Mike Plotnikoff (Buckcherry 15, In Flames, Warbringer)

Mike Plotnikoff is a producer and mixer who started his career assisting on major albums for AC/DC, Cher, and Aerosmith. He then spent 8 years as Bruce Fairbairn’s chief engineer, working on recording for artists such as Van Halen, INXS, Kiss, Yes, and Bryan Adams. Plotnikoff has since worked with producer Howard Benson on some of the biggest albums of the 2000s including releases by Papa Roach and Hoobastank.

Having worked on so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about mixing music these days?

There are many ways that I approach mixing so I stay fresh and to always keep it exciting.

1. I’ve learned over the years not to burn myself out. I will not work more than eight hours in a day.

2. If a mix isn’t going my way, if I’m struggling to make it sound good, I’ll move to a different song and come back to it later. I’ll usually know in a few hours if it’s not going my way. Instead of beating myself up, I’ll usually just shut down and go home. I’ll come back the next day fresh and start a different song. If it’s only that song that I have, I’ll start over again.

3. New gear and new plugins. Changing up your go-to drum samples keeps things fresh for me. I’m always trying different stuff.

4. I’m always trying to better myself and I feel like I still haven’t made the record I hear in my head. So I’m always chasing that. It keeps me hungry

5. I love mixing and recording. It just never gets old or tiring for me.

How do you A/B test Your mixes?

I still use the car to test my mixes. If it sounds good in the car, there’s a 95% win rate that the mix always passes and the clients are happy.