Chappell Roan’s Grammy Speech Was a Trojan Horse
A spoon full of sugar makes the poison go down, too.
THE MYTH OF PRODUCTIVITY
The fact is, great ideas don’t require great conscious effort to manifest themselves. The universe is infinitely generous.
Payola: The Criminalization of Independent Artists
Secretly paying commercial radio stations to secure the “organic” promotion of a new record obviously reeks of corruption, but the true source of that stench might surprise you.
The Death Clause
We’ve all heard of the 27 Club; a group whose suffering is so deeply romanticized that even their untimely deaths are somehow still associated with luxury and exclusivity. If you ask me, there is absolutely nothing glamorous about choking on your own vomit in a filthy tour bus, but I digress. I don’t think it’s […]
Missy Elliott and Timbaland Embraced This Spiritual Truth
I recently read an article detailing how Missy Elliott and Timbaland spent countless hours scrolling through thousands of sounds until inspiration struck. Music production is often envisioned as the process of wielding fancy effects and gadgets to beat a sound into submission, but one of the most underrated elements of good music production is the […]
The Ink Spots Got Really Good at One Thing
When most people of taste hear the phrase “formulaic music,” the first thing that comes to mind is the artistically malnourished corruption that plagues the modern music industry. But one could argue that formulas have been around for as long as music has. The meteoric rise of the Ink Spots, one of the most successful musical […]
The Dakou Generation
During the Great Cultural Revolution, the only music available in China was propaganda opera. Utilizing epic wartime narratives to convey themes of economic and ideological class struggle, these impressive spectacles were designed to indoctrinate the public with revolutionary Maoist principles, including the heroism of the proletariat and the virtue of sacrificing for the Party’s cause. Besides the 8 government-sanctioned operas […]
The Infamous Blurred Lines Case
In his fascinating interview with Rick Rubin, Pharrell referred to music production as the process of “reverse engineering a feeling.” He made this point in reference to the lawsuit that was filed against him for supposedly copying Marvin Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up” in “Blurred Lines.” What was interesting about this case was that […]
Stop Doing Too Much
I recently listened to an interview with Brian Eno and feverishly wrote down practically every other thing he said. I recommend you give it a listen as it’s full of golden nuggets, but this was by far my favorite quote: “Do as much as possible with as little as possible. I was never impressed by […]
INTUITION > KNOWLEDGE
Imagine yourself traversing a vast, uncharted desert. An oasis awaits just beyond the horizon, and you have only 12 hours to reach it before dying of thirst. As the sands of time draw this dreaded fate closer and closer, a genie suddenly descends from the heavens, offering you a choice: he will either gift you […]
What Death Taught Me About Music Production
On Thanksgiving eve, my grandfather (he helped my single mom raise me, so he was also a father to me) suddenly died. I was staying with him and my grandmother at the time, so the experience was visceral; it took hours for the funeral home to pick up his body and it was my first […]