Hi Tchad, I admire your work and would love to hear your thoughts on the business side of mixing. What strategies have helped you attract and retain clients throughout your career? Were there any key moments or decisions that significantly shaped your success in this regard?
Also, beyond just the technical side, your approach to mixing feels deeply artistic—almost like painting or filmmaking. Given your unique way of seeing and hearing the world, what’s one piece of business advice you wish you had known when starting out—especially in terms of carving out a distinct identity and building a lasting career?
Hmm. My business skills are rubbish. I do have a manager who takes care of the deals although she doesn’t search for the clients. All word of mouth.
I try very hard to work on music I would listen to at home. Doesn’t always work out.
I’m not at all sure how I keep working but I’m thankful I still get calls! I know I often do things differently. That’s just my taste. I’m a bit of a contrary cuss in that regard.
I like chunky stew. Separate coarse flavours that combine in your mouth. Blended, creamy soup not so much.
I like my wasabi and soy sauce separate in the bowl. Not mixed!
Contrasts!
I’ve said this elsewhere. When I mix, I start by doing it for me only. Once I go through that process I often feel really good about it all. Then I just hope the artist likes it as well.
Pivotal moments….???….Mitchell (Froom) once told me “perseverance will get you everything “.
Stick to yer guns.
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Thanks so much for your response, Tchad! I really appreciate the insight. The way you describe contrasts—not just in mixing but in taste and life—really resonates. And ‘perseverance will get you everything’—that’s a gem.
If you don’t mind me asking, when you were still building your career, was there ever a time you had to actively push to get gigs, or did you just focus on the work and let the opportunities come? Thanks again!
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I’ve been very fortunate. I never pushed to get a gig. All word of mouth.
Amazing, I still hope there is something left from these days.
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My excitement made me forget to ask if there is any way to get your drum samples library. Or is it truly a secret sauce? 
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I don’t have a samples library. I create sounds from off the shelf libraries (Drumagog is one) and processing.
Thanks a lot Tchad. One last question, I believe the topic you are asked about the most is the low end in your records. Tight and full, wide and open, a simply beautiful low end. I also believe it’s something some of us would pursue forever. What I am curious about is the learning curve you had until you found what worked for you. Because I constantly find myself feel like I am risking in overloading the lows and muddying the mix. Did you take these risks in the beginning and even had muddy mixes? Is it just about having an accurate monitoring system in a treated room? I admire your ability to take all the sounds to the extreme, but keep them beautiful and musical, not painful or harsh. The sounds are so alive like you could almost catch them with your hands.
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There were risks in the early days as I was mixing on NS-10’s just watching the folds in the cones to determine low eq and filtering. Not recommended!
Good monitoring is essential. Good monitoring doesn’t necessarily mean expensive speakers in an expensive room. A mixer needs monitors and rooms that work with their personal ear/brain combination. That’s mostly experience.
Since 2006 (?) I’ve used Linn 328A’s (very expensive, no longer available or supported by the manufacturer) in my minimally treated living rooms or in a small, sonically challenged wood rectangle above the kitchen of a local cafe. I love my monitors and I think my low end improved (and is still improving I hope) with using them in spite of the less than perfect rooms they have populated over the years.
Musically, when low end is best to my ear/brain, it’s usually with austere arrangements where there’s space for it to bloom.
I also tend to keep low’s and subs very pure and clean.
Thanks again for your patience and keep inspiring us, it means a lot.
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