I help artists structure their creativity and release more music.
Develop your ideas into polished songs that express your vision, share your story, and connect with fans.
Have you ever felt frustrated trying to bring your musical ideas to life?
The Creative Process should be empowering, not discouraging - if you’ve ever felt otherwise, let’s talk…
Take control of your songwriting process and learn how to make the most out of your ideas, so you can connect with others over them instead of keeping them stuck in your head (while you watch tutorials on youtube)
I work with artists who have a clear vision for their music but are unsure of how to best bring it to life through production.
We make sense of the messy creative process, and structure it just enough to ensure it helps you capture and cultivate your best ideas.
I started with a 4-track recorder in my garage, moved up to an 8-track in a friend’s garage and continued learning until I eventually completed the Master Recording Program at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences.
After that, I interned for several months with top mastering engineer Howie Weinberg at his studio in Laurel Canyon and engineered in Los Angeles for several years, where I recorded, mixed, mastered, and/or performed with bands such as We Stand Apart, Tribe, From the Sun, and In the Stars.
Happy creating and good vibrations ✌️🎶
How it Started…
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you.
Still Here?
🎶 Awesome, here’s some more thoughts I have…
When we engage with our creativity, we get to know ourselves better and dig out a little more of our story to share with the world. Everything can be a creative act when done intentionally and I believe somewhere in the unique joy of each of our creative processes are the lessons we need to live better and happier lives overall.
Being an indie artist for many years myself, I know what it’s like to have nothing but a laptop and a bedroom to produce in, and in time these limitations helped me develop a unique sonic palette and approach to songwriting, focused on keeping the creative process fun, productive, and engaging.
I love both the fun of pop music and the authenticity of indie music, and I seek to meld these aesthetics in every production I work on.
Whatever you need to get your music out of your head and into the world, I’m here to help. I am proficient with Pro Tools, Ableton Live, and countless other programs. I enjoy helping others learn to use these tools and offer private lessons as well.
Don’t worry about sounding “good enough.” Sound like you.
Happy creating and good vibrations to all ✌️🎶
Bonus
This was the first song I ever recorded and “produced” on my own, about 12 years ago.
I had taken on a project where I would be writing songs that interpreted classic texts from history as if they were written/performed by artists in modern genres 🏛 The texts were:
- The Apology of Socrates (Plato in the style of Bob Dylan)
- The Book of Ezekiel (Old Testament as heavy metal)
- The Aeneid (Virgil as a blues singer)
- The Gospel of Thomas (Gnostic Scriptures as psychedelia)
I know, I know, it doesn’t get much more rock and roll than that. 🤘
I was very excited to tackle this project and had full confidence I could make some really interesting music… as long as I could figure out one minor problem:
I had no idea how to record music on my own and had to perform all the songs solo.
I had never even seen (or heard of) a DAW but I was extremely fortunate to have a friend who let me borrow his MacBook for a few hours a day so I could learn about this “new” software he had called Garageband. 💻
I made countless mistakes (I recorded my guitar from a 10w Ibanez app through the laptop’s onboard mic, for one, because I didn’t own a microphone) but I can honestly say I’ve almost never been prouder of anything in my life than when I finished these 4 songs.
Not just that, but seeing how EASY it was to make music with Garageband lit a fire under me. I was CERTAIN that within a few years every human with a laptop would be writing and releasing awesome songs about their personal interests. 👨🎤👩🎤
*
That reality only sort of came true, but it was all the motivation I needed and I was hooked on a feeling of empowerment it gave me. My whole life I’d wanted to write songs and be a “recording artist” and now I had the final puzzle piece, I could create recordings!
Terribly at first I admit, but that’s the only way to start 😉
I spent the next 2 years writing and learning Garageband inside out before I took the plunge and invested in learning to record and engineer for real… and I’ve been striving to get better ever since!
⚡️Had I not had this experience, or if I had let some simple detail like having no idea what I was doing stop me, it’s unlikely I would have continued with music in any serious fashion and there are 80+ songs I’ve recorded since then that wouldn’t exist.⚡️
All I knew is I NEEDED to do this and I could figure it out.
I was hesitant to share this track because I know I can do so much better now - but it remains one of my favorite things I’ve written because of the story behind it.
👉 So no matter how strange you think your topic/idea is or how little you know about making it happen - GET STARTED NOW.
You will not LEARN and GROW from THINKING about stuff, you have to go DO and EXPERIENCE it.
Good vibrations all ✌️
(This is the exact audio file as I exported it in 2009. Sadly I no longer have the session but have been thinking about recording an “Anniversary” version of this…)