how to get into music production - interview with gardner

Gardner is an up-and-coming hip hop producer in Leeds, here are some of his tips to get going with music creation.

How did you get into music production, and what’s the first step you took to start producing yourself?

I think most people that are producing now are doing it because they love music and they want to be part of it. For me it was just constantly listening to different producers and watching YouTube videos of them and thinking I want to do that. It’s different for everyone but I think it comes down to the same thing - just the passion for it.

I started producing from literally watching YouTube. There’s so much out there now that you can watch and learn from yourself. I’ve used the same DAW, Ableton, for 4 years and that was because one of my favourite producers (Kenny Beats) used it. I used to watch his YouTube series called The Cave and he would bring a rapper or singer on, make something in 15 minutes on his MacBook on Ableton, and then put them in the studio and just record over it. And I thought that’s the end goal I want to get to: hanging out with people and making music.

I joined a program called CIRV (community initiative to reduce violence) with Lisa Lashes school of music which was one of the first courses/ music institutes I was involved in. They were an open group which is how I got there, but the majority of the others on the course were in a bad place and the idea was to bring them away from that way of life and introduce them to music. A lot of them were really talented so it gave them an outlet and chance to utilise their talents to do something better. That inspired me to want to keep improving and working hard as I had never struggled in a way that some of them had. I had a better mindset going into music and life in general after learning about my peers at that place.

What equipment and software do you recommend to people that are wanting to get into production?

For DAWs, any. Some are a bit more advanced than others, but whether you start out with an advanced one or a basic one, that’s all you’re going to know and need for a while. Realistically if you start on Garageband you then get better over time and can move onto another- it doesn’t matter.

When I started, I was good with my budget, I bought a fairly decent microphone, good speakers were bought for me by a family member- I was so lucky because they really supported me in music. And then I had an audio interface.

I would say all you need- the key 3 things if you want to be a producer- are audio interface, speakers and then an extra of your choice like a MIDI keyboard, just to make your setup a bit more unique to you. You can make good music with absolutely anything. You can have £30 headphones, a shitty little mic, and still make something good. All the producers who are now millionaires were probably balancing their mic on toilet roll, that’s what I did because I didn’t have a stand, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got. 

When you first started, what mistakes did you make and how did you learn from them?

I think comparing my music with top-level producers. When you start out, you’re going to be nowhere near as good as the people you’re watching, I was too busy trying to make all these amazing grand-scale tracks that just weren’t going to work. Another one for me personally- perfectionism. I still struggle with it to this day, I’m getting past it slowly but I’m constantly thinking ‘this needs to be better, I’m going to delete that’. Do not delete your stuff. That’s what I used to do, constantly delete my work, but you want to see how much progress you’ve made over a long time. Also, if you had an idea that was pretty good but wasn’t sounding amazing with the skills you had, down the line you can go back to it. One of my friends told me ‘Nothing is ever perfect.’ and that really stuck with me.

Who were/ are your biggest music influences and have they changed over time?

They’ve definitely changed over time, like I said earlier Kenny Beats was one of the main reasons I got into music. As I got better at producing I started watching more prolific producers like 9th Wonder, the Alchemist and Conductor Williams. I’ve realised why they’re praised so much because now I know how much skill it takes to do what they do. But honestly, my biggest influence out of any musician or anyone I know is my Dad. He’s into jazz and soul which I listen to now. I didn’t used to; I did sample it but now I’m truly in love with jazz and soul. One of my favourite genres is Japanese jazz fusion, if you told me that 5 years ago I wouldn’t have believed you.

How do you approach collaborating with artists and other producers and how important is that to you?

Collaborating with other people is so important- because realistically music is down to who you know, not what you know. Even if you don’t know people in person, join groups on social media, discord, make a soundcloud account and just put yourself out there.