text: Thaler credits his time working with producers Phil Ramone, Matt Knobel, Frank Fillipetti, Jerry Wexler, Bruce Fairbairn, and Arif Mardin for teaching him the art of music production, for helping him develop "sonic landscapes... (that are) equal parts analog confection and digital sweetening", and for what the New York Times calls "a virtuosity that touches great depth, eliciting that special emotion from listeners well beyond the mere consideration of technical mastery".