Grammy Award-winning producer/mixing engineer Andrew Scheps has had a busy 2013 having worked on albums form Black Sabbath, AFI, Gogol Bordello, and Jennifer Nettles (better known as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland).

When mixing for a new client Scheps follows a consistent strategy: "I listen through the rough mixes, and the questions I usually get the most useful information out of are finding out what the artists don’t like about the rough mixes or previous albums."

He is also very pragmatic about inevitable artist’s differences: "I always try everything and usually the differences resolve themselves. If you try to argue against an idea, it doesn’t work and usually takes longer than just trying it."

In support of his philosophy of trying anything, Scheps has an impressive arsenal of analogue gear at hand. His studio, Punkerpad West, in Van Nuys, California is outfitted to accommodate most everything he could need. "The studio has just evolved over time. I love being able to do whatever I want without borrowing or renting gear."

Watch Andrew’s recent talk entitled "Lost in Translation: Audio Quality in Streaming Media"

Part of his collection includes 500 series gear: "I’ve had a 500 rack and some original API EQs and compressors for at least 10 years, maybe more. I like the gear itself and also not having to put in a power supply or any connectors , other than the edge connector, seems to keep the manufacturing cost down so the 500 series pieces are generally affordable compared to their standalone counterparts."

Scheps recently found himself in need of more rack room and turned to Radial to add to his gear. "I finally got sick of swapping modules in and out of the 500 series rack that I already owned and wanted a second rack. The Radial gear is so well built and reliable that the Powerhouse seemed an obvious choice."

He currently employs a couple of Radial modules. "I use the EXTCs (Guitar Effects Interface) all the time to interface to my modular synth and guitar pedals. Re-amping and using pedals while mixing has always been part of my work flow and with the EXTC it’s finally easy and bullet proof."

The Radial Tank Driver (Spring Reverb Interface) also gets a lot of action: "I love spring reverb, so it’s an awesome tool to be able to use the springs in my Hammond organ and guitar amps during the mixing process. Because you KNOW that reverb will sound good on everything, not just guitar."

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