I view music as a tree with many branches. I’ve studied diverse genres ranging from electronic dance music, to Delta Blues, to experimental avant-garde, to classical European, to classic rock, to ancient Middle Eastern and Indian music traditions. I am trained in a multitude of instruments and software platforms, and have over 20 years of experience songwriting, arranging, and vocal coaching.

Each project is approached as a blank slate, and my object is to capture the essence of the emotion and expression of the root concept. Having a firm grounding in the classic techniques utilized by producers in the past (“Nothing sounds better than a U47 through a Pultec”—Eddie Kramer…) allows one to creatively venture out further into uncharted territories. A music producer is a catalyst for the artist to find and develop their unique voice, and bring it out into place where it can be heard and appreciated by others.

New trends almost never come out of nowhere. By keeping up with the underground scenes in different markets, I always have an eye on where things are going next. There are patterns to the trends, if you are trained to see them. Having an objective eye present during the creative process can help avoid cliches that may “date” the work, and increase the work’s shelf life over the artist’s career.

My music producers heroes include: Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), Brian Eno (Roxy Music, Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, James), John Fryer (This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, Fad Gadget, Swans, Love and Rockets, Nine Inch Nails), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Paul McCartney), Trentemøller, Mike Hedges (The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin, Lucifer Rising), Giorgio Moroder (Donna Summers, Blondie, Sparks, Japan), Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós, Psychic TV, DIJ, Clock DVA) , Timbaland (Missy Elliot, Nelly Furtado, Björk), Mike Chapman & Nicky Chinn (Suzi Quatro, The Sweet, Blondie, The Knack), and Martin Hannett (Joy Division, ESG, New Order).

I own a recording facility in Brooklyn, VITROL Studios, where I have custom built many of my own unique gear and instruments.

SHOWCASE #1: ALCHEMICAL DISCO

As a creative duo, with vocalist and DJ Ayesha Adamo and music producer Bryce Churchill (aka, Lucius von Wahfried), Alchemical Disco was formed by their mutual affection for late-70’s and early 80’s electronic and Italo disco music (timeless songs like… Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”, Giorgio Moroder’s From Here To Eternity LP, Cerrone’s “Supernature”, and dozens of others.) We always preferred the 70’s version of the future, from movies like Logan’s Run and Zardoz, as opposed to the modern dystopian model that is so common today.

Alchemical Disco’s first single, “Atomic,” reached #20 on the UK Music Week’s Commercial Top 30 Club chart, and climbed to #22 on Beatport’s Top 100 Electro House Releases. The single featured a tech house remix by Ayesha (engineered and mixed by Bryce), as well as Bryce’s own anthemic electro house remix (as Lucius von Wahnfried).

The song was produced in my project studio, and involved a lot of experimentation to get the sounds I wanted. The guitar was recorded by running a hand-built JTM-45 replica through an external spring reverb. The arpeggio bass was created with the MOTM modular synth that I built and run through an analog delay. The strings took several weeks to get right, as we wanted to perfectly nail the jet-flange sound Giorgio Moroder captured on his seminal records (needless to say, we found it… however, the secret recipe is strictly confidential.) Ayesha’s vocals were recorded in 40 separate layers, and processed through self-built SCA John Hardy preamps, custom Drip Pultec tube EQ, and the Empirical Labs Distressor compressor. The snare drums and hi-hats were recorded live and resampled. The final mix was mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in NYC, and assisted by Rich Morales.

“Firebird” is the result of studying and dissecting Deadmau5’s (Joel Zimmerman) Electro House production techniques and taking it to the next level with some epic arpeggiated chord progressions by Ayesha Adamo. The throbbing baseline was created from two patches on the MOTM analog modular and that were crossfaded from one to the other by manipulating the sidechain compression settings. The synths were all patches from the MOTM. The final mix was a complicated process of sidechaining and slamming everything to full max with heavy parallel compression through the Distressors. Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in NYC, and assisted by Rich Morales.

Stay tuned for details on a solo EP project that is currently in production with Ayesha Adamo.

Contact me to discuss utilizing my 20 years of experience on your recording project.