I know you as a perfectionist. How have you learned to deal with that as you’ve grown older, in order to allow yourself to get work done and not overanalyze it to the point that you drive yourself crazy. Maybe you still do, but I can imagine it’s a bit of a battle.
Oh I can still make myself a bit miserable with almost any stage of the process. Usually the rough patches for me are filling in a textural or melodic idea that I know is out there if I can just find it (the things I was talking about above). That kind of stuff and mixing. I’m happy to report I’ve had some mixing experiences in the past couple of years where I was able to get the mix done without falling into the abyss! But I’ve mixed so much music where I really didn’t know what I was doing, and like I mentioned above I’m learning all the time so hopefully the worst days of mixing are behind me.
What sucks for me though is when I do have a feeling that there’s a better melody, or counterpoint, or texture out there to be had for what I’m working on, I get really hung up on it and sometimes those details don’t reveal themselves for a while. Like a very long while…but I just keep fishing around till it comes together. In the end I’m always happy I took the time and persisted.
What was the most miserable project you’ve ever worked on and how do you feel about it after some time has passed?
I can’t speak to being miserable for a whole project thankfully, but mixing “Two Face” from my last album was probably the most devastating mixing experience ever for me. I think I gave up 2 or 3 times mixing that song, worked on something else for my album, and then finally got it finished.
In retrospect I realise that part of what I was fighting was the fact that I was working with a cheap computer interface at the time and the sounds quality was just awful. But back then I was working with this ethos that took me a long time to shed, which was that I never blamed my equipment as a reason for something not sounding great. I knew I wasn’t working a really great interface, but I had no idea just how much it was hindering me.
Actually that applies to the whole Ticklah vs. Axelrod album. I’d JUST moved to working with computers for that album, and I have a deep regret that I didn’t know more about all the things that go into getting things to sound good in that realm, as it affected the sound of the album as a whole.
Now that some time has passed it is still a painful memory! I’m happy with that one musically but it’s tough for me to listen to. BUT, some people like that track and that’s all that matters.
What was the most enjoyable project you’ve worked on and how do you feel about it now that some time has passed, assuming you didn’t do it yesterday?
Again I can’t really speak to a whole project, but I can cite a couple of songs where the overall experience was particular enjoyable all around. The song “Rescue Me” off Ticklah vs. Axelrod came together like a dream, between tracking the music and then eventually working with Mikey General, who is a very warm and humble person, and QUICK in the studio. I still really love the feeling of the music on that track years later. Of course I wish I’d mixed it better, haha!
Something completely different but also a very satisfying experience was a couple of years ago, me and some of the guys from the Dapkings went to New Orleans to make a song for a movie. Mark Ronson was producing and Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters was playing drums. Erykah Badu would be singing on the track we made. Ronson came in with a few chords that would serve as the basis we’d work from. Us guys in the rhythm section got to it and came up with some good stuff before too long, and we got to tracking.
I played a LOT of piano on that one and I’m rarely that psyched about my own playing, but I was pleased with how I did. Getting to play with Zigaboo and my friends in New Orleans and coming up with some good shit!? A very satisfying feeling indeed! The next day Badu came in and wrote her part, tracked it, and then we all went to Preservation Hall to perform it! It was an amazing two days that went without a hitch. Simple enough, but it was an interesting combination of experiences in the first place.
