Mixmag Producer Special Part 4 May 2011

Producer Special PART four

This final instalment focuses on finding inspiration, getting feedback, promoting your tunes and getting them signed, and the skills you need to be a successful producer. The previous three parts are available at Mixmag.net. Start making tunes!

Words Phil Dudman

o u r e x p e rt pr o d u c e r pa n e l Danny Byrd: Drum and bass don and Hospital stalwart www.byrdfeed.co.uk

Grum: Electro-disco-housepop prodigy www.heart-beats.co.uk

Robert James: Underground bomb construktor MySpace.com/robertjamesdj

Glimpse: Master of jazz and soul-laced techno MySpace.com/glimpserecordings

Sinden:

where do you get your ideas/ inspiration from?

Mega mega bass destroyer www.sinden.tv

Ste Mac: Trance titan of Mac & Taylor fame www.macandtaylor.com

Nicolas Jaar: Rulebook-smashing techno wunderkind www.nicolasjaar.net

Mat Zo: Drum ’n’ bass ’n’ trance polymath MySpace.com/matzomusic

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Mat Zo: “Inspiration can come out of nowhere. I think it’s a subconscious thing, like the other 80 per cent of your brain is doing all the work. Feeling the energy of a club is inspiring.

I’m always gagging to get back in the studio after a night out.”

Nicolas Jaar: “I can’t really say.

Probably the most important is my parents and anything that has happened to me, love-wise. You’re not making music in a vacuum, you know? It’s about everything and everyone around you.”

Grum: “I don’t really listen to a lot of dance music, which I think sets me apart a bit. I’m more inspired by older music. I listen to a lot of 80s soft rock and things like that. But I guess DJing in clubs helps you understand how things work on the floor.”

Danny Byrd: “The problem with waiting for inspiration is that if you do that you won’t get much work done. As long as you have a strong work ethic, ie get up at 9am every day, go straight in, start a beat and see what happens, you’ll get a lot further than being all arty-farty and saying ‘oh I don’t feel inspired today’.”

Sinden: “Everywhere: not just music but films, art and design, chatting with friends. I also try to keep my finger on the pulse of new music, especially music from around the world and stuff like that. I spend a lot of time just digging on the internet.”

Ste Mac: “It’s always good to listen to someone’s music that you like, but obviously the worst thing you can do is imitate. Take inspiration, but don’t try to imitate other people’s tracks.”

Glimpse: “I actually find sitting in the studio with everything turned on, humming away in the background really inspiring.

Also, Jeff Mills is a huge inspiration to me.”

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where do you get the best feedback?

Grum: “I wouldn’t let someone hear something that wasn’t finished – it takes away some of the mystique of being an artist! Everybody has their own opinion; it’s only worth getting criticism from people you respect, or who have had success themselves.”

Nicolas Jaar: “Make something that doesn’t sound like everyone else in the world.

If you’re making a tech-house track, why would someone listen to it if they can get a better version on Beatport?”

Ste Mac: Look on DJs’ websites. There’ll be a contact at their label or management. But make sure it’s something they’ll like!”

Sinden: “Get a SoundCloud account, get on Twitter and get all your social networking in place so when people want to check you out they can find you.”

Glimpse: “It’s down to reputation. I used to send loads of people tracks when I started out, and nobody would get back to me.

Then I had a lucky break with Magda and Richie Hawtin playing some of my tunes.”

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Glimpse: “I’ve had tracks that have blown the roof off clubs when I’ve played them out, but when I’ve sent them to labels they’ve not been that into them. And I’ve had labels really into tracks that haven’t really worked played out… So it’s quite a complicated one.”

Robert James: “Fellow producers and DJs like Jamie Jones, Burnski and Lee Foss.

I’ve got a lot of mates who DJ and produce as well, so I usually play stuff to them and see what they think.”

Sinden: “By playing it alongside something I really admire – but you should try not to be too disheartened if it isn’t as good.”

Ste Mac: “I think you’re better off trusting your own opinion, personally; certainly while you’re learning. Because no matter what, there’s always going to be someone who says something different.”

Mat Zo: “I always ask for feedback from people who don’t listen to dance music. It’s very insightful to hear a completely impartial opinion. If you get a lot of good feedback you can get too comfortable with your own sound and you won’t get better. Negative feedback can be a great form of motivation.”

how do you get your stuff heard?

Danny Byrd: “AIM is the most used form of contact in drum ’n’ bass. It’s nice for someone to give me a CD in a club, but it goes in the bag and I forget all about it, and never end up listening to it.”

Grum: “I just put my stuff on some blogs and it all went from there – though I think blogs are a little saturated now. There’s a lot of stuff out there, and it’s harder to find stuff I want to play in my sets these days.”

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how do you promote your work?

Robert James: “I think SoundCloud is the best at the moment. You can put a lot more tracks up and have them as downloads.

The feedback on SoundCloud is great, too. You can have comments in the middle of a track.”

Grum: It’s good to have a Myspace obviously but it’s not so essential now.

Soundcloud is very important and Twitter is very useful too.

If you make electro then another one that’s good is the Erol Alkan forum.

how did you get signed to a label?

Sinden: “You can embed SoundCloud tracks in your website or MySpace so why not combine? Mixcloud is good for mixtapes and stuff.”

Ste Mac: “Make YouTube videos – you can do it with simple video editing software. Then tell all your friends, get them to put links on their Facebooks.”

Mat Zo: “I was approached by one small label after posting some tunes to a website, but for most I had to submit a demo and wait for them to reply. With the web, you can become a successful musician without a label.”

Mat Zo: “I’m a fan of posting tracks on forums where you can target the audience.”

Sinden: “Strong ideas and originality. You can have all the skills in the world and still just be mimicking something. You have to stand out from the pack. It’s easier said than done, I know.”

Danny Byrd: “You need to be fearless. There are so many haters in music, and so many people with fucking opinions, but you have to keep moving forwards. Believe in what you’re doing.”

Grum: “It’s important to be able to get on with people. It’s all good if you are making amazing tunes, but if you’re just at home all the time it will take you a lot longer to get where you want to be. Also, you’ll get to the point where you ask ‘should I go full-time with music with or should I take the safe option and keep the career going?’ It’s a tough decision to make…”

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Nicolas Jaar: “Back when I was just 17 I sent Wolf + Lamb one track and they really liked it. When a label is small you can send them your music and there’s a good chance they will listen to it.”

Ste Mac: “We’d had our first track on MySpace for a couple of weeks and Claudia Cazacu’s Couture label found it and came to us.

And then Judge Jules picked ‘Dirty’ for his ‘Tried and Tested’ tune of the week.”

Sinden “Our deal with Domino, the Count & Sinden thing, came about from hustling: putting out remixes and doing lots of gigs.

They took an interest once ‘Beeper’ became a success.

Grum: “You have to put your music out there and people will find it. A lot of producers know people and it helps them get found, but I didn’t know anybody.”

Glimpse: “I started my own label through Kompakt. I was scared of releasing on other people’s labels, I suppose because I was a bit scared of rejection.”

what kind of skills do you need aside from music?

Mat Zo: “It helps to either be a good businessman, or have good businessmen working for you. In a perfect world I’d just make music, DJ and not worry about anything else, but you’ve gotta play the game!”

Ste Mac: “You need to have a good ear for sound, and the confidence to go with what you like. Don’t hold back on things because you don’t think they’re the norm. Don’t try and jump on the boat, see it coming and get on board first.”

Nicolas Jaar: “I don’t want to say you must be a social person or a good businessman as my belief is that if you make beautiful music, someone will hear it and give it to someone with power, and you’ll get known. That’s my mentality.”

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