Tuesday, May 12, 2009

PNC: Behind The Music (part 1)

I always like to hear about the behind the scenes of making music. I love shit like the Classic Albums doco's and The Source's Rhyme & Reason section, and I feel like it gives you a new appreciation and connection with the songs. So I thought over the next few weeks before the album drops, I'd share with you a short anecdote of how we made each song on Bazooka Kid. From the writing process, how I first heard the beat, what other songs influenced it etc etc. So lets kick it off with...01: "Intro" (produced by Fire & Ice)
This beat turned up in my email one day from the Fire & Ice bros, and I knew instantly it was gonna be the intro to the album. It kind of reminded me of the Scarface theme music, and I felt it was the perfect platform to set off the album. Sometimes when you hear a beat, the opening lines just come to you, and with this one I had the first line "No brother, one mother, no dad..." instantly. I ended up with two 16's on some train of thought shit, that I thought were top notch, and left the hook as a nice guitar line that they had put in the demo. I still wanted the track to build a lot more though, as it seemed a little flat. So I kinda referenced a couple of my favourite all-time jams ("In The Air Tonight", "Blackberry Molasses") that I thought had that dramatic feel, and used their technique of not bringing in the full drums till a lot later in the track. I knew my engineer Evan Short would nail it in the mix too, as he's also a revered producer in the electronic scene, and knows all the tricks of the trade to make a track grow from beginning to end. As long as Fire & Ice are still making beats, I think I'll get them to do 'Track 01' on all my albums. They just come through with the perfection.

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