Music has always been my biggest passion, and I’ve been very fortunate to build a career around it.

My fascination with sound started when I was a child, experimenting with a portable cassette recorder and its little microphone. I remember being fascinated by the fact that I could capture sound, manipulate it and play it back. I instinctively felt there was something special about sound and music — particularly its ability to create emotion.

Serge Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson was my bedside record, while my growing obsession with electronic music led me into synthesizers, MIDI, sequencing, programming and computer-based music production. Somewhere along the way, I realised that I didn’t just want to make music; I wanted to understand sound.

That led me to study Audio Engineering and Signal Processing at Image & Son Brest in France, where I completed a Master’s degree. Those years gave me a strong technical foundation while allowing me to experiment with both analogue and digital recording. I became fascinated by acoustics, psychoacoustics, signal theory and the many ways in which technology can shape the way we experience music.

Since then, my career has taken me through recording, mixing and mastering, and increasingly into the world of live sound and touring. Over more than 20 years working in professional audio, I’ve had the privilege of working with an incredible range of artists and crews, in venues and festivals across Ireland and internationally.

Live sound has become a major part of my work. I love the immediacy of it — the combination of technology, music, people and problem-solving, and the fact that every show is different. Whether working at FOH, on monitors or as part of a touring production team, I enjoy the collaborative nature of live work and the responsibility that comes with helping an artist deliver their best performance.

Alongside touring and live sound, I continue to work as a mastering engineer from my Dublin-based studio, Draftlab Mastering, working with Irish and international artists. My approach to mastering is rooted in the same curiosity that first made me pick up that cassette recorder: listening carefully, understanding the music and using technology to serve the emotion within it.

I’ve called Dublin home since 2007, although touring means I spend plenty of time away. When I’m back in the Fair City, I’m usually found working on music, teaching audio or in the studio.

I’m still fascinated by sound after all these years — and I’m still very fortunate to make a living doing something I love.