What led you to be a mastering engineer?
I was young. I didn't have any kind of college going on. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I had a lot of music in my youth — [mainly] musicals and performing and a lot of show tunes.
What kind of instruments did you play?
I didn't. I sang and I tap danced for twelve years. There was a lot of music in my family, and I always loved it. When I got around the age where my peers were already graduating from college and I had done essentially nothing, I thought it would be a good time to figure out a profession. I knew nothing about audio engineering, but I was interested in it. I started thinking about going to Berklee [College of Music].
You'd have to major in an instrument as well.
I didn't even get as far as applying. At around the same time, someone I knew from my hometown, Northampton, MA, was asking what I was up to. I told him I wanted to get into the music industry, and he put me in touch with Alan Douches [Tape Op #31]. Alan was looking for an intern and preferred someone who he could train from the ground up. I was excited for the opportunity and moved to NJ. I went in there knowing nothing. Alan wrote down step-by-step instructions for what to do in Pro Tools, how to sequence and prepare files and everything. I started catching on to the production side of things really fast.
What were the hardest learning curves for you?
Going in and deciding what I wanted to do. There was an engineer [Jesse Cannon] there at night doing some tracking and mixing. I didn't go in knowing I wanted to master; I just wanted to be involved in whatever was happening at the studio. I remember assisting a session with Jesse, and it was this crazy young band. I remember thinking, "I can't deal with this." I didn't want to hang with a bunch of guys and babysit or micromanage them. I spent a lot of time at night listening in the mastering room and doing production work, bouncing projects down and finalizing things. I loved listening to all different kinds of music. That's when I started getting into mastering. Within a year and a half I was taking on my own projects.
So when projects came through the door, would it be like, "Do you want to work with a new person, or work with Alan?"
There was so much volume going through that studio, so there was a lot of opportunity. Bands would come in with a few songs, and they trusted Alan when he told them I could master. I'd work the day shift doing production, then Alan would leave and I'd stay all night doing masters. At first it wasn't much, but it got to be a lot and I'd be there until one or two in the morning mastering. That's what you do. You go in on the weekends. That's the best way to learn, by working as much as possible. You learn the most when you're getting in there and making mistakes.
When I'm hiring a mastering engineer I want somebody who's already made a thousand of those mistakes.
You're always learning. Every project I work on, even today, is different. New technology, new ideas. People who don't have much experience can sometimes approach music in a very abstract way that nobody else ever thought of before. Back then all I had were my ears. My goal then was the same as now: make the recording sound better without screwing anything up. You've just got to use your ears. That's the big hurdle, knowing how to listen.
How would you help someone improve his or her listening skills?
It would be to listen to a lot of different kinds of music, even music that's not to your taste. I remember the first time I recognized reverb or delay on a snare. It had always been there, but I'd never actually recognized it in something I'd heard a thousand times before. I really don't think I could explain to someone how to listen better. My best advice would be to listen in the same place, in the same environment, a lot. Then you're getting the same feedback every single time, and you can start to make sense and interpret.
What kind of advice did Alan give you?
I try to remember what I was taught, but there was no real instruction. I just watched and absorbed, and then came up with my own way of doing it. In the early days I'd have a really hard time. I'd get a less than stellar mix, and I didn't know how to get it where I wanted it. I would ask if Alan could master it and let me watch him. He'd work on it and then I'd go back to it at night, do my own thing, and try to match what he did. It's a lot about knowing how far you can take something. Much of the time you're limited by what you're given. Being able to say, "Okay, this is it. I'm done," and not spending three more hours mastering is key. You have to know when it's really as good as it can get.
You've got to stop somewhere.
In those early days, I probably spent longer than I needed to; but that's something you learn with time.
Did Alan QC [Quality Control] your work initially?
Yep, just about everything I did, in the beginning. I remember the first time I mastered something on my own. I think it was a single for a friend of mine who was an electronic dance music producer. He sent me this EDM track, just one song. I mastered a couple of versions of it, and I must have spent three or four hours on it. I was totally zoned in. I gave it to my friend; he loved it and thought it was awesome. I remember leaving the project up and open for Alan to listen to, because he wanted to hear it. I was nervous about what he might say. I came in the next day for work late in the afternoon. He called me into the control room and handed me a glass of wine. He said, "Cheers to your first successful mastering session!" Then he gave me a pair of Sennheiser headphones, which I've had ever since. HD 580s. Good reference.
That seems like a really valuable way to start off your career.
Yeah. He's got a really great, and well-deserved, reputation. There were a lot of different genres of music going through; but he always had, and still has, his finger on the pulse of metal. I'll always be extremely grateful to Alan for giving me the opportunity to find, and now actually do, what I love every day.
How long did you work at West West Side Music?
Seven years. 2002 through 2009.
What prompted moving and opening your own place?
It was all of a sudden. In hindsight, it was time to go out and do my own thing. But it was scary. There's a lot financially to invest in your own mastering room. I figured I'd start out mastering in the box. I got a lot of encouragement from my clients telling me that I could do things that way. There are plenty of people who can master in the box and are great with plug-ins, but I wasn't able to do what I wanted at all. I broke out the credit cards, scoured eBay, and built my chain little by little. It doesn't take much. Good converters and the right pieces, put together the right way.
You built a building on your property right behind your home?
Well, at first it was in my living room. I'd wake up, and there it was. It went great, and the business was growing, so I figured, "Let's build a room." It's attached to the side of the house. It's a great room. It has windows!
Do you have many attended sessions?
