If you don't Remix yerself, you'll get Remixed

My concept of HarmonyThroughMixology, or why the future belongs to those who deconstruct, mix, disrupt and remix everything.

“Everything is a Remix”

So said Mark Ronson on his excellent Ted talk

I was in the studio with Ronson a while back. We were working with the insanely talented singer Yebba.

We were deep in the session, layers building, textures unfolding, all a bit tense, is it working…?

We were stuck on one bit…

Mark and I are both DJ’s and musicians, or is it musicians and then DJ’s?

Either way, having the DJ part means we look at music holistically, as in the whole track.

Drummers listen to drums, guitarists, guitar but DJ’s are music lovers, so we focus on the whole package.

Thats why DJs often make great producers:

Dr Dre

Diplo

Calvin Harris

J Dilla

Afrika Bambaataa

Georgio Moroder

I watched Mark do what I also do, what I love to do, something that only someone who has spent years cultivating a broken jukebox brainfull of music can do:

Mix.

Not mix in the ‘balance’ pushing faders sense but mix in the genres, sounds, performances, sense. Mix it up!

To me this is music production.

Music sessions are like any other creative process.

You get stuck.

At those times you have to dig deep and think out the box, pivot, all the while conjuring a vibe in the studio that then flows through the music.

Experimentation, with a reverential nod to the past but avoiding being stuck in it by combining elements of music old and new, to create something, even newer.

You need to know your onions.

If you don’t know where you’ve been you won’t know where to go, so by immersing yourself in all music you’re a painter armed with a rich colour palette that can paint any picture.

I call it HarmonyThroughMixology (HTM)

The concept if mixing shit that shouldn’t be mixed to create something new.

Let’s dig deeper.