MEET THE
ENGINEER.

You have mastered and/or mixed countless records. What, in your opinion, is the most common overall issue with mixes that are sent to you?
I think most issues people are having can be traced back to poor monitoring and acoustics. That, in turn, affects the production and engineering on a whole. Frequency-wise, there are almost always issues with bass since that is the hardest by far to get right in any studio setup. The second most common issue is in regards to tracks and arrangements where the mix has trouble sitting right because there are too many things fighting each other. Few tracks very well arranged will sound infinitely larger and more 3D than many tracks with bad production choices.

On that note, a lot of people don’t have the luxury of mixing using state-of-the-art monitors or in acoustically treated rooms. Which would be your tips to the “bedroom mixers” out there? Pitfalls to avoid? Actions to always take?
Headphones, for sure! If you find a pair of headphones that you really like and you find you can trust – that will save you tens of thousands of dollars in monitoring and acoustics. No matter what, always make sure to check bass and other issues in headphones, but be certain sure you got great headphones to begin with. Investing in a very good set of headphones in combination with at least a decent pair of speakers will make you avoid many pitfalls.

Aside from the Metal Mix Buses EZmix Pack, you recently engineered the Mastering III EZmix Pack for us. How do these two differ?
These presets are made for instrument buses or even STEM-mastering if you will, so it’s a perfect combination with the Mastering III EZmix Pack. The earlier pack I did is designed to deal with complete mixes while these presets are used to optimize things in between the individual tracks and the final mix bus. If you have a drum bus and you require more punch for the drums to cut through, there will be a preset that deals with that. If you find that your vocals as a whole aren’t popping quite yet, there will be a preset that deals with that, etc.

You’ve worked in virtually every genre imaginable. But, let’s be honest, metal outshines them all, right?
For sure! It’s the most complicated and fun genre to work in since you need to know where to compromise so it doesn’t sound like you made any compromises. You’re always fighting distortion in one way or another in a totally different way compared to most other genres where you don’t need to deal with the same type of chaos. Of course, every genre is a challenge but in metal you tend to blend so many organic and electronic elements these days and everything is distorted, so it’s definitely a unique challenge. 

Finally, your all-time top five of metal albums that you think sound absolutely fantastic on both a sonic and musical level!
That’s a tough one! I guess it tends to change up a lot, but here goes in 2023…
Soilwork “Stabbing the Drama”
Whitechapel “The Valley”
Architects “For Those That Wish to Exist”
Dimmu Borgir “Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia” (The original release. It’s distorted and ugly, but I love it!)
Gojira “The Way of All Flesh”