This is my first summer here in Portland and It’s also one of the busiest I’ve ever had. I’m having a blast exploring this part of the country and I’m really enjoying my first summer outside of New England. I’ve had the opportunity to work on some amazing music since I’ve been out here.

In early June the great Brooklyn-based band, Pons came out here to make an album with me. The record is awesome, It’s a concept record where every song flows into the next which was definitely a challenge in itself to wrap my head around. We spent four days at the legendary Jackpot! recording studio here in Portland. We did basics and also started to dig into overdubs there. Jackpot! Is by far one of the easiest studios I’ve ever worked at, owner Larry Crane has a wealth of experience making records and he’s outfitted his studio with absolutely everything you’d ever need and more to make an awesome record there. After we wrapped up at Jackpot! We went over to another awesome studio here in Portland called The Hallowed Halls. We spent the next couple of days making our way through the rest of the guitars, vocals, and keyboards. Hallowed Halls was super fun to work at and the super cool relaxed vibe of the studio definitely translated to the sound of the record.

I took a few days off after wrapping up tracking the Pons record before I went back to Jackpot! to start an EP with Boys Cruise. Conveniently Pons and Boys Cruise share two members and since they were already out here they decided to spend an extra week recording. The Boys Cruise EP is awesome. We made a full-length late last year but this EP is a totally different vibe. We really wanted this EP to feel live, like everyone was playing in the same room (which they were). After we wrapped up at Jackpot! we once again went over to The Hallowed Halls to wrap up the rest of the overdubs. As of today, I’m chipping away at mixing both of these awesome projects.

While I was in the middle of recording the Pons record I was asked to be a house engineer at Jackpot! To say it was an honor would be an understatement. I’ve been an avid reader of Tape Op magazine since I was a teenager, and have always found massive Inspiration from reading it. To be able to work at the studio that Larry created is an amazing and inspiring experience.

After I wrapped up with Pons and Boys Cruise I took a trip back to Boston to make a record at my “alma mater” 37ft Productions with Boston-based band Rootiger. my studio partner Sean has made some amazing changes to 37ft, some of which include new floors in the live room, and a raised ceiling. It felt awesome to be back recording there after freelancing at so many other amazing studios out here in Portland.

After I got back to Portland I finished up revisions on a couple of long-term mixing projects I had been working on during my early days here. Some of those artists include Patrick Greeley, James Burke, Muggs Fogarty, and Maria Earabino aka Laura, Laura! All of these projects are set to be released in the coming months and I think it’s some of my best mixing work to date.

In early July my new friend James Davis made the trip out here to get started on his new album. I mixed an awesome EP for James in the spring, and I was super excited when he asked me to make a full length with him. We went over to Halfling Studio here in Portland to do the basics. I was introduced to the folks at Halfling through my amazing friend Jeff Lipton of Peerless Mastering in Boston. A few months after getting here I had an awesome session at Halfling helping Portland legends Sleater Kinney record their performances for the Colbert Show and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. I was super excited to be back working at Halfling after a few months away. I employed the awesome drummer Paul Pulvirenti to play on the basics for James. I met Paul at Jackpot! A few months prior when I was working on a single for Portland-based band Silvertongue. Paul was so awesome and easy to work with that I wanted him to be a part of the project with James, It also didn’t hurt that Paul played with the late Eliott Smith and James finds a lot of inspiration from Eliotts music. After doing basics we once again went over to The Hallowed Halls for overdubs. James ended up staying out here for an extra few days after we finished up recording to play a show with my pals in Silvertongue. One day we had some downtime so we went over to an arboretum near my house to record a song outside. This is where the Arboretum Sessions were born.

That’s it so far! I’m sure I missed a bunch but It’s been super busy and I haven’t had much time to sit down and collect my thoughts. I’ve been hunkered down most of the month mixing and I figured now would be a good time to get this all down. I’m super excited to see what the next six months here in Portland will hold!

Over the past few years i've been constantly adding to, perfecting and changing my mix template.  I remember when I used to work on a console I didn't have a template, I just put if the faders, started patching gear and ran with it.  There were things that I would do every mix, and pieces of gear Id always use but it was never as simple or detailed as my mix template.  Every song, every album and every artist all come with their own challenges and they all need different elements of my template.  After every project I tent to update my template, it grows as I grow.  My template has audio tracks and aux tracks. The tracks all have plugins I know ill want once I start mixing, the tracks are also routed to the various busses they need to go to.  I keep all the plugins and busses inactive or deactivated so that when I start theres no processing going on and I can quickly turn on a bus or plugin to do what I want.  It may not seem like it at first but having all the routing and plugin assignments done before I even hit play is a HUGE timesaver for me.  I update my template vigorously so its always stocked with my new favorite plugins.  Another huge timesaver for me has been making my own presets in plugins.  For example I have a preset in one of my favorite eqs the Fabfilter Pro Q2 called ZB E Gtr, This preset has a high pass filter starting at 120HZ, a cut at 400HZ and a boost at 4K.  I cant just pull up my preset and say the guitar is done, but its quick way for me to start working on the guitars in the track. 

With shrinking budgets and demanding clients I need to be able to work very quickly and thats exactly what my template has allowed me to do.  For anybody thats interested in taking a look at my template id be happy to share it with you, click the contact page on my website and send me a message!  

I recently purchased a new pair of speakers to use at home and on the go.  At my studio I have  pair of Dynaudio Bm15As and a pair of Neumann Kh120s, I love both of these sets of speakers! Sharing my current studio space with another engineer has its challenges.  At the studio we each have our own control rooms with a shared live room, this means every once in a while one of us has to take a forced day off so the other can track in the main live room.  I honestly kind of enjoy having to take some time off away from the studio. This is also great opportunity to do editing or tuning at home on my laptop.  I don't know about other engineers but I struggle working on headphones sometimes which is why I was really excited to learn about the I Louds.  Upon first listen I was blown away by how much low end and energy these little things were able to put out,  listening at quiet levels they still pack a punch.  The speakers come in a super convenient bag that can fit in a backpack or suitcase easily.  Not only are these things super small and easy to move around they're really fun to listen to, I find myself dragging them into my kitchen all the time to listen to while cooking or cleaning.  Just for fun I brought them to the studio to put up against my mains and near fields and I was not disappointed.  Retailing for $299.99 you cant go wrong! The speakers have a stereo RCA input as well as an 1/8" input, and you can connect via bluetooth which is perfect for checking mixes i've emailed to myself on my phone.  I can see myself bringing these with me when I travel and work out of other studios so that i have a consistent set of speakers while freelancing. Check these out!