A little bit of Producer "Game"

Hungry, inexperienced producers ask me questions all the time. A lot of the time the questions are the same. Therefore I am going to bless you all with a few gems that I have picked up during my time working in the industry. Feel free to entirely disagree.

Today, I want to address the issue of approaching major artists to shop tracks/demos. This only applies to up-and-coming producers/songwriters. Obviously established producers play by a different set of rules.

There are many ways to do it, some are right, some are wrong, and some are downright idiotic. For instance, DO NOT figure out where the artist’s session is and randomly show up at the studio. I have no idea why people think this a good idea, but it happens all the time. It is a bad approach for several reasons:

1. You are interrupting the session. What if that artist was in the middle of writing his or her biggest smash to date, and you randomly show up and blow the vibe by making things awkward or simply interrupting the thought process or flow of the song?

2. Major artists use major studios and become comfortable in the vibe. The reason they are comfortable is because they are sitting in a room for long periods of time with people they know/work with. If you enter unexpectedly, you are changing that. Sometimes the vibe is extremely delicate.

3. When you show up unannounced to a session, you are displaying the following attributes: You are unaware of universally known studio etiquette (therefore you are obviously not “in” the industry), you are a low-level producer (otherwise you would have found a more professional way to shop your songs), and you are that guy that is going to make everyone look at each other as soon as you leave, and be like, “What the fuck? Who does that?”

DON’T be that guy.

So, how do you do it then, you ask? Well, there are several ways that make sense.

1. The first, and probably the best, is having a manager. A good manager has plenty of contacts and will be able to get you into sessions when you are needed or set up meetings for you to play your songs. Most managers get paid when you get paid, therefore its not going to cost you money up front and they will be motivated to make you money.

2. The second way is by building relationships in the industry, and I recommend this to EVERYBODY. This takes a lot of time and effort, but will pay off exponentially. Just think, if you were an artist, whose track would you rather use? The guy who gave you a CD in the club (that you never listened to) while you were trying to get some top from a video model, or the producer who your manager/A&R/assistant/engineer/lawyer/friend/baby-mama-sister-uncle-cousin personally knew, vouched for, and set you up to meet with?

Not only that, but when are you more likely to listen to a track? After the club when you are drunk and trying to fuck something, or in the studio when you are already in work mode (or atleast trying to be) and looking for a track to write to?

Network all the time (in the right place at the right time), display a sparkling personality, and you will begin knowing people who know people who know people.

3. Utilize the Internet. One thing I have noticed in sessions is that almost every major artist has a Twitter account. YES, they are the ones tweeting. Now, a superstar with a 2,000,000 followers on twitter might be a little tough to get a hold of. But what about their manager? Assistant? Engineer? You can usually find out who these people are by reading their tweets, too. Be resourceful. Also, don’t spam these people or be annoying or creepy. Be professional about it, and respect everyone’s time.

Side-note: I recommend the use of twitter (and other social networks) to make acquaintances and build relationships, not to immediately overload everyone you meet with tracks. Take your time. A lifetime friendship and business relationship will do a lot more for you than sending a few tracks. Plus, they will probably think better of your music after you make a good impression on them as a person.

I hope this helps. Until next time…
-ZS

Numbers Game

One lesson that is blatantly obvious yet usually ignored is that most things and life can be boiled down to a numbers game. Success is about application and consistency. Think about it.

The more you play, the more you win.

Or a more relevant music biz example:

The more beats you make, the more beats that you have made that don’t suck. The more beats you make that don’t suck, the more beats you have made that are awesome. The more beats you make that are awesome, the more likely that you are to produce a hit. Therefore, more beats = more hits. Hmmmm. Maybe that’s why successful people like B. Cox are working all the time.

Also, in addition to being productive, when you constantly apply yourself, you get BETTER at what you do. Therefore, we can adjust the previous example by adding:

The more beats you make, the better you get at making beats that don’t suck.

Therefore, by working consistently, you exponentially increase your rate of success. Now get off the computer and do something productive. But don't forget to check back later!

You Might Be a Groupie If......

You Might Be A Groupie If:

You might be a groupie if you don’t work in any aspect of the entertainment industry, yet you know more than one celebrity on a first name basis.

You might be a groupie if we are listening to music together and you tell me which street the artist has a condo on. Go home.

You might be a groupie if you ask me if I know Jermaine Dupri. How come Jermaine Dupri doesn’t ever ask me if I know you? (Credit: Bertell)

You might be a groupie if I text you that I almost crashed my car into a ravine and you respond back “I sat next to OJ the Juiceman tonight!”

You might be a groupie if I have seen you at the studio multiple times, but each time with a different rapper.

You might be a groupie if you get invited to the studio from Club Onyx at 3:45am. Period.

You might be a groupie if you get a call from any rapper’s bodyguard to come to the studio.

You might be a groupie if you are sitting peacefully on the studio couch and the artist gives his security the evil eye and has you replaced.

You might be a groupie if dropping the rapper’s name to get in VIP doesn’t work so you drop the ball player’s. Apparently you really do know them both, what a coincidence.

To be continued...

Have No Fear

I was talking to Jessica of TeLuv the other day, and we had a very enlightening discussion about fear. Specifically, we were talking about the fear of failure and its ability to prevent action. The fear of failure can stifle you because you will always feel like you should be reserved, just in case something goes wrong. Therefore, you never give your all. In order to be successful in anything, you have to come to grips with the idea that you might screw everything up and fall flat on your face, accept it, and go hard anyway. I can think of a million examples, and I had to learn this fact the hard way.

When I first moved to Atlanta, I had an internship at a major studio. The internship was six months long, and when it was over, there was a hands-on test to see if I would be hired on as an assistant engineer at the studio. I was anxious to be an engineer, and this test weighed heavily on my brain for the entire six months. I was thinking, “Shit, this is it. I have to pass this test. What will I be able to do if I can’t work here?” It was as if my entire future depended on the outcome of this single test.

The effect of worrying about this test so much was that when it came time to take it, I was overly anxious, and performed poorly. I was trying TOO hard instead of just using my brain and trusting in my talent and experience. I could not think clearly, therefore I could not troubleshoot. As a result, I was not hired. However, with a recommendation, I got an internship at another major studio, and a second chance.

This time I made up my mind not to be afraid of failure or mistakes. I decided that ACTION would be the theme from now on. I figured if I made a mistake, I could fix it afterwards instead of worrying about it beforehand. It is rare that a mistake is made and there is no opportunity to correct it. There is a phrase that I have always tried to incorporate into my belief system:

“More is lost through indecision than a wrong decision.”

With this in mind, I made moves. I stepped up for every opportunity, and even before my internship was over, I was an assistant engineer at a major studio in the market of my choice.

Be A Boss

You know what really grinds my gears? When a grown man blames another man or woman for something going wrong in his life. I don’t care what it is, everything that is happening in your life, with the exception of circumstances in which you did not have even the most remote possibility of involving yourself, IS YOUR FAULT. Notice I said, “involving yourself”, not “being involved”. Be proactive people, it’s your life. I take the responsibility for my outcomes upon myself, and I think everyone else should too.

For example…Do I show up to the studio 15 minutes before the session starts, find out that the room is a mess from the session before, and start blaming other engineers or assistants for the fact that I don’t have the room ready to go when my client gets here? FUCK NO! I show up an hour early and make sure everything is clean and organized, and that the gear is tested and ready to go. What is the result of this? I am usually ready when the session starts instead of being stuck with my thumb in my ass blaming other people.

What are you really doing when you point the finger at someone else? You are saying to me that you are not competent enough to overcome someone else’s errors. A grown man doesn’t do that. A grown man does what he has to do to get the job done, regardless of other people’s fuck ups. If you still can’t get it done, that’s ok. At least you did everything in your power. Admit that you fell short, and you will be respected. More will get accomplished this way than any other.

This is the difference between the employee mindset and the employer mindset. The employee does only what he is told to do, with no regard for the outcome. A boss does things simply because they need to be done and he is there to do them. I recently saw the OWNER of a major studio mopping the floor before a listening party, because the intern was out doing a run.

Be a boss. When something goes wrong, instead of looking at what other people screwed up, look inward. Was there something you could have done to avoid the error? Or maybe you should have done the task instead of delegating it, if the other person couldn’t complete it properly. Maybe you could have delegated it to someone better qualified. Whatever the solution, take responsibility upon yourself.

Loso's Way + Mix Magazine

Damn, Its been a while since i updated this blog. How I forgot to tell you about the following things is boggling my mind. Anyway, the short and sweet version:

I recently got my first Major album credit for Fabolous' new release: Loso's Way.

The album debuted at #1, selling 100,000 copies the first week.




I worked on 2 songs that made the album... "Throw it in the Bag", and "Pachanga"

Everyone go buy the album, help me get my first plaque.

ALSO:

I was briefly mentioned in Mix Magazine. Nothing serious, I just thought it was cool so i wanted to share it. Click here to read the article.


Anyway, you can expect more frequent updates at this point, because I have more to talk about. Project Super Engineer is full throttle, ya dig?

THERE IS NO OPPOSITION

I’m so focused right now. And I can tell you that until a few days ago, I didn’t even really realize what being focused was.

I always thought that being focused meant keeping your eye on the ball, and always remembering what your goals are. And to a certain extent, this is correct. But this is the easy part.

The hard part is being focused when shit starts to go wrong. Here is an example.

The AC in my truck went out on Friday. So immediately I knew I wasn’t going to drive back to STL for the weekend, because it was 100 degrees outside. First thing Saturday morning I drove to the shop and had them look at my car.

$1,700!!! Apparently every piece of equipment dealing with having cold air in the car was out of order. In addition, I had an O2 sensor out, and my catalytic converter needed to be replaced. I didn’t get the work done yet, because I wanted to get it done at my dealership, thinking that some of the work would be covered by my warranty. Knowing that I had this new repair to pay for, among other things, I decided to get my grind on all day.

After putting in work for a few hours, I hit another roadblock. The truck started smoking as I pulled up to a studio to drop off some promotional materials. At this point, I’m like, you know what, I’m gonna go inside and do what I came to do before even worrying about what the hell is going wrong with the car. So I go inside, make my money, and come back out, and the car is cooled off and no longer smoking under the hood. However, when I started it back up, the power steering had gone out.

So I’m thinking, ok, first my AC, then my power steering. But you know what? I’m on a mission today, and I’m not letting a fucking thing stop me. Fuck it. I can’t just grind all day now, I’m bout to grind all night, too. So I called my homeboy Brian Foxx, and told him that I was going to attend his event at Django’s and do some promotion up there. I still had some time to put in work before that, so I started driving to the next place with no power steering.

I get there, and my car is smoking again. In my head I’m thinking, ok, I have 2 choices. I can either bitch out, and stop working until I get my car fixed completely, or I can run this fuckin thing into the ground, and be a champion for one day. This was actually a tough decision. I like my car. I don’t want to destroy it. But I also knew that I needed this. Not for the money. Just for the simple fact that I needed to win. I did not want to let this kind of thing defeat me. Not me.

So I strut my happy ass into the business, and give them some flyers and put up a poster. I pull my camera out to take pictures (that’s how I get paid). I turned it on and it gave me an error message, and two options. I could either turn off the camera, or format the memory card(and lose the last weeks worth of work). I turned the camera on and off several times and tried reinserting the card. All in vain.

So now, I’m like WHAT THE FUCK?! The AC, the O2 Sensor, the catalytic converter, the powersteering/overheating…and now my fucking camera doesn’t work? I mean, I literally can’t get paid for my promo work without my camera…

It took me a moment to calm down from this. I thought about it, and realized that the universe obviously did not want me doing promo today. So I drove my car back home, parked it and went inside. I really wanted to just lay down and go to sleep. I wanted to escape. But I realized that a change had occurred. None of these options made any sense.


That was not me anymore. The old me would have sat down and tried to relax, and get rid of the feeling of the world trying to defeat me. The new me just banished any and all thoughts of opposition. THERE IS NO OPPOSITION. I would STILL not lose my focus. Just because my car wasn’t working properly and I couldn’t do promo for the day didn’t mean I had to give up. So I continued. I began fixing up an old MPC 2000xl that I bought to sell online and never got around to it. I rearranged some furniture in my room, something that had been on my to do list for months. I didn’t stop. I kept going, all night. I just kept knocking out things that I knew I had to do. I didn’t go to bed until 6:00am.

He who works the hardest, wins.

This change was life altering. I now not only know what it looks like to keep going in the face of many challenges, but I know distinctly and specifically what it FEELS like. And I can incorporate that feeling into my daily habits. In fact, upon writing this, I can tell you that I already have. I woke up MUCH earlier than usual today. I got so much shit done today its retarded. I did it all without a car.

Faced with all of these challenges, something inside me snapped. I am forever changed. I will stop at nothing, and my grind will be intense. See you at the top.

Focus

First off, the reason I have been MIA is that I have been in the studio working with A.1.O. - I mixed their new street single "Swagga Talk" which you can download and listen to by clicking on the image below:



That being said, lets catch up.
Lately I have been focusing on sharpening very important skills to any producer. Engineering Skills. As I polish these skills, I get better and better at figuring out how to get the sounds I want, which is absolutely ESSENTIAL as a producer.

More importantly, I am working in a major studio as an engineer, thus making major contacts. Every producer has their own path. Some make some hot beats, and sell them until one blows up. Some work entirely with one artist until that artist blows up.

Me, I'm working my way up from the inside of the business. I'm not even marketing myself as a producer right now. Yes, I make beats. My trade is Audio Engineering. I have a master plan to transition to production eventually. I don't think you need to know the details of my master plan, but for know, know this: Engineering now, Producing later.

Although, I can't lie. I am still a producer at heart and stay up till the wee hours of the morning making tracks and envisioning them unfolding into hits.

Fabolous - Throw it in the Bag ft. The Dream

Fabolous - Throw it in the Bag ft. The Dream

Yo, check this song out. It's a hot song, and Fab is even shoutin' out ATL. More importantly I worked on it as a 2nd Engineer. It was leaked, so fuck it. Check the album when it comes out, which will probably be a lot sooner, now that this leaked. PEACE!

Topless

Check out this link and press play to hear NEW Dr. Dre Ft. T.I. and Nas  SUPER hot. Listen while you read. Then listen again. Also check out the Fader, because thats the same company I promote for.

This weekend was crazy. 

First, on friday, I recorded a String Quartet with Nev Walker, a talented engineer. It was something I had never done before, and it was definitely a learning experience, but it went well and Nev made it sound awesome. Ok...so that's not so crazy.

Then, there was a party for my roomate, Blake's birthday at the studio he works at. The party consisted of a lot of Sweetwater beer (frequently spilled by wasted engineers), drunken listening sessions, and Blake telling everybody "Well, I broke up with my girl earlier today, but it's all good cause now I'm walking around with Usher."

...Yes, Usher was really drinking at my roommate's birthday party. 

It was cool to hang out with  friends, and meet some more musicians, producers, artists, etc.  I didn't intend on passing out drunk in Studio A control room. Ha.

Saturday night, my buddy Max called me up and asked if I wanted to go out and meet some girls in Buckhead. I really didn't want to, as I wanted to stay home and work on some music. He managed to talk me into it. I'm sure it wasn't that hard.

We went to a popular area in Buckhead with some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. They all looked like this: 

It was like a little plaza of bars, and you could freely walk between them all. There was a fountain in the middle of them all, in an open-air area where people were mingling even though it was raining. All the different bars were bangin' loud music and swarming with enough superstar quality women to give you permanent taco neck syndrome.  For me, the best part of the night was when I went to talk to a 10 (hands down). I saw her standing all alone, and playing with her phone. No hesitation, no planning, no observing, just straight in. 

Me: (completely serious) Hey, you look kinda familiar. Did we...did we make out last week?

Her: (smiling wide) I don't thi

nk so. I was in Colorado last week.

Me: Are you absolutely positive, I think it was right over there (pointing to a dark corner).

Her: I'm pretty sure.

She then stops playing with her phone, which turns out to be a camera, and precedes to take a picture of her boyfriend, who looks like a UFC fighter and was standing right behind me the whole time. Oops. I had even seen her with him earlier, holding hands, kissing, and all but screaming "We're here together!" 

Whatever, I like how she brought up that we couldn't have made out because she was out of town, but she didn't mention her man.

To top the weekend off, there was snow on the ground when I woke up, after having been warm enough to wear a button down shirt outside in the drizzling rain at the bar the night before. And, it was raining. I hate that kind of snow...the rainy muddy kind. But it gave me a good excuse to clean the crib a little, watch one of my favorite movies, and eventually get around to making a BANGER.

Stay tuned.

Project Beast Life

Ok, So this past week I worked on more tracks than I have in a long time, which felt GREAT. The trade off, though, was that I ended up procrastinating on a few things that are going to bring me immediate income. That's not good.

Being the man that I am, every time this happens I feel a great sense of urgency to get my hustle on and get my shit straight so that this doesn't happen anymore. Some good usually comes out of the situation.

It's like I turn my own mistakes into a great motivation to improve. 

Those of you that are familiar with my philosophies of motivation already know about what I refer to as working in Beastmode. Today, in a fit of inspiration, I chose to take that concept one step further, which I will explain in a second.

One thing I learned from Matador, and a book that he gave reference to (Getting Things Done by David Allen) was the importance of dividing every aspect of your life into "projects", so that you can plan out the steps necessary to complete those things which need completion, and you can keep a closer eye on their progress.

For instance, I have been planning Project Super Engineer for some time now. 

Today, I took these concepts one step further by creating an over-arching project designed to keep all of the individual projects running smoothly. This project is to be maintained, not so much to be completed. 

This is something that I wrote to myself, to get thoughts straight in my head. This applies to MY life and may not apply to yours. It will be tweaked in the future, but after feeling the sense of motivation that it gave me, I decided to share it with all of you. You're welcome.

Without further ado, I give you Project Beast Life:

Before this project can begin, you must have your top 8 goals for the year written down. The following "rules" will facilitate the completion of said goals.

Although a beast lives happily and contentedly in the moment, he also creates his own future, leaving little to chance or fate. He does this through the use of planning, goal setting, and follow through. These goals, and the completion of them, will NOT make the beast happy, but will aid in the construction of the lifestyle of his choosing. THIS is the beast's motivation for making the sacrifices and living the disciplined life necessary for this accomplishment. 

Project Beast Life:

Get up at 9:00 am until it feels normal (This is early for music industry folks)

Even if I worked until 8:00 am (it happens) the night before, get up at 9:00 am.

Visualize EVERY day after eating a beastly breakfast

Go to the gym BEFORE work. Bring toiletries to shower at the gym. This could save up to 45 minutes in travel time (2-3 hours a week)

Prepare meals at home - the Beast does not eat fast food.

Take meals to work - the Beast DOES NOT eat fast food.

Stay on that Beast Chow. Lean Meals. 2-3 Protein shakes per day, and plenty of carbs. You need that Beast Fuel, especially since you are hitting the weights hard these days.

Every day, M-F must include Promo (my job outside of the music industry) if I didn't work at a studio. Weekends too, if I didn't get in enough promo during the week.

Every night before bed, plan out the next day. Try to plan the exact times, although the order of completion should be sufficient as long as you stick to the plan. The Beast does not like living an overly rigid life, but he feels much more beastly when he actually gets his shit done. 

Every sunday, plan out the upcoming week. You don't have to decide on exact times, but plan exact days for each task, for sure. 

Also every sunday, evaluate your goals and the progress towards their completion. This includes 1yr, 5yr, and 10yr goals. 

Read this list every day until is it second nature. All of these are mandatory.

So that is Project Beast Life. I would also like to include the top 8 goals for the year that I came up with along with the project. These are also almost certain to change. I have other, more longer term goals, but I'm sure you will read about them in other post.

Top 8 Goals for '09 (In no order, and destined to change)

3 Major Label/Major Artist recording credits (This is almost complete, if not fully. Yay!)

Keep up with the gym routine and beast diet. NO cheating. Ideal weight: 185 - 190 lbs.

Live self sufficiently AND save money in Atlanta, GA by making atleast $2400 a month. (ATLEAST)

Buy a flat screen TV.

Buy a couch.

Buy a GOOD pair of headphones ($$$!)

Ensure that Project Super Engineer is full throttle (This includes a separate list of goals).

Volunteer time at least once per month (exact charity/cause is TBD)

Every Sunday, evaluate these goals, and figure out what can be done NOW for each one to aid in your progress. Remember, this isn't to make life a boring routine. This is how you get what you want. If the goals change, that is absolutely okay.

Writing these thoughts down helps me stay aware of them, and when I look back over them, I will be motivated to maintain in their progress. I hope you have found some inspiration in them, and you can help keep me accountable, now that you are aware of some of my goals. 

Now, if you will excuse me, I have laundry to fold, and then a show to promote. Don't forget to watch Eastbound and Down on HBO, sunday nights immediately following Flight of the Conchords. Goodnight.

BANGER!

The feeling is so good when you make a beat that you KNOW is a banger. Like, you can hear the hook on it already. You can hear that shit on the radio, ring tones, and ipods everywhere.

I had recently taken a break from making beats in order to focus on sharpening my engineering chops. I feel like they are a lot sharper, but I am nowhere near done with that. Being a badass engineer takes a long time. As much as I would love to just sit around and make beats all day, I feel like being a good engineer will make me a better producer. Also, I know that being an engineer will give me a lot of good connects and put me in a better position to launch a production career. Chess, playa, not checkers. 

But the beats are calling me back...So much so that I woke up at 3:45 this morning, ate a turkey sandwich, drank a protein shake, and made 4 beats in 30 minutes. Must have been the shake.

No, seriously, I wanted to make four beats without spending more than seven minutes on each one. That way, I wouldn't get too caught up or invested in one beat that could very well turn out to be garbage. Once they were done, I would pick the best one, and that would be the one that I would flesh out and finish. I may have gotten two out of this session, but I know for sure that one of them is a banger. Actually, I liked all of them until I got to the end and listened to them all consecutively. Only two were still cool after that. 

This is a lot better than the last time I tried this exercise, and the exact thing I was trying not to do ended up happening. I ended up working on one beat for like three hours straight, changing the entire direction about four times. And at the end, it was OK. Not incredibly fucking awesome like you would hope. 

As it is, I worked for 30 mins, and came up with a banger. Possibly two. Of course, I will spend several hours more on them, but the groove, the soul of the beat, is already there. I will most likely be making beats this way for a while. 

Introduction

What it do? I'm Zach Steele. I was born to make music. I haven't thought about doing anything else since I got my first electric guitar in 6th grade. Probably before that. Right now, I am working as an engineer in Atlanta, GA.

I don't wanna do some corny ass introduction, so I'm gonna briefly explain what this blog is about, and then I'm gonna get right to it.

This blog is about music. Mostly the construction of my career as a music producer. It chronicles my adventures and mishaps in a crazy and ever-evolving industry. Here, you will read about my beliefs, thoughts, and actions as I attempt to do something your parents will have you believe only happens in fairy tales: Make music for a living.

This blog is also about other things. I will post about things production, engineering, and gear related. I will also post about things that have nothing to do with music whatsoever. It is very likely that I will be writing about women. I love them. You will also get acquainted with my thoughts on self-development. That's always important.

I have much to share with you. I hope you can find some wisdom in this blog. I also believe that writing my thoughts here will greatly improve the speed at which I learn the lessons that this industry, and life in general, are trying to teach me. And hopefully you will be slightly entertained. I'm being a bit too modest. You're gonna love it. I would appreciate any and all feedback from you guys. 

Well, here we go...