Producer Q&A: Nosaj Thing
March 9
Here's another installment in the slightly irregular 'Producer Q&A' series. I'll get it going a bit more smoothly soon, promise! Anyway, this time round it's West Coast beats superstar Nosaj Thing. He's in Europe on tour right about now, and is playing in Bristol tonight, with Fabric tomorrow (March 10th) as part of the Brainfeeder night featuring Daedelus, Flying Lotus, Martyn and more. Looks sick, and to celebrate, he gave away a full quality track from his album last week - grab it here if you missed it.
I'm afraid I have to hold up my hands and plead ignorance though - despite reading a few interview with the man, I have no idea what production technique he's referring to at the bottom there. Anyone?
How do you approach a tune? Drums first? Melody?
I usually start with sound design then chord progression/melody.
What time of day do you work best?
Late at night when everyones asleep
Where do you get your inspiration / motivation from?
Family, friends, seeing other musicians live.
What do you do when you're not feeling inspired?
Not think about music. Go outside.
Do you start a tune from scratch, or do you usually have a drumset/template/etc to work from?
I usually start from scratch.
If you got a chance would you write pop stuff for a major label (if the money was right?)
Yeah, I grew up with listening to mainstream radio. Definitely influenced me.
What's the boring, workhorse plugin/piece of kit that you use all the time?
I try to change it up every time and try experimenting.
What's the coolest bit of kit you've got and do you actually use it much?
That's confidential.
Do you mixdown your own stuff? Reckon there's a stigma around this?
Yes, I mix my own tracks. Trying to get better at it and invest in some hardware.
What production technique do you think is really overused / annoying?
Everyone knows the answer to this.
What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started out?
I'm pretty happy with the normal process. I look forward to what's coming.
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