production + mixing

{ click here for audio examples }


"As a band we truly see you as both an ally and like minded person that understands our approach and advocates for us to fulfill our vision."
— Joe Black, Bone Haus



Hi! My name is Jamie. I produce and mix and master records.

I focus on working with artists who are looking to make adventurous, immersive records, particularly with an alternative or independent bent. I most often take projects from initial songwriting demos through final masters; sometimes I'm just putting a mix on something someone else has produced; sometimes I'm mastering someone else's work, and adding my perspective there; and then some stuff I do falls somewhere in the middle.

I am specifically interested in amplifying vulnerable voices: female voices, gay voices, trans voices, brown voices. If you're in a Mexican lesbian punk band, I very much want to make a record with you. If you're doing something socially conscious, I very much want to make a record with you too. We're in a time where things have gotten dark for some people; my interest lies in using music to shine a light forward out of the darkness.

/////

I am interested in making art. And when I say 'art,' I mean as opposed to 'entertainment.'

To put it another way, I am uninterested in making music with commerce in mind, or with the goal of chasing after someone else's style or sound. I'm interested in discovering the next iteration of *your* sound. This is not to say that my work hasn't occasionally seen some success or recognition; it has. But it wasn't what we were aiming at. Inasmuch as any record I make is successful, it's simply because it's good, not because we brought in extra writers or focus-grouped the mixes.

I'm similarly uninterested in music-by-committee, in any of its various manifestations. I prefer to make art directly with artists, without outside influence, with a bare minimum of people in the room, following our hearts and intuition, with the goal being to arrive at something unique, exceptional, and timeless.

My goal with every song I record is to record a version of the song that elicits a response somewhere on a spectrum between deeply emotional and "Holy shit, that's fucking great." Ideally, both.

And then, zoomed out to album view, my goal is to manage the flow of energy through all the songs in a nuanced way, in order to guide the listener through an experiential journey, at the end of which they will be a little different than when they began.

This is all to say, I don't tend to make ordinary-sounding records. If you want a record that sounds like another record you know, or a record that could be classified as safe or conservative or derivative or predictable in its approach, I'm probably not your person. If on the other hand you would like to push some boundaries, and stretch yourself as an artist, and make a piece of art that's bold and adventurous and great – then I'm very much your person.

I work primarily out of The Department of Energy Management — our residential home studio in Tacoma, Washington. You could come live with us and make a record here! We've started that up again now that Covid is more under control for the moment; it's wonderful.

That said, because of the collaborative nature of the work I do, and because I work to empower people with self-recording skills, I tend these days even when there's not a pandemic to do most of the records I work on via Dropbox. It's a fun, asynchronous way to work, in which each party can take the time they need to explore ideas; and it allows me to be flexible on budget, which makes it possible for me to work on a lot of records that I wouldn't otherwise be able to.




SOME EXAMPLES OF MY WORK:

There are a few different things to listen to here. First up are some personal favorite songs that I've produced and/or mixed, sampled from a bunch of the records I've made over the last many years.

And then below that, because I am always the most interested in crafting a narrative arc at album length, I've also included a few full-length records that I've made over the years in different genres. Enjoy.

(Starting one player will stop any other active player. Left + right arrows = forward / back 10 seconds. You can click or tap in the waveform to navigate around the song.)




SHANNON CURTIS – GOOD TO ME
TRUSTY SEA CREATURES – UNSUSPECTING WHISPERS
SHANNON CURTIS – BREAKING GROUND
ZACHMAN – LOCKED OFFICE
BEN SHAW – MA PETITE
CHRIS BATHGATE – BIG GHOST
Jens LekmanJENS LEKMAN – AN ARGUMENT WITH MYSELF
JACK LADDER – GIVING UP
ARTURO CHACÓN-CRUZ – EL LABERINTO (VAPOR CHILD REMIX)
CHRISTEN LIEN – PROLOGUE
ValheVALHE – DESERT TOWN
THE AMPERSANDS – SELLING A PRODUCT
WATCH LIST – DOWN AND OUT
La BolonchonaLA BOLONCHONA – VENDE TU ALMA
Mosaic QuartetMOSAIC QUARTET – CENTER OF SOUND
KARYYN – SOCIAL SKILLS
LOFTS – IT'S TRUE
RYAN HOLIDAY – SELFISH BRUISES
JJXOJJXO – HOLD ME BACK