Defining the Music Producer

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What kind of producer am I?

Since I started producing music in 2018, I have found myself entering a variety of phases in which I attach myself to new styles, genres and aesthetics in an attempt to limit the mundanity of creative repetition. More recently, however, I have come closer and closer to doing something I believe to be unique using the amalgamation of influences from all my phases, and have started to recognise patterns in my style of production that pop up in each genre I work in.

Some key features of my production tend to include swung jazz influenced rhythms and mellow extended chords laid over a bed of foley and ambient sound effects. There are, of course, many exceptions to these rules, however I have found myself attached to these qualities in music and can never go too long without them.

Listed are some of my favourite artists who I believe have played a role in shaping my sound:

King Krule      

Flying Lotus 

Thundercat 

Cocteau Twins 

Tame Impala 

Sampha 

 

My current skill set

Over the past 8 years of producing music and working in the music industry, I believe I have developed some useful skills and knowledge that have the potential to benefit me in the future. These include understanding how to communicate with artists and compromising on creative control, the dangers and unethical treatment present throughout the industry and how to navigate it and protect yourself as well as the more specialised skills of actual music production and engineering experience. 

What I hope to develop this year

While I still have much to learn when it comes to the technicalities of music production and engineering and look forward to developing my skills and knowledge over the next few years, what I hope to get most out of this UAL course is a more general sense of being helped to harness the creativity I have and being encouraged to apply it in more meaningful ways. I have always enjoyed music first and foremost for the process of creating it as a reflection of my mood or life experiences, and so applying myself to a project to the point of it’s completion has always been a struggle for me as the longer I work on something the less it reflects the point I’m at in life in the present moment. My hope is that through the tutors on this course as well as the routine of scheduled work, I will be motivated to apply myself in a way that I usually am not to create something that I can feel wholly summarises the capabilities of what I can do when I really try.

While I would love to develop my skills in recording and collaboration this year and intently plan to do so, this is my main goal for this course.