How Everything Works
The ins and outs of making great entertainment.
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Mixing is one of the most undersung jobs in music.
Thats what happened to me when I was hired to mix Borderline for Gallant.
There wasnt much I could do to it the sound was locked in.
They ended up using my instrumental mix for the song but went with the original demo vocal.
It was a bit of a Frankensteined version and, truthfully, an ego blow.
But they were happy with the end result and thats all that mattered.
But whos really right in the end?
Well, the client is, and its your job to get whatever sound theyre hearing in their head.
We got out and watched the building burn another five minutes and we wouldve been trapped.
My studio was fine there was some smoke damage, our windows cracked, and some curtains melted.
Its a miracle more of the building didnt go up.
My studio was 18 floors up with no working elevator or electricity.
It looked ridiculous but it worked.
Great headphones were the true lifesaver.
Those are the super tests.
Its the first single on the new album.
Kanye listened to it a few times and goes, Man, sounds great.
Just send it to me, so I did.
Thats kind of odd.Then I get a call, Hey, man.
We want to revisit Stronger.
Ye likes your mix but he wants to try a few other things.
I get another call a week later: Can you do that again?
I did that about three or four times.
So, we go back.
Im sitting there, and Ill never forget this moment where Ye is pacing right behind me.
Im like, Man, youre making me really nervous.
Will you just stop and sit and lets just work on it?
And hes like, Man, its not right.
As hes pacing, he goes, Wait, thats it!
He says, Thats the mix!
Ten minutes later, I was done.
One thing about Ye is, he really is a visionary.
I think, for him, it was more about the journey of experimenting with other sounds and textures.
That was what he had to do creatively.
The challenge was second-guessing yourself through the process.
You go through, I suck.
I cant get it, because youre constantly searching for something that exists in someone elses mind.
Then, all of a sudden, like the Red Sea parts and boom, there it is.
Its pretty amazing to experience.
He kept saying, Mom!
I mixed this song!
Its one of my favorite songs ever.
Its like you lose one sense and you gain another.
Shawn is really good at tapping into what the listener is going to be drawn to the most.
He was recording them in his apartment in Toronto and sending them to me via Dropbox.
He would be like, Wait, move it one bar left.
Okay, add some delay, like a virtual in-person session.
That was the rhythm guitar, the drums, the lead vocal, and that looping guitar hook.
We tossed everything else out the window and it just came alive.
Finally, we knew it was right.
Walk the Moons Anna Sun took me days.
It was a breakthrough song for Walk the Moon and really set them up for their second album.
I really wanted to knock it out of the park for them, and I think we got there.
There was the video version, which was a different arrangement, which had some nice keyboards and effects.
How can you make these two sound the same?
The easiest way is to give me the demo parts!
In this case, a lot of that was the lead vocal.
Its that energy youve just written the song and youre recording it for the first time.
If I did my job right, hopefully, nobody could tell the difference in the final mix.
Thats what I was taught through my dad [legendary guitarist and recording innovator Les Paul].
I got up and Im running to get in the studio and fix it.
I say, Im gonna go fix the mic before we take the next one.
He said, That was it.
I stared at Wexler and thought he was insane, but they didnt give a shit about imperfections.
All they cared about was how it felt.
That shouldnt get in the way of music.
That was part of my learning process.
It was done with basically everybody in the room at the same time with Roberta doing a pilot vocal.
We did her lead and the backing vocals later.
The magic in that room was something I experienced maybe a dozen times in my life.
Roberta couldnt stand it.
All of us were sitting there like, What did we do wrong?
The first thing they said was, Oh, my God.
The kick drum is way too loud!
That was their biggest bitch.
But back then, it was just frightening how the impact of it felt.
So, we had to go back and remix it three or four more times, weeks of labor.
And that kick was the whole key to the tune.
That was the magic of it.
Thats why, after we did all the other takes for them, we went back to the original.
It was just traditional and brilliant, plain and simple.
One of the first projects Diplo threw me was Snoop DoggsReincarnated, which he was producing.
They did a listening session, Snoop was impressed, and I got the album.
I won their trust.
Snoop has a very open-minded approach and its purposely not very technical more like a feeling and a vibe.
I was working remotely but everyone there enjoyed the best of Jamaica, smoking and going to remote places.
it’s possible for you to see that in the documentary and hear my mixes in the background.
It was a special moment for my career and remains one of my best memories.
I remember Dave saying, Those guitars are too bright.
The guitars were maybe a little bit too searing and kind of painful.
Because the vocals kind of live in that same sort of zone.
Im not into it.
I dont like it.
What is the reaction were trying to evoke in the listener?
Lets really grab onto that and push that envelope as far as it’s possible for you to.
If it means brightened singing and annoying guitars, do that.
Sara was on speakerphone and someone said, Okay, what about Walking With a Ghost?
And Im like What do you mean?
and theyre like, Well, nobody wants it on the record.
It was a warmer-sounding song.
Just kind of a bit punchier, a bit warmer, but it just wasnt as interesting.
I said, Look, heres how strongly I feel about it.
So they decided to go with it.
and it ended up being a turning point in their career.
Still, it felt like it just wasnt enough.
We were starting to lean into maximalism and I just felt like there was a lot more there.
I had one tape machine I couldnt even play them both at the same time.
That was my very first foray into digital recording.
I hated it, but there was no other choice.
Black Emperor, these really epic atmospheric records.
And eventually, it did.
Because its so ensemble and gauzy, youre massaging it, just pushing things around.
Its more Monet than Rockwell.
I missed that on the first mix.
The density was all wrong, it wasnt clear.
I just listened to it again for the first time in years.
Some of the placement choices are pretty wild, but it was indie rock in 2003.
In a modern mix, the vocals would be louder, and I wish the bass was louder.
But the feeling in Transatlanticism is really there.
I was really happy to hear that.
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