SHAPING THE SOUND OF HOUSTON
Aside from his own recordings, Stephens has worked with a multitude of artists in ways that have pushed them both to new places.
A “Everything Here,” The Suffers: This was a transformative project for me. It was my first album solely focused on production. It made a lot of the client projects that came after possible for me. The band really could have chosen anyone from a long list of industry producers to work on this album and they chose me — someone local, someone they were taking a chance on. I will always be indebted to them for that, and I’m so proud of the work we were able to do together.
A “Tempest,” Tee Vee: I think sonically this is up there with one of my favorite albums I've ever worked on. I engineered and mixed this record. Teresa definitely had an overall vision for what she intended this album to be, and my focus was really to execute that to the best of my ability. There are times when Teresa almost sounds like a kid to me, but the things she's saying and singing feel much older. It gives me a strong emotional response every time I listen to it. A “Tryna Make Sense,” Madeline Edwards: I just mixed here. Madeline is an exceptional talent. Her voice has a texture that I've not heard before. I am excited every time she hits me up, even if it’s for a basic vocal recording session or to swap demos. I love the dimension of the song. There is a lot going on in the arrangement, but I feel like we really placed everything in the stereo imaging so that there is clear intelligibility in all of the parts.
A “Solitude,” Jet The 3rd: Jet is, in my opinion, one of the strongest songwriters in Houston. It will not be long before she is known around the country. This song just feels wholly unique from the rest of the modern pop, rap or R&B music I hear on a daily basis. I love engineering for Jet but the magic of what I'm able to do with her happens in mixing. She lets me try just about anything I can imagine with the processing on her voice, and I think we’ve developed a kind of signature sound in our limited time together. I can’t wait for her to share the new stuff we’ve been working on.
A “Ignore The Feeling,” Rose Ette: I worked on the first two singles with the band. I was really proud of how they came out, but when we went to do pre-production on the record, John Baldwin, the drummer of the band, articulated to me that there was something to clean or too pristine in the process that they felt didn’t quite align with their vision for the sonics of the album. This was an eye opener for me. What if what sounds “best” doesn't always sound best? I'm so glad the band pushed me to get out of my comfort zone.