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>who you are (if you've got a crew, shout 'em out here):<
I record and produce music under the name Crut.
>where you rep:<
Pacific Northwest and Hawai'i
>what type of music you make:<
Mostly sample-based production, be it hip-hop, electronica, or "experimental". I like being able to manipulate pre-recorded sounds to make new sounds, whether it's familiar or something unrelated to the original. I would like to get into non-sample recordings. I've dabbled with it on my own private recordings, but nothing serious yet.
>what you use:<
Main program of choice is Cool Edit, will upgrade to the latest Adobe Audition when I can afford it. I also use Reason. The lack of goodies has made me work with what I have, although right now I'm in serious need of an upgrade.
>how long you been doin it:<
As Crut, I've been making music for 14 years. As far as dabbling in making my own tapes, pause-tape loops and whatnot, I've been doing that for 26 years. All of those things I did as a kid, I would apply that in the digital realm.
>what you wanna do with it:<
As an artist, I'd like to be able to work and keep working on a serious level. Same applies for whom I produce. I'd like to get more work, but not being in a large city doesn't help, and at times it's difficult when you have 5000 other people wanting some recognition too.
So, to have my work get recognized, and with that to continue doing that for as long as I can. To collaborate with people and not only be heard, but to be able to fulfill someone else's vision.
I would like to be like Rick Rubin and be able to work with rock and pop artists, as well as with hip-hop. He can turn around and record some incredible dope shit, then turn around and produce Justin Timberlake and Dixie Chicks.
I'd like to be able to produce rock and jazz groups. Even though everyone has access to making music at home, I still feel there is a benefit of having a professional recording studio. To either create a full studio on my own, or to work in an environment with someone who has a studio in place, has always been a dream of mine.
>inspiration:<
The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Parliament/Funkadelic, Trevor Horn, Kraftwerk, The Residents, Frank Zappa, The Bomb Squad, Prince Paul, The Dust Brothers, Pete Rock
>if you could learn under the tutelage of ONE person, be it a
>producer, vocalist, instrumentalist; and have them teach you
>all they know, who would it be?
Hard to say. A lot of people have influenced me, a lot of people I admire for their work. As a journalist, I like being able to open the curtain of the wizard, to find out the secrets of a recording or song, to find out how the song was created, and maybe find out why that song ticks for me.
There are so many people whom I'd like to see at work, observe from afar. Todd Rundgren and Trevor Horn are two producers who are known as being perfectionists, but it's partly because they both record great music that have become hits. We view this as "perfection" when in truth it's nothing more than making it the best it can be, and taking it to the highest level possible.
I think it would be great to meet with Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. This is a man whose records I grew up with, seeing that red and green label with the white strip inbetween, spinning around. I remember thinking if I ever made music, I'd like to be on Atlantic. It wasn't that I wanted to meet Led Zeppelin, I just wanted to see my name next to the Atlantic logo.
It's hard to pick one person. It would be a toss-up between Eddie Kramer, Rick Rubin, and Prince Paul.
With Kramer, he engineered some of my favorite albums. There's a book I'd like to write, and it would involve some of Kramer's input so if that became reality, it would be great for him to not only talk about the topic, but also to hear the stories from his perspective.
With Rubin, I don't have everything he's produced, but there aren't too many people who has worked with Dixie Chicks, The Cult, Kwest Tha Madd Lad, Slayer, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Rubin has been someone who has never jumped on trends, but artists seek him because they know he produces with care towards the final mix. When it's hip-hop, he produces with fucked up grit. When he produces those outside of hip-hop, it's well produced. He's also a huge fan of analog recording so, I'd like to observe.
De La Soul was cool, but what sold me was what he used in "Transmitting Live From Mars". He was able to slow down a common 45 and slap a language instruction record over it. To me, that was like going to a thrift store, finding random records and trying to make something cool out of it. Rap music back then still had a certain sound, if you wanted something funky you sampled something funky. Prince Paul was one of the first people who threw that unwritten rule out the window, and used records by people who weren't considered funky. The humor was something I also liked. He was also one of the first hip-hop producers I heard who put his own personality in someone else's record, and not just with the records he sampled. You can be serious in your craft while showing your funny side, maybe it's the inner comedian in some of us. I've spoken with him before, and have asked him for advice on a few projects I was doing at the time. It would be cool to observe his production style and work ethic, and listen to some of the work that remains unreleased. He did drop hints at what lurked in his tape library so... hip-hop wise, definitely Paul.
http://www.myspace.com/crutmusic
http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/112508
http://jbookmusic.blogspot.com
http://www.cduniverse.com/default.asp?style=music&frm=lk_johnbook
http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/index.php?vst=45730
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