a lot of different studios over the years which eventually led to me landing at Becker Mastering.
I'd say just the art of music in general really influenced me starting out. Being involved with different types of projects and meeting other engineers/producers has definitely played a role. Working with Dale, Bernie and the rest of the team at Becker has been an awesome experience and extremely influential for me as well.
Also, I remember when I was in school my old roommate and I worked on a project together recording a full band. The band was sick and the music was really good. It was the first time I had ever been a part of something like that and feeling that energy in the room was something I'll never forget. I would like to think that night definitely influenced me in my career.
I think the most frustration came in the beginning for me. Starting a career in engineering isn't easy and it takes a lot of practice to perfect your craft. I had a lot of issues trying to get things to translate properly on different monitoring systems. Headphones actually helped me overcome this issue. Also, I remember when I was an intern/runner, there were a few rough nights where quitting and pursuing something else sounded pretty nice at the moment.
I will say I'm extremely happy I didn't give up. The music industry can be tough and unforgiving just like any other industry. It's been a really fun journey so far and I don't think I would do anything differently.
My Lynx Hilo converter! It's been a main component in my workflow since I bought it. This was a big upgrade for me considering I was working off of an old laptop headphone jack for years.
Work hard at perfecting your craft and don't give up. Don't be discouraged if things don't turn out how you want. Be a kind person and be driven by passion.
I've been working in headphones since the beginning of my career. They have become a main listening source I know and trust no matter what project I'm working on.
They’ve been game changing for me. The last pair of headphones I owned weren’t the best quality, so switching to the Audezes have been a huge upgrade for me. The translation and overall quality is incredible.
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of stereo mastering. I’ve been recently diving into the heavy rock/shoegaze area of music. So it’s been new and interesting for me. The LCD-X's have helped me out a ton.
