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Photos by Molly Smith
Mastering engineer first, but sometimes mixing engineer or producer, and often, therapist.
I've worked on more than 700 releases to date. It's really getting tough to narrow it down to just the highlights! I am immensely proud of much of my work, but off the top of my head I'll select these works:
Terry Riley - Descending Moonshine Dervishes and Songs for the Ten Voices of the Two Prophets
In 2015 I was tasked to remaster for vinyl two of pioneering minimalist composer Terry Riley classic albums “Descending Moonshine Dervishes” (1982) and “Songs for the Ten Voices of the Two Prophets” (1983). They are some of my favorite pieces of recorded music and it was an absolute privilege to work giving new life to these quintessential works.
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto – Glass
In 2016, I engineered a site-specific collaboration between the late Oscar-winning Japanese maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto and the German sound artist Alva Noto. We recorded on location at architect Philip Johnson’s iconic The Glass House in Connecticut, as the performance by the two artists was for Yayoi Kusama’s Narcissus Garden exhibit. For this unique performance, Sakamoto wanted to turn the glass walls of the house into an instrument. Alec Fellman (Ryuichi's studio manager/engineer) and I spent some time on location setting up different contact microphones on the glass walls and running those signals into a Eurorack for processing live. Ryuichi created incredibly beautiful and captivating sounds by playing the walls with different mallets and bare hands, as shown in this video. It was a unique performance! The awe-inspiring concert took place while Sakamoto was in remission from his illness, and he was obviously thrilled to perform live again. He was a truly brilliant artist and it's such an honor to have worked with him.
William Basinski and Janek Schaefer – … on reflection
2020 was a crazy and challenging year for us all. I was lucky enough to be secluded in the studio, devoting myself to work on many beautiful records like this one by William Basinski (arguably one of the greatest ambient composers of our time) and British sound artist Janek Schaefer. They produced their most magnificent work in both of their critically acclaimed catalogs while working remotely.
I've been a longtime fan of the pioneering Japanese band, and am so fortunate to collaborate with them in this series. MONO has drawn inspiration from both the light and dark of life, spawning more than two decades of musical turbulence and melodic transcendence. Heaven Vol. 1 was the first in a new tradition of the band: a new EP released on Christmas Day each year.
Grouper – Grid of Points
Liz Harris is one of my favorite artists and humans. We've been friends for over 15 years, and I've collaborated with her as an engineer on many occasions. This particular album contains some incredibly delicate piano pieces she recorded. It was an absolute joy to create the masters and give this album its final polish before release.
Growing up during the eighties and nineties, I spent my childhood in various places (Florida, New York, San Juan). Each place left a mark and influenced the music I create today. My first exposure to music early in life was through my grandfather, who played traditional folk songs on the accordion by ear. I often heard music by Spanish legends like Rocío Jurado, Raphael, and Catalonian singer Joan Manuel Serrat echoing throughout our home. My mother enjoyed English-language pop music, and listened to artists like The Police, Men at Work, Phil Collins, Chris de Burg, and Peter Cetera. When I lived in San Juan, the minute I stepped outside my home and was in a public space, I'd hear Latin pop music & Afro-Caribbean music playing.
My parents were poor working-class folks, so the few records and tapes I owned were mostly hand-me-downs from older cousins or friends. In 1988, something remarkable happened at my cousins' house: I watched Guns N’ Roses perform live at The Ritz in NYC on television. At just ten years old, this experience ignited a strong desire in me to curse like a sailor and learn to play guitar. I was deeply immersed in heavy metal by the time I was eleven years old. I explored bands ranging from Black Sabbath to NWOBHM icons like Motörhead and Iron Maiden. Shortly after, I picked up an electric guitar, learned how to tune it from a friend, and taught myself songs by ear or reading guitar tablature in books I borrowed from friends.
A couple of years later, my uncle introduced me to Reggae and Dub music through mixtapes he compiled from recordings of radio broadcasts. These tapes captured music played regularly on the nearby British Virgin Islands stations and sparked a new obsession in me. I taught myself to play bass guitar while playing along to those recordings, without knowing the artists until much later, but always deeply engaged with the music.
In the early nineties, we had limited access to the internet. Unlike today, when we can think of a song or an album and listen to it immediately. We depended on our local record store, older friends and people with access to a mail-order catalog to discover new, interesting music that wasn't available at chain stores like Sam Goody or Kmart or played on local radio. When I was fifteen, a friend from the local industrial scene played The Orb to me for the first time. Curious, I asked her what this music was called. “This is ambient music", she said. That was enough to lead me to everything from The Cure, Joy Division, and Kraftwerk to My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Harold Budd, Talk Talk, and Slowdive. Elements of the sounds from these artists have impacted my music immensely in field recording, found sounds, rhythmic syncopation, and textural production methods. What you hear when growing up, has a huge impact on your musical development. You draw on these influences, dig deep to discover your own sound, and create something that is uniquely yours.
In 2017, I had a full-circle moment at the MUTEK electronic music festival in Mexico City when I performed live and shared the stage with The Orb. Alex Patterson (The Orb's founder) came to me after the show and praised my work. He said he loved my set. I told him how much his music had meant to me and how I saw him perform when I was seventeen years old and was getting into samplers and synths.
I am extremely lucky, and thankful, to be consistently creating and releasing work for over fifteen years. Thankful to be playing shows around the world, and meet many of my musical heroes in the process.
I'm a self-taught musician who played in metal, punk, and reggae bands during my teenage years. In the 00's, I organized electronic music shows in Seattle. Oftentimes, I was doing the sound at these shows, and this FOH experience behind sound desks at venues helped hone my engineering skills. Eventually, I moved to working in studios, where I moved on to mastering and spent hours studying this practice. I finally set myself up with a professional mastering studio in my home, which we christened Black Knoll.
While this was happening, I had been building confidence in my music and eventually had the courage to send demos to record labels. Despite many rejections (and through sheer luck and perseverance) I was signed to Ghostly International in 2007. Two ambient techno albums were released with Ghostly under my moniker "The Sight Below". Since signing with them over 15 years ago, I've lent a hand to countless label artists like Tycho, Julie Byrne, Hana Vu, Helios, Telefon Tel Aviv, Galcher Lustwerk, HTRK, Emeralds, Steve Hauschildt, Lusine, Jacaszek, and Com Truise.
I moved to New York a decade ago, and it was devastating when all my possessions and studio equipment were stolen during this move. With help from Ghostly, artists, friends, and my listeners, I rebuilt Black Knoll by 2015 and steadily grew my client base. I am so deeply grateful to have worked with some of my musical heroes and for the heartfelt appreciation of my work from artists whose music I've admired throughout my life. It's a blessing to do work that you genuinely love.
Most of my early frustration stemmed from my inability to monitor sound accurately. Bass frequencies, high mids, and stereo imaging were particularly problematic. The core issue is simple: you cannot fix what you cannot hear clearly in the studio. Without a properly tuned room and a high-quality monitoring system, you will have difficulty detecting, and therefore correcting, issues in your recordings or mixes. Ultimately, a master sounds only as good as the mix. A mix sounds only as good as the recording. A recording sounds only as good as the performance and production.
I've learned that the most tedious and uncool things in the studio (room acoustics, monitoring path, DACs) are the most critical things to get right from the start. Flashy, cool gear is incredibly fun to have and use, but it doesn't matter much if you cannot listen to it accurately.
When creating music, I've learned to let go and accept any challenges/obstacles and make those part of the creative process. It's better to incorporate the limitations, rather than seeing them as problems. Use them as an opportunity to create something unique. Create a sound that is specific to you and your circumstances.
Work with what you have, instead of wasting time wishing for what you don't have. Create music around your skill level. For example, I play the guitar. I'm not an accomplished player, I developed my style of playing from my limitations with the instrument. It doesn't mean I don't know the instrument like the back of my hand. I know it very well. It just means that I won't try to make music that requires the skills of an Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai skilled level of musician.
I play what I can play and I develop the sound of what I make around that, not in spite of any of my limitations - but rather because of them. I flip it around and turn my limitations into something unique to me. This works for me. If you make music that is true to yourself and your vision, you will find your way of doing things. It will happen at your own pace.
If your work is interesting and contributes to the larger collection of music out there, you will find other people who will pay attention to what you are making. More importantly: never lose sight of why you started making music in the first place. Keep being curious about music and the world at large. Don't forget to listen.
It's a blessing to have such a high-quality pair of headphones around. Every little detail and nuance in the audio is so clear. This is especially essential for my mastering work because I need total precision and accuracy when I monitor the signal path. I have a dedicated headphone amp for my LCD-X and they work fantastically with the Audeze headphones. I trust what I hear on these cans - 100%. I wish I had these fifteen years ago!
I have an album on Morr Music for my project Orcas, with Benoȋt Pioulard. Our dear friend Simon Scott (drummer for Slowdive) played on most songs in the album and co-wrote two songs with us.
Earlier this year, I released a collaborative album with Italian electronic musician Abul Mogard on my newly minted Black Knoll Editions label. On the mastering front, I'm regularly working on a great number of projects for labels like...
Nettwerk: The Album Leaf - Stride
Ghostly: Kate Bollinger - You at Home
Felte: Fashion Club - Rotten Mind (feat. Julie Byrne)
Temporary Residence: MONO Annual Christmas EP "Heaven Vol. 2"
Lately, I find myself working with more and more independent artists - particularly in this new post-streaming music landscape. You can check our studio website Black Knoll for more details!
