I started producing music in 2012 as a way to create a body of work as a solo artist. I had spent years unsuccessfully trying to get a band together, so I opted to create and put out some of my own work. I felt it was a way I could improve my craft and work on my own until a group opportunity became more available. Fast forward to now, I've sort of forgotten about the band and am focused on a solo artist career! I learned about it just by diving in.
In 2012, after sustaining a sports-related concussion, I had a lot of free time, and an inability to do most of my usual activities without getting a migraine or nausea. The DAW interface I started with was very visually simple, and that helped because I found watching TV or playing video games would give me headaches. This lasted an entire month, where I composed about an hour of music. Some of those tracks sat for years until I was confident enough in my writing and performing ability to record and release them.
I started using a DAW called StageLight at the time, which has since been bought by Roland and is now rebranded as Roland ZenBeats. It's a lesser-known DAW, but has a very intuitive structure to its software interface. As a beginner, I found Zenbeats great because the music creation process seemed like a game or a puzzle I was figuring out, rather than feeling like hours working on a musical piece.
On top of Zenbeats, I also use Fruity Loops, as many producers do.
When recording, I have a producer friend who has Pro Tools. He helps to fill out the rest of my sound. All DAWs I've used are limited in some way or another, so I find running some of the WAV file sounds I created on my own DAW through a Pro Tools plug-in or two can really help fill out a bassline that is too thin or whatever minor tweak the DAW itself does not happen to handle to my satisfaction.
My favourite piece of gear is my Maschine MK2 Controller. It's a bit of a pain to program compared to the newer models, but its library of sounds and ability to augment and alter them is almost unmatched. It's definitely due an upgrade, but something about the blocky older model sticks with me, the colours pop really well on stage!
I am pretty much a chronic experimenter, so I don't know if I have a favourite. I had a lot of fun with Output's Arcade for a while, it offered some fun ideas for me. I try not to use samples, so more often than not I like to hear unique sounds that help to inspire ideas for myself. Kontakt and Massive for the Maschine MK2, have been major finds for my sounds. I really have a thing for deep basslines and reverb senses of space in music. Massive was great for those.
I start on the DAW with an idea of the chords. My chords tend to start my songs, my music is very simple and I typically use four chord-progressions that feel emotional to me. Depending on the chords, whether they sound melancholy or more upbeat, I'll pick a tempo/BPM to match. I usually try and figure out roughly what speed my vocals will be at around this time too, even if I have no melodic or lyrical plans as of yet. I want to plan a bit ahead to know if I plan on rapping fast or singing a melody. I take a long time to really make sure the beat is on point. For modern music, a 'fire beat' is super important. Even if the lyrics are lacking in spots, a really strong beat can support that a bit. Once the beat and main chords are done I work on the bass.
As a singer, I use the bass to find where my voice sits, so the melody begins to take shape around that time too. I try really hard to give a sense of atmosphere or mood to my tracks. Music has this amazing way of putting you into a headspace with sounds. Lately, minimalism has really been interesting to me, the idea of creating a sense of space within the music and a groove is super cool to me. I once heard someone say that music sends listeners to a place inside that they may not have been in a while. So for me, if the instrumental isn't resonating inside, I can't dig it. I know immediately when I hear the track if it's what I want to write on or not, which unfortunately means lots of my sessions end with me shutting my laptop in frustration with the feeling that I accomplished nothing. But those nights all add up to a finished product that I am happy with.
As a writer, writing the verses to songs is my favourite part. I can write verses pretty much at will, 16 bars or whatever. I usually just break the 16 bars into four 4 bar segments and go from there. Choruses take a lot more work for me. I usually try to figure out the concept of the song and write the chorus as simple as possible based on that concept.
I often use YouTube tutorials to help me with sound advice and music marketing tips. Soundplate.com offers all kinds of artist tools as well as playlists to pitch to. There are great videos for rappers that deconstruct famous hip-hop songs and highlight their rhyme schemes. Producers like Illmind and Kato have channels that offer great advice for producers and beatmakers and artists. Those kinds of videos really help me with understanding the styles I am working in and helps me to participate in the culture as I grow to understand the references and terminologies that frequently come up in music production and genre-specific circles.
KDMR music is a music business-focused YouTube channel that teaches independent artists about music from all angles, publishing, creating, promotion, distribution, etc. The host is very friendly and has a demeanour that makes listening easy. I play KDMR when working on paperwork or uploading or doing music work that doesn't involve active creation or editing.
I wish someone had told me I could do it all myself earlier. I spent years with the idea in my head that I was supposed to find a band to make music, a label to help me book gigs and promote, a production studio and producer to help us get the exact sound I imagined. That's a fantasy for a majority of artists these days.
I invest time into learning and I invest money into my own business. If I had some mentors or people who could have helped me through the early stages of learning production to the later stages of mixing, mastering, promoting, and releasing, I would have been doing this so much sooner. I only started this year because I got tired of waiting for the opportunity that won't ever come to me. Don't wait. Go practice. If the opportunity comes, you have to be ready for it. And if it doesn't come, then the hard work you put in will help create those opportunities.
Also, fall in love with the process. The work is 99% of the time behind the scenes, with no feedback, no fans, no one rooting for you or paying you for your effort. It has to be a labour of love.
Reminding myself when I'm procrastinating of how much better I'll feel when I get something done. Like many things, its the first step that's hardest. Once I'm started and working on a project, I tend to stay up too late. I do get writer's block at times, but I find that if I am starting to struggle with some lyrics, I take a break and go do something entirely different for a bit. I figured out my chorus while playing video games last week! It may sound silly, but I think you have to get out of the lab and put your mind onto other things while those ideas stew for a bit in the background. Ideas will come. And when they do, write them down cause you will forget!
Dedicate an hour a day to your craft. It does not matter what part of the craft you spend that time on, beat-making, editing, lyric writing, promoting on the SoundCloud, RepostExchange! It adds up over the year. Don't expect results day one. It's going to take a long time before you see the numbers and growth you imagine. I do not have talent, but I work the hardest in the room. Keep focused on the short term goals that will get you to the long term ones.
I use BandLab to help me with my mastering process. It does not master 100% perfect for you, but it helps to give you an idea of where your levels ought to be. The site offers all kinds of help for independent artists. Other than that, most of my work is largely inside my own space.
RepostExchange has been the biggest help for that! People tell me if they dig the beat, or if the levels are off or if I said something that resonated with them. For the most part, I work in a bit of a bubble and try to keep outside influences from affecting my music too much. I am always open to constructive criticism, but I actually avoid much of it by not showing people my music until its the finished product of the song. Many people who collaborate or share their demos and works in progress will get lots of feedback, but I find that if I am thinking of my audience or trying to please that person in particular, I end up not focusing on just making the music the best it can be.
I am most proud of my debut track, Voices. I remixed it and it has become my most streamed SoundCloud track to date. I am proud of it because I had a very short time frame to write the entire track. I wrote and recorded it in two days, start to finish. I created a melodic hook with a flute on my DAW and that started the process of reverse-engineering the song around that sound that inspired the rest of the track.
I am proud of the lyrics because I feel I stripped down the art form. I told a very simple story that is not only relatable but true. Everyone changes and outgrows people, and the 'doubting voices' the song references are ones people struggle with every day. The song is very cathartic for me, as the doubting voices I heard in my head paralyzed me from releasing music that I had been sitting on for months! Releasing the song and getting such good feedback from it was confirmation that I can do it myself, without needing to buy a beat or ask for help with lyrics.
RepostExchange has given me a community of like-minded artists and producers that I can aspire to and gain inspiration from any time. There are so many artists like MEANDI and Hemlock whose music has not only been added to my favourite playlists but shown me where I can be in time if I keep working at this. It's always a benefit to have some goal posts to see if you are on the right track. I have worked with several RepostExchange beatmakers who sent me beats that we made songs together on.
One of my most popular tracks, Feelings Ft. JEFE, was made because of the connection created by RepostExchange! I met my producer friend JEFE as he struggled to find a featured artist to put a second verse on his song and finish it. I messaged him after hearing the first half of his song and seeing his post about how he wanted a feature to help out finish the track. The song has such a beautifully melancholy guitar sound, and the beat is a real boppy one. The track is one of my favourites, JEFE provided a great atmosphere and setup, and I feel my verse puts the heart into the song, giving a true broken heart story to it. We agreed that I would release the final version and have him as the featured artist, as JEFE now produces beats full time.
RepostExchange has changed how I release my music too! When a track is live on my SoundCloud, the RepostExchange is the first place I send it to get ears on it, other music producers and artists thoughts on it, and of course, reposts! When I make an instrumental (before my lyrics are written) I pop the demo instrumental preview and let people hear it. Their feedback and excitement give me that extra gear to get the lyrics done.
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This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
