For a lot of artists -especially those who are just getting started- it can be challenging to open themselves up and show an unfinished piece of work to someone, let alone a seasoned veteran like yourself. How do you work within that sensitive framework where they're so exposed and vulnerable?It’s all about establishing trust. The total production process can take months, with lots of ups and downs, and now a week before the deadline they’re handing this baby off to me to mess with. I want artists to know I’m going to dive in like I’ve been here since day 1. I try to get to know every artist I work with as a person, with their own creative viewpoint that deserves support. When conversations come up, the best thing I can do is listen. Let’s talk. I want to understand what’s going on in your life and music. The more I connect with what an artist is going through or going for, the more emotional data points I can pull out of their music.

Do you find yourself having to balance your artistic vision of the raw track to that of the artists you work with? If so, how is that balance achieved?Finding that balance is my only goal. I’m hired to provide technical skills, but more so my taste. Sometimes I need to flex that and say ‘this is what I think is best for your song,’ but ultimately I’m not happy until the artist is. I approach the process from a place of respect and understanding, check my ego, and stretch my ears.

The demo mix an artist sends you is hugely important.

3. How do you receive a Pro Tools session? Do you have any specific requests of the recording engineer or session editor? Do you have a pretty standard layout that you use for most mixes?

blow it up first then control the beast.

19. Is the client always right, or do you occasionally fight for your ideas? That is the toughest part of the game. They have to be happy with their music and or production, but you can make it great in your interpretation which really is what you are there for. There is no need to actually fight - Just show them the alternative.

ee urrr miiind.zip 759.3 MB Click to Download change your mind demo.mp3 4.6 MB

miała ocho­tę we­pchnąć w gar­dło palec.

AA: How do you find clients, do they tend to come to you?They do tend to find me now because of all of the credits I’ve accumulated throughout the years. If you’re having a hard time trying to find clients my recommendation would be to get big credits anyway you can. This industry is all about credits and who you’ve recently worked with. Try offering your work for free if you have to. That’s what I did when I first started out. That credit will pay itself off down the road.

AA: How does a project typically begin? Will someone come to you with a vague idea for a production, or for a final mix and master?Projects come in at all different phases of the production and mixing process. There’s really no set rule. Generally though there’s usually at least a skeleton of an idea to work from. I always ask the artist for a reference track for the particular song we’re working on. I’m not trying to rip anyone off by any means but it just gets me in the ballpark for the type of vibe they’re going for.

I’ll usually take an extra day after I feel it’s done to listen back with fresh ears and tweak if needed. Once I’m happy with any tweaks, I’ll send the first draft to the artist for any comments and we’ll revise from there until the artist is 100 percent happy with the mix.

Can you explain the “Brauerize” mixing approach in a bit more detail? It's an approach I developed that is based on mixing in post compression by combining multibuss, parallel and send/return compression in a unique way allowing more "freedom" between instruments. By having a choice of several sub-stereos, you can group different sets of instruments to be compressed or processed without effecting each other. In other words, if you get a great sound compressing the drums and bass on sub stereo A, adding several guitars with a different type attack/release to sub Stereo B won't effect the compression of the drums and vice-versa. When mixing within the "sweetspot," the results are more natural depth of field and implied dynamics.

“So we got done at three or four in the morning and we sent it to LA Reid who at that time was the head of Def Jam records. And LA Reid calls right back and he says ‘What the hell? This doesn’t sound like a hit’. Now, I didn’t want to throw Tricky under the bus, but LA Reid says ‘You gotta fix it’. So I said ‘Gimme two hours’, and he’s like ‘Please. I’m waiting’.“So I go back to the studio and I literally undid everything that we did. I went right back to the pre-save on the pre-client mix. I went right back and I took it from there. I ran with LA Reid’s comments and then I sent him the mix. Two hours later he was like ‘This is it! What did you do?’ I said ‘It doesn’t matter,’ but that’s the final mix that went out. I don’t think I’ve ever told Tricky that.”

ings and if they don’t like it that’s OK. At least we tried it.”

Now I listen to it and it’s something that’s memorable. Kanye would do that all the time. He would bring things up so annoyingly loud. I remember saying ‘Dude, it’s not gonna work’, then I realised that those are the moments - when you exaggerate something - those are the songs that you remember. There’s a lot of mind games… We’re kinda mind-fucking the listener. There are lots of different tricks to do it.”