Studio Portfolio
This page highlights some music from my production journey- mostly under my artist moniker, CNIC. Everything from client work to one-off remixes and personal projects. Each selection reflects not only my evolving sound and creative perspective but also the growth in skill, craft, and quality I’ve achieved over time. These tracks capture moments of experimentation, discovery, and artistic development, and I’m proud to share how time has shaped my voice as a producer and storyteller.
2025
King Koa "Homie Hopper" (prod. CNIC)
Homie Hopper lives in the tension between closeness and collapse. King Koa’s voice moves through raw, sultry territory, speaking on the quiet toxicity of situationships with equal parts sensuality and grit. I wanted the record to feel exposed, almost uncomfortable at times, like the listener is standing too close, hearing things they weren’t meant to. The production is grounded in an acoustic palette, built around the tactile mid high slides of fingers on guitar. I kept those textures forward in the mix to preserve the song’s raw, soulful spine before layering outward. Vocally, this became one of my most dense and expressive sessions, relying heavily on ad libs and stacked harmonies to blur the line between lead and atmosphere. I leaned on varied dynamic compression techniques to shape the movement of each layer, letting the vocals swell, recede, and collide without losing clarity. The low end is carried by a bass performance from San Diego legend Gabe Lariza. As I mixed the record, I focused on giving weight to the 16th note pulse, making sure its momentum stayed present from start to finish. Every decision was about balance, intimacy versus impact, rawness versus control, allowing the track to feel lived in, physical, and emotionally unresolved.
2025
Huntrix "Golden (CNIC's Demon King Flip)
My remix of Golden came from an immediate emotional response to KPop Demon Hunters. The original track carries a sense of resolve and brightness, and I wanted to reinterpret that feeling through a more cinematic and progressive lens. This remix treats the song like a narrative arc, slowly unfolding tension before releasing it in controlled chaos. I begin with the vocal acapella paired only with piano, letting the melody and phrasing set the emotional foundation. Elements are introduced gradually, pads, synths, and basslines kept intentionally restrained so the vocal remains the anchor as the track moves toward its first hook. When the drums arrive, they do so in service of momentum rather than impact, pushing the song forward without overwhelming its core. The build shifts the tone entirely. I introduce discordant notes and a familiar EDM rise, but with a darker intent. During this section, I sampled lines from the antagonist Gwima as he warns demonkind of the hunters’ return, injecting a sense of threat and inevitability. When the track drops, it becomes a full confrontation. Sword swings, metallic clangs, Gwima’s distorted laughter, and hard hitting basslines recorded on my UDO Super 6 collide into something aggressive and volatile. After the drop, I pull the track back into the second verse, allowing space to breathe before rebuilding toward a hopeful, climactic resolution. Remixing familiar songs is a way for me to explore emotional storytelling through sound. Rather than recreating the original, I use it as a framework to translate how it made me feel into something darker, heavier, and more cinematic.
2024
CNIC "Edgy"
This 2024 album is an exploration of electronic horror, rooted in atmosphere, dread, and physical impact. Inspired by the early Blumhouse soundtracks of composers like Joseph Bishara, I set out to create a visceral listening experience that leans as much on fear and tension as it does on release. The record moves between haunting sound design and dark techno, rewarding sustained unease with hard hitting basslines and classic rave inspired buyout drops. Rather than treating horror as a purely cinematic language, I approached these tracks as environments. Dissonant textures, distorted synths, and unsettling rhythms are allowed to linger before collapsing into moments of movement and force. The contrast between restraint and aggression became a defining feature of the project, reflecting an interest in tension as something that builds psychologically before it lands sonically. The track Where Dreams Die sits at the center of the album’s conceptual intent. Created as an instrumental soundscape for an art installation at Kaleid Art Gallery in San Jose, the piece was designed to exist as a room rather than a song. The experiment paired immersive audio with written works, inviting listeners to move through the space while engaging with themes of addiction and unhousedness. Sonically, the piece reinterprets a warped version of California Dreamin’, folding it into the sound of the city itself. Urban ambience, distant noise, and fractured melody blur together, mirroring the neglect and cyclical despair present in the environments that inspired it. The goal was not comfort or resolution, but presence. A haunting experience that asks the listener to sit with discomfort rather than escape it.
2023
ACG "Worthwhile (CNIC Remix)
This remix was created for the bonus edition of ACG’s pop album Games of Love. The original leaned into polished R&B pop, and my goal was to reinterpret it through a more sensual, textured lens. I approached the track as an opportunity to reshape mood rather than simply update the arrangement, pulling the song closer to intimacy and emotional weight. I restructured the chord progression to add depth and color to Rossylo’s original production, allowing the harmony to carry more of the narrative. Elements borrowed from EDM, including FX risers and impact transitions, were introduced subtly, supporting an upbeat yet smooth trap inspired foundation without disrupting the song’s soul. A slightly overdriven electric guitar anchors the track, defining its sense of authenticity, while arpeggiated synths and pads add a soft, dreamlike atmosphere. ACG’s angelic R&B vocals sit comfortably in the mid high range of the mix, which gave me space to emphasize the low end. The bassline, performed by hand on a five string StingRay, became a central emotional driver. Its phrasing, paired with finger plucked guitar, preserves the R&B soul while expanding the track into something more immersive and cinematic. At the time, I was working without outboard compressors or external effects, and the vocal stems arrived largely pre mixed. Using only Ableton’s stock plugins, I focused on shaping balance, movement, and tone as intentionally as possible. Compared to the original, my interpretation leans deeper into the sensuality of the lyrics. I wanted to push the song beyond flirtation and into full seduction, using texture and space to let the emotion linger.
2020
CNIC "Persuade Me EP"
Persuade ME is my debut EP, created during the pandemic alongside other stranded artists across the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an electronic soul record made in isolation, built in my bedroom with an eight dollar microphone and a lot of belief. The limitations were unavoidable, but the intention was clear. I wanted the music to feel close, lived in, and emotionally present, even when everything else felt distant. The EP draws from the neo soul movement of the late 2010s, blending Dilla inspired basslines and drums with chorus drenched guitars and live instrumentation. Much like my later work, the focus was on texture and feel over polish. Live saxophone by Isaac Davis of Sacramento adds breath and warmth, grounding the electronic foundation in something human. Guitar work moves between expressive and restrained, from Adam Medina’s shredding on the opening track alongside the subtle vocals of Jex Nguyen, to quieter moments that rely on space and intention. The title track, Persuade ME, pairs the soulful grit of guitarist Jenn Clemena with the vocals of Giselle Monet, shaping a lighter, more tender expression within the record. Even in these softer moments, the emotional core remains exposed. The songs were written in response to a lack of human connection, carrying the weight of isolation that every performer involved was feeling at the time. Hip hop and emo bedroom influences run throughout the EP, and the gritty character of inexpensive equipment becomes part of its identity rather than a flaw. The sound is raw, imperfect, and physical, capturing a moment of uncertainty without trying to resolve it. At its core, Persuade ME is about collaboration and presence. Artists reaching for closeness through sound when closeness itself was unavailable.
2020
Eugene Pastor "Saudade"
Saudade was my first official mixing and mastering gig, and a key step in my journey as a producer. Eugene Pastor’s slow, soulful style is gentle and intimate, and my role was to take his production and enhance its presence without losing the warmth and subtlety that defines his sound. The record is layered with echoing, reverby guitars, each treated with flangers and chorus to create movement and depth in the background. The five-track vocal arrangements included demi-distorted layers to support bridges and bring emotional weight to high intensity moments. Balancing these vocal elements with the instrumentation was my biggest challenge, and it taught me to listen carefully for space and emotional pulse, allowing every layer to breathe while maintaining the rich, sultry presence of Eugene’s voice. Coming from an electronic production background, this project was also my first real experience collaborating with another artist to shape their sound. Like Persuade ME, it reinforced the power of working closely with others, tuning into their intention, and building something larger than myself. It was a reminder that intimacy in music is not just about sound—it’s about presence, trust, and shared creative energy.
2018
Rodel Smooth & CNIC "All In Your Head"
All in Your Head was my first full album and my first recorded project as a producer. I helped write and produce the beats alongside singer-songwriter Rodel Smooth, whose voice is powerful, operatic, and deeply emotional in the R&B and soul tradition. At the time, I was producing mostly EDM, and Rodel asked me to bring a fresh, experimental approach to his guitar-based R&B songs. Armed with nothing but a laptop with a broken screen, a $60 microphone, and Apple earphones on my kitchen table, we created a nine-track experimental R&B album. The production leaned heavily on 808 subs, trap soul-inspired snares, and reverb-soaked FX downrisers to set a neo soul mood. Festival influences brought in dreamy, electronic textures with twitchy, glitchy moments that embraced the experimental nature of the project. This record was entirely built on collaboration and trust. Every decision—beat, texture, vocal placement—was a dialogue between us. It taught me how to listen deeply to another artist’s intention while translating it into sonic form. All in Your Head laid the foundation for future collaborations and performances throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and instilled in me a lasting appreciation for creating something unique from minimal resources.
2016-2017
White Skies EP
In my early years, I was part of an indie rock band called White Skies, playing bass and co-writing songs with my roommates. Though we were based in the Bay Area, our music captured the carefree energy of SoCal life—surf, parties, and weekends full of friends, sun, and good times. The songs told stories of youthful freedom, local adventures, and social nights, translating that party atmosphere into a live, intimate experience. Performing at dorm jams and student-led shows shaped our identity as musicians, teaching us the importance of presence, improvisation, and connecting with an audience. Recording a demo meant getting creative with what we had. Using a bootleg version of Fruity Loops, a broken laptop screen, and old Apple earphones, we recorded each part one at a time in bedrooms, living rooms, and the kitchen. I learned how to mix drums, balance kick and snare, and give guitars and vocals space to breathe. I recorded all the basslines on an $80 Craigslist bass, adding a raw, personal character to the EP. Despite the technical limitations, CHances captures the energy, storytelling, and social vibrancy of our Bay Area “SoCal-style” party life. The tracks are playful, lively, and rooted in collaboration—friends creating music together, documenting the sound of youth, freedom, and community. I’m still proud of this EP, and plans to re-record and remaster it for its 10-year anniversary will honor that spirit while bringing it into the present.
Continuum
This portfolio is a pulse, a trace of moments where sound and emotion collided, where curiosity met collaboration, and where risk became resonance. Each track, each remix, each experiment is a fragment of a larger journey—a sonic diary that bends across genres, moods, and textures.
As I move forward, I explore new digital landscapes where music and composition stretch beyond the speakers—into immersive worlds, interactive spaces, and unexpected mediums. This collection is alive, ever-expanding, a space where presence, honesty, and emotional weight meet possibility.
Listen to what exists here, but imagine what hums just beyond: the next layer, the next resonance, the next story waiting to be composed.