A.D. Ross

I'm a Southern California–based musician, producer, composer, and audio engineer with early roots in piano and drums, later developing into a multifaceted creative working across genres.

He founded SoundDaddy Records, producing hip-hop demo projects and mixtapes while performing throughout Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange County as “DJ SoundDaddy.” He built a strong presence in the local underground scene, producing and developing records for emerging artists including Cappa E, Marijayne, Thoughtsarizen, Swiss 1, DeviantDaKid, and Maad Factor. His production work later expanded into rock and metal, contributing to the project “Sanctus,” signed to Metal Blade Records.

A.D. formed the band Hit Skwad, opening for Kottonmouth Kings and performing across Southern California. He transitioned into film composition, earning an IMDb credit for scoring For Them, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. He also composed original music for a Road & Track video series.

He maintains a long-standing professional collaboration with Killah Priest of the Wu-Tang Clan, currently producing and running his YouTube podcast while contributing to music production, engineering, and marketing efforts.

Today, A.D. specializes in mixing and mastering across hip-hop, pop, rock, and film, continuing to produce, compose, and develop projects for both established and emerging artists.

I began formal music training at age four with classical piano lessons, later transitioning into jazz and blues piano with a focus on improvisation. He expanded into percussion at 13, performing in competitive drum ensembles and marching units, and graduated from Temple City High School, where he was active in the Drum Core.

From age 15, he attended the Berklee College of Music “Berklee in L.A.” Summer Program annually as a keyboard and drum student, refining his musicianship and earning the Outstanding Musicianship Award in 2001. He was later offered scholarship opportunities to attend Berklee in Boston.

He went on to study as a music major at California State University, Long Beach, continuing to develop his skills in performance, production, and composition.