Achickwitbeatz presents ⁠the Instrumental Intel podcast⁠, bringing you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news & tips, insights & interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm EST on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠.
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Instrumental Intel Podcast

Achickwitbeatz brings you information instrumental to your artistic career including music industry news, insights, interviews, and beats for your inspiration. Listen on Saturdays at 7 pm ET on ⁠⁠⁠Grander Radio,⁠⁠⁠ Achickwitbeatz.com⁠⁠⁠, and your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript Generated by Riverside

00:01
Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental intel. I'm your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz, and I'm glad that you're with me. Today's episode is part two of Inside the Studio Insights from the producer's perspective. And today I'm highlighting conversations that I've had with Megan and with djkage. So I'm excited to be bringing this episode to you. Before I take a brief pause for the cause, I want to give a shout out to my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And with that, let’s go! Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instrumentals in various genres available for songs, vlogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, TV, film, commercials, and more. Once again, that's achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z.com.

00:59
Let's make something happen. Thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz. And I'm excited, thrilled and delighted to announce that I have Megan in the virtual building with me, a very talented artist. And we've been connected on Instagram for quite a while now. I don't even remember how long, but I'm excited to be able to speak with you and kind of dive a little bit deeper into who you are. So if you could.

01:26
kind of give everybody a little bit of background as to who Megan is and how you got into music. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. So to start at the beginning, I grew up in a very musical family. My parents are extremely talented musicians. So it's literally in my DNA to be a musician. um And so just, you know, all throughout grade school, I was involved in music, I was involved in theater and

01:54
In college, I've studied acting and music. I sang for a lot of different bands throughout the years. And then I started producing my own music in 2019. So, and the rest is history. All right. Well, awesome. You said that, you know, it's in your DNA. Yeah. As music. What types of songs do you remember kind of gravitating towards when you were young or any special artists? Oh, I mean,

02:24
You know, my parents, of course, they had so many different... I mean, they did a lot of 80s pop music, but for me, like I grew up in the 90s, so I'd say like Christina Aguilera was a huge inspiration for me. um You know, like the different pop singers. ah I actually really loved Enya too. I don't know if you remember the Pure Moods CD. uh

02:53
But yeah, so there are so many different types of music that I'm drawn to. think as an artist, I don't really want to be confined in that way. I just want to have my own sound. And I think that speaks through all the music that I like. Absolutely.

03:14
Um, especially since you mentioned some of those heavy hitting pop stars, you know, like how do you kind of, how do you kind of get into like your own inspiration? yeah, even though you grew up listening to them, but like to define your own sound, how do you kind of get in that mode before you start to create? let's see. mean, well, again, I, I feel like I've just been drawn to so many different genres of music over the years. mean, uh,

03:42
I listened to a lot of the like the punk bands in high school. I listened to Radiohead in college. I mean, I love Bollywood music. So it's just like all across the board for me. Yeah. What was like, what were you, what was the question? Cause I'm trying to, yeah. So basically like when you get ready to sit down and create, how do you kind of get into that mode? I think it's, it might be different every time, honestly, but I do love going for like.

04:11
long walks, like meditative walks. And that's, I do find a lot of inspiration in nature too, just like walking and looking up at the sky and just, you know, random things like that. But it's just, I don't know, creativity is all around and through any form of art too, just like watching a movie or, um you know, even just getting together with other people and

04:40
I really love to collaborate too, but um I have been more of a solo artist in recent years, but I do love collaboration too. Nice. Well, it was kind of interesting how you mentioned that you can get inspiration from even watching TV and movies. Yeah, absolutely.

05:00
I really have that type of conversation with other artists, but you know, I'm kind of the same way. I feel like there's a lot to be learned from it. And sometimes, you know, you can get inspiration from like the strangest things. I can pick up like a line from a sitcom that I watch all the time. And then all of sudden the next time I produced, that's what the beats name. Oh my gosh. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, you brought up that you do music production as well.

05:27
How do you think that that kind of helps your process as far as maybe songwriting goes? Do you do one before the other or vice versa or is it kind of a So yeah, it is kind of a blend, but I usually start out with like a melody in my head and just kind of a feel. And then I have an MPC live, it's like a sampler and I use that to start making my beat. And then I transfer everything over to my DAW.

05:56
Logic Pro and I'm just kind of going from there. So, yeah, it's typically though, like a melody and a beat to start with. So, all right. You also mentioned right before that, that you do appreciate collaborations. What are some of the memorable ones that stuck out to you? And I'm not saying favorites, so, you know, just in case anyone's listening. Yeah, I mean, you know, something that just kind of stuck with you or, you know, maybe just came so easily. It didn't even feel like work.

06:24
Well, you know, and this isn't even some like this isn't even a collaboration ah with the music per se, but I just released a music video and it was it was like a community effort because my friend um filmed it for me and we, you know, we filmed in different like we filmed at a coffee shop in the area and then we just got like a bunch of our friends to be involved.

06:50
And, you know, coming from an acting background to it kind of brought back those days of just like, you know, that collaboration. Um, and it doesn't even feel like work at that point. Yeah, that's really nice. So can you us a little bit about the video and, you know, the song behind it and all stuff that people should know. Yeah. So it's my latest song. It's called, you can find me. And, um, so the video concept is very much to do with.

07:19
current dating culture, you know, being on the apps and kind of struggling with that. So there's, there are elements of comedy. There are just elements of just, I feel like it's very relatable for people nowadays to kind of see, you know, this experience that you have with the apps where you're kind of like idealizing someone. And then, you know, the reality of it just doesn't turn out to be what you thought.

07:50
So I think that's like a universal thing right now. But yeah, that's the concept. And the song is very much like pop. I mean, it's under the umbrella of pop. It could be like indie art pop as well. But yeah, so I had a really fun time with it. One of my personal favorite things about, I guess, since pop music is of course short for pop.

08:18
But I love pop music that can take a common thread, just as you mentioned, that a lot of people are familiar with, but still kind of present it in a unique way. And I feel like that's kind of what sets it apart from, you know, how most people kind of group it under the umbrella, if you will. But yeah, you have a very unique way of, I guess, being relatable, but still making it different, still giving it texture and feelings that people can kind of connect with. So yeah, I think that's really...

08:48
Incredible hats off to you. You had another really big song before this particular one. Do you want to talk about that one too? I did. It was called Bloom and it was a very, um like, you know, it was about transformation and just um kind of growth in your independence uh after a breakup. It was released under a different name. So it's like, I'm going to have to re-release it under...

09:18
I used to be Alpha Violet and I went back to my actual name, Megan. And I do feel like more authentic in this. So that was a whole journey, the Alpha Violet thing. yeah, Bloom will be coming out again here soon. That's really awesome. yeah, kudos even to be able to change your name. It's really hard to get people to stop calling you one thing.

09:45
Right. even I had a different production name when I first started out. so, uh it's not an easy task and you've done it very well. So congratulations. Awesome. Thank you. I appreciate it. So, with, you know, you mentioned kind of growing up in the 90s. Yeah. You've got to admit there's been a lot of change from then till now in the music industry. What are some of the...

10:12
Yeah, totally. What do you think some of the biggest changes that you've kind of noticed? Well, yeah, just, mean, I was just thinking about this earlier, how I would have not really had the chance to like produce my own music independently and release it. You know, it was all about labels at the time. And now we're just seeing where you can have this global reach just because of the Internet, you know, and it's

10:41
It does create that saturation um of the market, but I really do think it's, it is very advantageous though for, for people that probably may not get as big of a chance to be able to release music. Absolutely. And especially speaking to the saturation thing. I don't know if you came to notice that a lot of times while that's happening,

11:08
everybody's kind of putting this stuff out, if they don't necessarily get the traction that they want right away, they kind of drop off. So I kind of feel like even that's just a waiting game, you know, for some of those people. Like, OK, if they're not really in it for the art of it, then they're going to get discouraged and kind of go away anyway. So, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I go ahead. Oh, no, sorry. Oh, no, I was just going to say, I mean, I'm yeah, I feel like

11:37
Sometimes it's really easy to get caught up in the numbers like, no, I didn't get this many views or this many streams. But I mean, at the end of the day, no matter how many streams you get, I feel like you're just going to keep wanting more and more. So you have to really love what you do. And if you don't, then yeah, I think it is time to question like, okay, what am I actually doing this for? Right. And even how you mentioned, you know, being able to have access to the

12:07
global audience. Yeah. I was just reading a study that came out recently that independent artists in other countries outside of the U.S. actually have the majority of the global market share, but it's different in the U.S. I mean, you know, kind of creeping up, but yeah, like it's just such a huge difference. And of course, now we're seeing like all these major labels kind of buying up some of the smaller labels so that they can regain that market share.

12:36
But yeah, it's just something about that freedom of creativity. And, you know, I like that it's thriving elsewhere because I'm hoping that some of that trickles over to the U.S. as well. Absolutely. And I, you know, I'm very interested in, you know, I don't know if you've seen on my page before, but I do like singing in different languages sometimes. uh You know, so I feel like that's also a potential to reach more people. And and it's yeah, it's really.

13:05
It's enjoyable for me. So I like to have a variety of things on my page, you know? Yeah, absolutely. Matter of fact, even the majority of the audience that listens to this particular podcast on Spotify, uh most of it's Brazil. So, you never know who you're going to reach. yeah, it's awesome. Just, you know, keep doing your thing and then pay attention to who appreciates it instead of the other way, you know? Definitely. Yeah. So.

13:35
you know, for as long as you've been at this, what would you say has been one of the most rewarding moments in your career?

13:46
That's a good question. trying to, I mean, that's, that is a really good question. I, I have had people come to me before, you know, sometimes you get caught up, like we were saying in the metrics where it's like, oh, you know, people, I don't have this many listeners on Spotify. And like, sometimes I'll get in my head about it, like, oh, I, don't really have many fans. And, and I've had people come up to me and just tell me,

14:16
how much an effect my music has had on them. They listen to it all the time. And I'm like, wow, where did this come from? Like you just never know who you're impacting. that's, mean, that's why I continue to do this. One of the big reasons because music has always done that for me. And so that is something that's really rewarding when someone comes up to you and they're like, I'm such a big fan. I'm like, oh, okay, that's great. know? Yeah.

14:44
That's a really beautiful thing. Yeah. Cause like you said, you never know. And even with the metrics, kind of as a gauge to think that you can be upset that, okay, well maybe only, you know, this only got 20 likes. Yeah. That's 20 people that enjoyed. I know, right? So yeah, I think that sometimes we all kind of need that moment to recalibrate. We do. And just kind of look, you know, we've been kind of

15:14
I guess I don't want to say brainwashed, but maybe trained to constantly just seek all those numbers getting bigger and doing whatever we can to make that happen. But, you like you said, those moments where you have that connection and someone says, Hey, I appreciate what you do. You know, that's kind of one of those that jolts you back into reality. Like, there's a purpose for this. Yeah, absolutely. It really brings you into that purpose even more so.

15:41
Yeah, so, I mean, you do really well promoting your music. What are some of the, what are some of the tips without giving away your secret sauce or anything? But yeah, any advice you have for artists kind of looking to be able to expand their audience a little bit more and kind of connect with the people that watch what they're doing. You know, I think now more than ever, people are drawn to authenticity.

16:07
And that's something that I've always tried to do with who I am. um Just be authentic. mean, it's kind of easy to get mixed up. You do have to have a balance where, you know, getting involved in certain trends can be good too, like different sounds to use this and that. But I think just staying authentic and being consistent is really just the number one thing when it comes to marketing music, I would say.

16:37
That's great advice. All right, so now kind of flipping back over to the production part. You said you got started in 2019, right? Yeah, it was so 2018. I had moved back home after leaving a relationship and I was just kind of ready to because I had created music with my previous partner and I was ready to just kind of step into my own identity again, so to speak.

17:07
So my roommates at the time, had like a lot of musical equipment and like, you know, my roommate had the MPC live and he was like, hey, have at it, just mess around. And so I did, and I just had so much fun with that. And so then in 2019, I got my own, I got, you know, a laptop, I got Logic, and I just started creating, you know.

17:35
Yeah, so what would you say your favorite part about production is? You know, I think just the moments close to the end of like finishing a song where everything is just finally really coming together. That's that's like my favorite part. I know, you know, you really have to appreciate the journey to of like from start to finish, but

18:00
I love when everything is just coming together and you're like, oh, finally it's just clicking, you know? Yeah. You know, I never really thought about it until you just said that about, you know, loving the journey. Yeah. know, from start to finish how oftentimes that's not necessarily the case for me. I think I'm kind of with you. Like it's better. Like once you see how everything, know, when you first start now, you might not know. And yeah.

18:27
So yeah, maybe I'll try to be more mindful of that, but no, I'm wholeheartedly agreeing with you there. Before you have all these sounds like, is this? Oh, okay. Now I see. Exactly. Yeah. I really love, um, least personally, like the kind of freedom that it gives you and the fact that you're literally creating something from nothing. And then you take it a step beyond and then actually make it a complete song. So, um, you know,

18:54
A lot of people know that there is a difference between beatmakers and producers, but it's great when you can be both. Yeah. So yeah. What do you think oh maybe some of your favorite things about being able to do both actually are? Well, you know, I'm sure you have experience with this, but just having that creative control. And it's not that I, like I said before, I love collaborating with people, but

19:21
It's not always easy to work with other people and their different visions of how they want something to go. And, you know, you have just different uh ways of communication. All kinds of things can go wrong, honestly. um So I just love having that creative control where I'm like, Hey, I know how to do this so I can just do it myself. And I feel like we're in an age now where people are kind of becoming these

19:48
super creators, so to speak, where they're like learning all that they can to kind of have that independence. But I do think I do still think it is good to collaborate, but it's also good to be knowledgeable, you know, about multiple things. So absolutely. think that that actually enhances collaboration when you do. Yeah, that's actually very true. Yeah. But yeah, you mean I've had beautiful collaborations and then I've had some

20:17
Not so beautiful ones, So yeah, it's best when everyone kind of, you know, knows a little bit about everything and it's pretty good with where they're at, I guess, in their bag, if you will. Yeah, I think so. So, okay, you mentioned some of your favorites. You've got the NPC live, you use logic. You know, they always say it's the ear, not the gear, but...

20:45
the gear is great when you have it and you just vibe with it. Are there any other software or hardware that you've used that you also appreciate and might dabble in from time to time? Yeah, mean, I, I, some of Isotope's plugins, like, you know, I use Nectar Pro. It's a vocal plugin on all of my songs. I've used that. And Vocal Synth.

21:13
from iZotope. yeah, I do really like iZotope products. Just trying to think what else here. a lot of the plugins I use though are actually just stock Logic plugins. I'm not like someone who knows a lot about it. I still have a long way to go when it comes to producing, but you I just- You sound like you're there to me.

21:41
I'm a very resourceful person. I've come to discover in recent years with how resourceful I can be. It's pretty impressive, I think. Yeah. I mean, honestly, a lot of the stock plugins are great. I mean, as long as you know how to use them, you don't really need a lot of the extra stuff. Although I will say personally, one plugin that I have to have is Melodyne because I am not a singer.

22:10
I've heard that and then um serum is that like what a lot of people do I think that's another plugin that's really popular. But other than that, I'm like, hey, go for what you know. yeah, I know what the right notes are. It's just a totally different thing to get my brain and mouth to work together. Yeah. So yeah, definitely have admiration for you as someone who can do all of that. Like that's just fantastic.

22:40
Oh, thank you. So yeah, coming up. Well, you know, this is pretty much a wrap for 2024, but, know, do you have any big plans for 2025 or any new releases or collaborations we should probably be looking out for? So not just yet. I'm going to spend a lot of, you know, 2025 or not just the winter time.

23:06
writing, planning. I really want to do a mini tour next year because I grew up in like a smaller area. I do live in central Pennsylvania, but what's cool about this area is like there are cities all around me. DC is like three hours. There's Pittsburgh, there's Philly, there's New York. So I definitely want to have some kind of mini tour, play more shows. um I do have some videos coming out soon on my YouTube channel though about um

23:34
like music production, which should be fun. Yeah, and just, I'm going to continue writing music and just kind of go with the flow and see, see where everything goes. So that's great. Um, yeah. So like I said, on top of being a great artist producer, you do very well with your content creation. mean, basically all three of those are separate full-time jobs. yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You're doing it very well though. Thank you.

24:03
You know, we still have some time left, but I do want to make sure that people know exactly where they can find you, find your music and follow you and keep up with everything that you've got going on, especially as you gear up to start touring. absolutely. So you can find me the name of my last song. So I'm always like throwing that in there. So on Instagram, I'm under Megan Music World. My website is meganmusicworld.com.

24:32
You can find me on YouTube. Um, just type in, you know, Megan, Megan music world. Uh, Facebook is the same Megan music. So yeah, it's, um, pretty much in all the streaming platforms I go by Megan. Okay. All right. So now that everybody has that information before they get ready to hit you up for collaborations, what are some of the things that you look for before you decide to collaborate with people?

25:00
Oh, that's a great question. Or that you don't want, should say, whichever one's easiest for you. Well, mean, definitely, like, just have a solid... uh As far as collaboration, you know, you can send me um beats that you have and I'll let you know if it's something that I'm wanting to work with. um You know, I just like professional people. I like, you know,

25:30
consistent communication with someone, that kind of thing. I mean, just, just be professional. That's fair. No outlandish ass there at all. So yes, we get ready to wind down. uh I'd like to know if you have any, I guess like lasting advice for the listeners, since most of the people listening are independent artists or creatives in some form or fashion. Oh yeah. What's kind of like a...

25:59
Jim, you'd like to drop with them real quick to kind of ponder on for a bit. Yeah, I you know, it's so funny because the last um song that I saw I just released with the music video, I was working on that song for so long that I got to a point where I was like, is this even any good anymore? And I I was such a perfectionist about it. And um if I can, you know, it's crazy that I got to a point where I didn't even

26:29
want to release it like that just like a thought popped in my head so I think the advice I want to give is just don't let your perfectionism like not allow you to release something I mean because then you're you're literally never going to release anything just because nothing's ever going to be perfect but we grow with each song that we make so I think we need to give ourselves you know a break and and some

26:58
grace and really just be proud of what we make. That is phenomenal advice. You know what, as many times as I've said that and kind of embraced that, I still need to hear it. So I'm sure the listeners appreciate it. yeah, I needed that as well. So thank you. Yeah, absolutely.

27:19
Yeah, so right before we go, you know, if you have any shout outs or anybody that you kind of want to acknowledge, or even if it's just people in general, you can do that at this time. Well, let's see who. I mean, I just want to shout out just all of my followers, the community that I've built on all the different platforms, YouTube, you know, Instagram, TikTok, you guys. I mean, a lot of them are.

27:48
musicians, a lot of them aren't. So I just, love you guys. And I want to shout out my friend Tina, who's really been helping me lately with, you know, the content creation, the music video, shout out to my parents ah who are my number one inspiration. I mean, it's the list can go on, but thank you everybody so much for listening. I really appreciate it. That's great.

28:13
Well, yeah, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. And I hope that this is just the first of many and I get to have you back on the podcast again sometime soon. I would absolutely love that. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you.

28:42
Hey, I'm Achickwitbeatz, multi-genre music producer and strategist to indie artists and labels. Visit achickwitbeatz.com for resources for artists and instrumentals in various genres available for songs, vlogs, blogs, podcasts, themes, TV, film, commercials, and more. Once again, that's achickwitbeatz.com. That's A-C-H-I-C-K-W-I-T-B-E-A-T-Z.com.

29:10
Let's make something happen. Thank you so much for tuning in to instrumental Intel. I am your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz. And I'm excited to say that in the virtual building with me today, I have the one and only djkage. He does some of everything. DJ, producer, engineer, video director, you name it. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but. oh

29:35
First of all, I want to say thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to come and talk with me. And if you could give the listeners like a little bit of background, you know, who is djkage? How you got involved with everything that you do? And where do we even get started without going through the whole bio? But honestly, like in elementary and high school, I started with the drums and music. And then while in high school, evolved into DJing and house parties, making mixtapes.

30:04
at, you know, and selling them at my local job, linked up with DJ Polo, who was a great mentor. And then I went to college. And then in college, the DJing is what paid my way through college and afforded me to be able to actually DJ not only at Ferris State where I uh went to school at, Grand Valley Central. So I was like, you know, being able to headline at all these different schools. So that was a cool thing. But then when I graduated,

30:28
Oh, and during college is when I started to pick up engineering. So like, Brutal Loops came out, know, so software was heavy. So being able to have a studio without a studio, being able to do it in your dorm room is what made that accessible. And that was by having, you know, going to college, I got my first computer, first computer. First thing I put on is music engineering software. So I started producing in college as well. But then when I came back home after school, I noticed that by being away,

30:57
you the scene had exploded here, you know, as far as like D12 was big. so like the Detroit scene was bubbling up and dreadnoughts and all this stuff. So I kind of had to build my name again as a DJ here because up there I could walk down the campus, everybody, what up, Cage? I have no idea who that is, but I put my hand up, say, what up, though? But then coming back here was totally different. It was like, you know, having to start all over again. But doing so, then I put all my, you know, kind of

31:26
tools into my bag and while I was at school I was there for television digital media production so that's where the video stuff comes in. So I'm just a multimedia school of all trades, you know, if it has buttons that's my jam, oh So then being able to put all that together but we...

31:46
As we may have discussed before, I'm not an in front of the camera or an on the mic type of person. I've always been a DJ who produces MCs or a producer who produces artists or a videographer or a director who works with other artists. being in front of the camera is always kind of a nerve wracking, even this conversation here is a little nerve wracking kind of situation for me. But I'm so comfortable behind and being able to produce direct.

32:15
ah whatever it takes to do it. So then like I said, when I came home, then opened up everything as a one-stop shop to everybody. So, you know, started working with artists and doing everything from producing their beats, ah then doing their engineering and recording, to then shooting their music video. So I could, you know...

32:33
from an artist's one-stop shop, that's kind of what I became. So over the course of that, many projects have come up and we can start to get into all that. But that's basically how it all began and what I do. Wow. What an incredible story. First of all, I do want to say that that's really awesome to be able to do all those things. you know, because a lot of times it's kind of hard to put things together on the artist side of it.

32:58
So yeah, you got to find somebody for this, somebody for that. So the fact that you're offering so many things in one place is just phenomenal. you know, tip my, my virtual hat to you for that. But, um, so yeah, you talked about how you kind of got started in it. When do you think you first kind of knew that music was going to be a part of what you do? Like, you know, what were some of the musical influences that kind of drew you into the industry?

33:25
Man, well, grew up with just music was always in our family. You know, I have cousins and uncles and aunts, the Aminoraz who do African drumming. And so drumming was just always around me, African dance. So all of this was always a heavy influence. My dad used to have a turntable, not turntables, but he had a turntable and

33:47
My first memories of music was him putting a record on a turntable and putting that needle on the record. And so I was so fascinated by that that I would, I remember as a kid just sitting at a turntable going through my aunts, my uncles, all of their records that were just left behind at like my grandmother's house, let's say. And I would just sit there for hours going through all these records that were before my time, just listening to everything. And I would just sit there doing that. And that happened just as a kid. And then who knew that...

34:15
You know, the technology kinda came about as I grew up with it, so things became available along the way, but even when it wasn't accessible, as it may not have been affordable or whatever at the time, uh creativity still came into play. like the story about my first turntables is, I don't know if you remember those triple... uh

34:37
everything was in one box. It had a turntable on the top, had a radio, it had two uh cassette players in the middle and it a box. So I had one of those and a friend of mine had one of those and we cannibalized them and took the turntables off the tops of them, bought a radio shack mixer that had the four channel up and down mixer and put that together as a first DJ set just to be able to get into it.

35:01
because of the stuff we had, but we also had engineering capabilities. As a kid, you always kind of opened stuff up and learned how it worked. figuring that out, the two of us together, we were able to build our first turntable set from that. And that was Pauly Dog who helped me with that. But then he became a rapper and then I became kind of the DJ based off of creating the thing.

35:21
And that was like the first thing and that was like pre high school high school area. Wow. And man, I will say, and I'm noticing, you know, it's kind of coming back a little bit that I really missed that era with the rapper producer duos. You know, like that was, yeah. It's lucky when you can, when you can have those relationships and I'm always, you know, even with uh no matter who's in the studio, I'm always going to give you, you I'm not

35:47
I'm not the person, you come in, I'm just gonna hit record, you're done, I hit stop, and then okay, have a good day. I'm always gonna at least give you a piece of what I have if I hear something or you need something along the way or you ask something, I'm always here for you. But the DJ MC relationship, I've been lucky to have a couple of those and one of those actually projects coming out right now is Grand Design 3 with Mike Phelps. And that's one of those where we sit in the studio and...

36:15
sometimes I have beats that I'll create and they're just to me, they're the starting block. That beat isn't something that's laid in stone and concrete. Sometimes we'll start with that as a foundation to break it down, change it, change the speed, change how it begins. And it's all based on kind of what he's writing and stuff like that too. So it works both ways. What he's writing changes what I do in the beat and then what I do in the beat helps what he's doing, know, writing. yeah.

36:45
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's phenomenal. Um Yeah, okay. So like even when you're talking about building, you know taking the turntables from different pieces to make something I feel like that's kind of like the essence of where hip-hop started You know just kind of making do with what you have and making it work so you can make something special But I do know that you do more than hip-hop

37:09
uh As a team, I'm in Kalamazoo, so we're halfway between Detroit Chicago. So a lot of times there was this uh club that had a team night. So a lot of times we'd get Detroit DJs down. So, man, to see the legit competitions and stuff that would kind of pop off impromptu, I really loved that era. So can you talk a little bit about...

37:36
You know how you kind of dabble well not dabble, but you know do the electronic thing, too So I was lucky that as the DJ especially when I was in college ah I was lucky that the era and the records that I was buying at the time and I'm one of those DJs that started as a DJ with LPs was

37:52
JIT and Chicago House and the mixing of the two together and Detroit House of course, mean, of course, Detroit Techno and all that stuff, but Detroit Techno and JIT Music, all of this was happening as I was a DJ. So I was bumping DJ Assault. And of course, one of my hugest musical DJ influences that you asked earlier, you may have asked earlier was uh The Wizard on the radio. Listening to The Wizard was how I knew I wanted to be a DJ, Jeff Mills.

38:20
But playing music was like, know, the records that were being released was like by DJ Godfather, DJ Assault, all that stuff that was coming out of Detroit. Of course, the original Cybertron and all the stuff that we already had that I was, you know, lucky to get my hands on by going to the record shops. And so that was my foundation as a DJ. So then when it led into then producing, still also, it's the era of the late 90s coming into the 2000s. So hip hop is at its best, at its peak. So when it came to producing,

38:50
and all your friends around you wanna be rappers, that's kinda where the hip hop side of the producing led, but I always had that techno rhythm in the back of my head. So at some point I began this series called uh Jits. Right now it's on Jits 4. all my music is available digitally streaming and parts one through three were always available.

39:16
on these platforms, but as a DJ and as a DJ who started on vinyl, man, just, and as somebody who's always produced other artists and seen them have success with the projects that we've worked on, I've never necessarily been an artist myself. Of course, the collab projects with like Grand Design was probably like the closest to it, because there's an obvious relationship we're trying to project that here's a DJ, here's the rapper, but you know, I work, I talk with my hands. I don't speak, don't, you know, I don't rap, I don't do anything like that.

39:45
Phelps still gets the center stage on that, in Jits, it's all, you know, everything is usually always my production. So I still feel like a huge part of all of it. But when it comes to Jits, it's something that I feel like I'm totally crafting, even though when I have collaborations on it, it's still something I feel like I'm adding the pepper and the salt versus like this other series I have, D-Imports, which is me producing all the tracks. I, oh and between volumes one and three, I've worked with over a hundred hip hop artists and

40:15
uh musicians in the city. But even with that project, I feel like those songs are more their songs. I send them a bunch of beats and let them pick whatever beat they like. Those albums are almost dictated and the beats on those songs are dictated kind of by what the artist decided to pick. Whereas Jits is I'm crafting that and then picking, hey, June Slow, I got this one track that I have on this album that I'm working on, would you like to feature on it? Versus, hey, here's these tracks, pick what you like. So

40:42
There's a different relationship between those kind of projects. So with Jits 4, I'm totally, you know, I feel like that's my project as an artist myself. And then finally getting to be able to put it on wax with the help of Archer Records. man, I'll tell you something about having an LP. I've been a DJ, you know, 20 plus.

41:06
and I've had music on every platform available. I've been lucky enough to be at Shari Bari and TechTroy, oh a lot of stages in Detroit, but nothing opened doors or opened relationships until you get that LP, especially as a techno and a house DJ. Having that album is like a stamp of approval here and that will get you in or get you kicked out too because you could produce a wack album and they'll be like, all right, yeah, thank you for coming. But man, if you really put your heart and soul in it,

41:35
And getting something physical like that is almost like that stamp to certain people. though for me, I've always felt like I've always proven myself through just the events or the production and stuff like that. But man, you create something physical like that and it just changes parts of mine. So I found. so I've been blessed to uh get a collaboration with Rub-A-Dub uh in the UK. So I have distribution in the UK with this record.

42:05
But then when it comes to the US, I'm doing it all myself. So every time I'm traveling or I'm in another state, please believe I'm stopping at record stops and making relationships and asking them who is on the same wavelength with them. And I contact them and I've been able to see my album in over 20 stores in a couple of states and it's moving along. So I'm extremely proud of it, as you can tell. You should be. That's incredible. Congratulations.

42:33
I get what you're saying too about, you know, actually having that LP, like being able to hold it in your hands. I feel like that gives people a different relationship with it. You know, even from back in the day, you know, going shopping, like to be reading the liner notes or something while you're listening to it. Like, I don't know, you were able to attach to it a little bit more. So yeah, what you're saying makes perfect sense. I have yet to actually do that. So yeah, I know that that's a lot of work.

43:00
lot of dedication that goes into that. yeah, congratulations. You should be proud. But keep it on your bucket list because it is totally worth it. And then I was lucky enough to work with, I'm also a semi art collector. I mean, it's also based with the art that I collect is usually people who are artists in other forms as well. like, looking in my room right now, I Sheefy McFly who, yeah.

43:23
It's great, but he's also multimedia. I also have his LPs on the wall and some of the other stuff he's created. then like Loki, who is a rapper, but then also does art. And I've got some of his art up here and oh waffles up in here. So uh when they came to crafting the cover for Jits 4, uh Escada Gordon was somebody that Dark Lord Escada, I think he goes by. if you get a chance to look him up online. um

43:51
I shout him out especially because since I've been doing at least since Jits 2 to 4, he's been doing the covers for me. And Blacksmith, uh another artist who was in Coldman Young, um he had told me a story. He went to his cousin's house and his cousin had the album. And he was like, what, you got the album? And his cousin didn't even know that Blacksmith was on the album. So his cousin didn't know his cousin was on the album. And then he asked his cousin, well, uh

44:20
what made you get it? said, oh, I really liked the album cover. And he ended up loving the album too, but that's what caught his eye was the album cover to get it. And he didn't even know his cousin was on the album. So, but it was crazy how it still drew it, you know, still drew him and he still ended up with it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it really is an art form in itself. You know, especially when it can kind of convey the vibe of, you know, what's to come. So, yeah, I do remember, man.

44:46
I miss like, I mean, I know we still got like record stores, but you know, the main ones like where you could go, they had the records, they had the CDs, they had the tapes, what do you call those little Maxi singles or whatever. yeah, that was a special era. Man, but yeah, something about being able to connect with it, holding the physical in your hands and admire it. And of course, actually listening.

45:09
to vinyl, know, the surface noise is just a beautiful thing. Like the texture, it does texture. That's it. Because as a DJ today, I've obviously moved and I still do LP sets every Blue Moon, but I've obviously moved into the digital era. So I have controllers and especially when doing sets with multiple DJs, it's so easy to do your hour, bring a controller in and take your controller out. But so I've moved to the uh digital form.

45:38
But what did you just say? Because I was reminding me of the texture of the vinyl. Oh, right. So even with the m so as a DJ, I'm in digital form, but I still play a lot of like JIT music and techno from that era. It's still some of the hottest stuff today on the dance floor. I haven't repurchased the MP3s. I've really just recorded the albums, my original albums that I had.

46:06
And maybe one or two of them had to skip and I had to probably like fix that post. man, something about still having that crackle. So when I DJ and I play those songs, I still have the crackle and everything on it, even though I'm in digital form. Nice. Yeah. So, OK, you did mention the ease of doing digital, especially, you know, DJing with multiple people. But what would you say your favorite thing is about uh like DJing with the actual vinyl when you do get to do it every now and then?

46:37
Well, it is, you really have, there's a different attention. There's a, see with, man, with digital, you can almost mix anything with anything these days. It doesn't matter the tempo, the original tempo of anything, everything can be matched. Whether you use sync button or not, you can still, you know, if you know your math, you can still match, you know, a 160 with an 80 and then being able to take the stems and all that stuff. And so you can almost create anything out of anything. But when it comes to vinyl,

47:07
You really have to know, you have to know beat matching. There's just a different level of education to really pull off a good set. So it pulls from a different part of your brain. And so you really, you you pay more attention to the beat matching, to the vibes, to how things uh interact, you how one track interacts with the other versus now it doesn't matter because you could take something out before you put it together and before the audience hears it, know, pre-mix it.

47:35
So doesn't matter what the two songs are. You can be so creative that way. And it's not like it was harder, but it created a different kind of creativity.

47:44
that made you have to be more creative, I guess, because it's a little bit harder and you don't, it's not the ease of a, you know, one button and hitting a couple of things. But I do love the digital era because you can almost, know, the creativity is limitless, even though some people will put the absolute wrong things together. You see online, people are like, I don't wanna say the name of things, but yeah, but the vibe of that, the,

48:15
It's harder to explain, but it from a different creativity, And you gotta know your stuff. so having those four crates, that's what you start with back in the day. Doing a party, you needed a minimum of four crates of LPs. And a couple of them hip hop and a couple of them house, man. You could do your thing. Wow. Yeah, okay. That makes sense. It's almost like it's triggering a different part of your brain that you get a kind of snap into action.

48:43
Yeah, do you know exactly what you mean about putting the wrong stuff together? I feel like I see a lot of that. Yeah. I get kind of mad at the algorithm. Like, hey, what made you think I wanted to see that? And the fact that people are doing that. And that's the other thing too with vinyl and even what you get from even digital DJs, but the right DJs is that they curate their own list. They're not using a lot of people who are coming up and

49:10
haven't had the opportunity to even maybe they're new and they haven't had the opportunity to curate their list yet but they're using some kind of service and everything is at their fingertips and therefore because everything's at their fingertips they're not curating they're just playing kind of even if not what's right in front of them maybe just the top 40 then and we're already already hearing that so there's nothing you know

49:34
Make it memorable. Yeah, nothing special. Then they may be good at beat matching and putting those songs together and carrying a tune, but it's something different when somebody is creating and curating an experience and able to pull stuff from any era and have it still surprise people. Right. Yeah, that makes sense.

50:01
So, all right, you know, we talked a little bit about the DJ and the producing. oh Can you tell us a little bit about when you do your video directing, kind of how you, I guess, maybe find your inspiration or present ideas to the artists that you're filming? Yeah, it always it's uh it's a collaborative effort. Sometimes you have artists that have absolutely no idea what they want to do. They just send you the song and say, hey, what do you think? And then you say, hey, well, what's your budget?

50:31
It's not always about budget, but sometimes for me, one of the first questions I ask is also think of what do you have access to? Like you may have an aunt or an uncle who has a store. You may have a mechanic somewhere that you have a relationship with or a barber at a barber shop. So you try to find stuff like that first, especially if you want to be on a location or something or if you feel like that. But you always want to find out just what you have in your bag.

50:58
What do you just have access to that you wouldn't have to pay for right away? know, what can we do with that? Sometimes that's the way to go. Sometimes a song will hit you and you say, okay, all I need is a black room and a white light. You know, artists sitting here and it's a mood, right? And then sometimes the artist has an absolute clear vision of what it is they want to do for every scene and where they want to be or just it's a location.

51:23
Hey, we're having a party. Just come to this party and make sure that you capture good stuff and make a good video out of what we have and have live at this event. That way it's alive and the video feels, you know, nothing made up, but actually what we do. So it comes from many different angles and you could attack it many different ways. And those all come from the collaborative relationships with the artists and how they want to do it or, know. I find that fascinating.

51:52
I'm one of those people that, you know, I believe that that's an art form in itself. And that's never anything that's been a strong suit of mine. So like anytime I watch it, I'm always kind of, you know, curious, like, man, I wonder how they came up with that. That's so perfect for this song. So that's really interesting to hear. Yeah, because just like we were talking about cannibalizing those turntables to create some turntables to be able to make something. OK, we want to do a video. sometimes, you know,

52:21
They got me there, but that's the best, that's what we could do. But I'm not just going to say, okay, we're here and we're on a porch. You know, we'll look around based on the song. We'll try to at least find stuff. Like I said, that's accessible, whether it's stuff that they have access to, but, or stuff that's just in the city, you know, iconic spots in the city. But then a lot of people use those. So you try to find what I like also is like buildings with textures or certain lighting or, you know, just.

52:48
something that has a look to it that's not the obvious. Everybody uses the fist. Everybody uses the spirit of Detroit, you know what I'm saying? So you try to just find other elements of Detroit and it ends up working, especially if you've lived in the city, you can kind of come up with a lot of these things, but it gives you also an opportunity to look around and explore your city more, to find those elements. And I've found things along the way that I never even...

53:11
that I may have driven past a hundred times, but until you're like really looking on that street and go, oh, I didn't know that statue was there and looked like that. I mean, just Bell Island, I found a whole bunch of stuff that I had no idea was there and I've been going there my whole life, you know, but. Wow. So it takes being open. Yeah. It's kind of noticing, you know, the things around you. You know, that's really dope. So, know, so you don't have to have a huge budget to make it happen, but sometimes that's what lends to the creativity is. OK, well, you know.

53:40
I'd rather be in a Lamborghini. I had one artist tell me one time, hey, where's the... Because he paid a certain fee to have me there and bring the lights and everything. But then he was wondering, where were the cars and the women in the jewelry? I go, Like as if I had a trailer of a... Oh my goodness. Bro, uh first of all, using that lifestyle, you portrayed if you actually have it, but if you want to fake it till you make it, you know.

54:11
I could tell you a place where to rent it. I could tell you a place where to hire talent for this and that. But man, it was so crazy when he was like, when are you bringing the cars and all that stuff? That's exactly how it works. Yeah, I don't even know how I would have responded. Like just mouth agape staring like, are you serious right now? Wow. Yeah, it's funny. Well, you know, I have Photoshop.

54:39
So I mean, we can... And that's a cool part too, is that talking about growing up with the technology, like even though I graduated years ago, but things have changed and progressed so much since then, you don't stop with that, even that knowledge that you gain. And even at school, it only teaches you so much to a degree. For me, it was like just teaching you how to learn and how to, and oh a lot of other things too, but how to continually just do it on your own.

55:09
And especially working in technology, there's a lot of doing it on your own because you have to stay on top of it. And sometimes these things aren't accessible to you. Sometimes there's a piece of gear out and equipment out that is in your wheelhouse, but it costs $100,000. And you're like, well, the only way to practice and get on that is to actually own that. that may not be, obviously, a lot of that time isn't accessible. But I've been also blessed that in my career,

55:39
I worked for a corporation for 16 years and then started my own business. And then I was lucky enough to turn an employer into a client. So in those situations, I absolutely, I've built a couple of streaming studios for a couple of, cause that's the other thing. So besides the videography also, you know, get into the streaming world. built streaming studios for automotive companies. I probably can't say the name at the moment, but for uh automotive companies. then when

56:06
they have their events or streaming broadcast that they do for internal broadcasting and training. um I would be the tech, the AV tech that comes in and or AV director that directs the room. And they'll usually have a producer and a writer and all that stuff. But I just have to take care of all the tech and the people who are running a tech with me. And in those cases, I've been blessed to still stay a part of the current technology and the more expensive pieces of gear and getting my hands on that stuff by, you know,

56:35
having cool clients every now and then. you know, yeah, so that's a really cool thing. But the bummer part of that, which is why I'm trying to dip in and out of it, is that you sign NDAs. You're not really allowed to, you know, I Instagram all my gigs and all my projects that are coming in, my personal video projects, but that kind of stuff, we're not allowed to share, talk about it, you know, so it's as much as I would like to. It's harder to really promote that stuff.

57:04
That stuff and that industry kind of just works with with within and it's word of mouth. So that's kind of how I build with that. But man, I am lucky enough to be a part of that stuff too. That's so great. Yeah. I get that. That's gotta be hard when you just kind of want to tell everybody guys, guys, look who I'm working with. Right. You can't. You can't even show it. know, you can't show the vehicle or nothing like that. So it's all a secret. Right. Yeah. Oh, those NDAs. Yup.

57:33
But all right, I'm looking, man, time is going so quickly. So I got to offer again, you know, I'd love to have you come back for a part two sometime. Yeah, because I got a bunch of projects getting ready to drop right before the summer. Just real quick off the top of my head, if I could shout them out. Absolutely. uh So be on the lookout for Grand Design 3. That's basically it.

57:58
And most of these, obviously I've produced all the tracks on all these, but something about that Grand Design 3, like I said, is a more personal relationship and how we craft that project and the way we build that. And so Grand Design 3 with Mike Phelps, be on the lookout for that. But the E-Rich Finesse, Finesse Music, Fidel Cass, oh yeah, that's another cat that I've been working with since high school. Be on the lookout for the third album we got coming out called El Jefe. I've got a special project or a couple of singles with Book Brown.

58:28
Um, oh yeah, wonderful people's uh, Alexis, Alon got a whole project with her getting ready to drop and I know I'm probably forgetting some stuff, but man, that's what part two will be about, but just be on the lookout and also go just check out everything. djkage, DJ K A G E all one word that you can check out. I already have streaming on all the platforms. And if you go to YouTube,

58:57
You'll see all my visuals and you can get access to all my musical projects through there as well. So just try to check that stuff out if you can. Hey, that's what's up. Thank you so much. And everybody, please make sure that you check him out. Follow him everywhere you find him. And yeah, I can't wait to do this again. This was great. Man, Achickwitbeatz. It's always a pleasure. And I look forward to the next time and continue to success in everything that you do and continue to do. I said,

59:25
I've been able to hear some of your previous interviews, the one with Dee Essence was awesome. She's good people as well. So just continue to keep doing what you're doing and, and I wish you much success as well. All right. And that's a wrap for this episode of instrumental Intel. I've been your host, music producer, Achickwitbeatz. And I want to thank you for tuning in once again, as always, I appreciate the guests for coming on and sharing their insights. And I'd like to thank my home station, Grander Radio out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

59:52
Make sure you come back next week, I got more goodness lined up for you. till next time you know where to find me. Tune in, tell a friend and I'll see you then. Peace.