Music Now Spotlight:
Brontosaurus
Published: December 29, 2007 7:59 AM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior
(Juniorscave.com)
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Photo by: ReggaeStone | ||
Andrew Clark has an altar ego; he is a super talented artist/DJ that
goes by the stage name Brontosaurus. Coming from Hollywood,
Brontosaurus is always in the studio perfecting his craft. He is so
gifted that when one listens to his music; it draws you in the moment
you hear the first note/beat. Brontosaurus works his magic through the
use of mastering analog synthesizers into submission.
He has worked with several artists such as John King of the
Dustbrothers, DJ Quixotic, and Nathan Nice to name a few. We recently
had a chance to review his EPK (Electroninc Press Kit) on Sonicbids.com
(Music Submission/Resource Company) and invited him to do an online
interview with our publication.
Isaac-Joseph: Hello, how are you doing today? I hope all is well with you this Holiday Season?
Brontosaurus: Excellent! The Holidays went very well.
Isaac-Joseph: Let's talk about your musical training. You actually got
your start in elementary school with piano lessons and choir
rehearsals. Eventually you moved up to guitar, bass, and drums. How do
you feel that your vast musical training helped you professionally in
your current musical endeavors?
Brontosaurus: I think that every little bit helped. I end up
calling upon these skills with just about every track I work on,
whether it’s overdubbing a guitar part or playing a
synths line. But most of all I feel as if the ear training was
invaluable this is something that I didn't formally learn about until
college. When I decided I wanted to be a producer, I knew I wanted to
be a hands on producer; someone whose job description entailed more
than having an opinion.
Isaac-Joseph: While attending college, you were introduced to
computer music and synthesizers. After that first meeting of these two
types of ways of making music, how did your perception of making music
changed?
Brontosaurus: The first time I walked into a recording studio
was when I was still at Ithaca College, in upstate New York. I took a
class in electro-acoustic music or
analog synthesis theory, something of that nature... I remember walking
into the room and seeing a synthesizer (a Roland DJ-800) and just being
blown away with how cool it looked! I had not even heard what was
coming out of it but I knew I loved it immediately. After my first
introduction to making music with computers everything else kinda took
a backseat. But the more I progress at producing computer based music
the more things like guitar and piano playing seem to pop up.
Isaac-Joseph: You met up with Nathan Nice at California Institute of
the Arts and together you guys created an album. Elaborate of the whole
creative process of working with Nathan and making this album?
Brontosaurus: The first album was a strange and exciting
experience for me. I ended up only making 6 or 7 of the tracks on the
album but I helped record and oversee the entire
process. I think Nathan and I realized I was still getting my feet wet
with Hip-Hop and we were both down to cherry pick some of the best
stuff I was doing at the time and have other producers contribute there
own material to flesh out the rest of the project. My
enthusiasm for making music was really through the roof at that point.
I would make a bunch of beats every few days and just hand off CDs to
Nate and see which ones he was feeling the most. It took a couple of
years to create and at times the release seemed a little... premature.
But I suppose you have to start somewhere!
Isaac-Joseph: The follow EP was entitled "This is a Nathan
Nice EP". What were some of the lessons learned from the first time of
working together that you came to the table on this EP?
Brontosaurus: We really made the EP out of necessity. Up until
its release we had been working on an obscene amount of material but
had not really released any of it outside
of MySpace. In a way, it was a lot easier to finish than the first
album because we were under time constraints. Nate was just about to go
on tour with Fatlip, and slimkid3 from the Pharcyde as well as Omni and
DJ Cee Brown. So we decided to compile the best tracks we had done
together since the album as well as a few of my beats and compile it
into a tour only type release. We recorded mixed and mastered the
entire project ourselves as well as hand printed the CD covers. It was
pretty much a do it yourself thing...
Isaac-Joseph: After a year-long internship under industry
veteran Bruce Lowe and graduating from Cal Arts, what happened next to
help shape where you are
at currently professionally?
Brontosaurus: I was interning and at school at the same time so It was
all kinda in preparation for the "real world". After I graduated I
decided I had bigger fish to fry
was done interning. I met John King of the DustBrothers and proceeded
to email him for three months in hopes of getting a Job. At the time, I
think John was finishing up the 2nd Tenacious D album as well as a few
other projects and didn't really have time to take me on as an
assistant. But once his schedule cleared up I jumped at the chance to
work for
him.
Isaac-Joseph: If you had to describe the type of music you make, how would you describe it to our readers?
Brontosaurus: In short, I would say its electronic music with a
heavy dose of Hip-Hop influence. I use a lot of sampled vinyl for
inspiration and I use a few analog synths as well. Lately, I've been
going crazy with acoustic guitar based chord progressions in my beats.
Isaac-Joseph: If you had an opportunity to work with anyone in
the music business that you have not had a chance too, who would it be
and why?
Brontosaurus: I would love to work with Dan The Automator. It
was his work that really sparked my interest in Hip-Hop style
production. His production on Doctor Octagon,
Deltron 3030 and the Gorillaz first album are very inspirational to me.
All which are also concept albums. I can’t wait to make a concept
album!
Isaac-Joseph: Who has been some of your biggest influences musically that you feel had the most impact on your own music?
Brontosaurus: I listen to a lot of different stuff, hardly any
Hip-Hop these days. I think U2 had a huge influence on me; they were
one of the first bands I ever got into.
After that, I would say Tom Waits, a song writing genius who also makes
incredible recordings, so much character...
Isaac-Joseph: What is your overall goal that you would like to make with your music?
Brontosaurus: Creative freedom and financial security. But that’s
setting the bar pretty high when it comes to the music industry...
Isaac-Joseph: What has been the most rewarding aspect about making music so far in your career?
Brontosaurus: Recently, I was credited as a co-programmer on
Steve Earle's "Washington Square Serenade"; which also got nominated
for 2 Grammy’s. I am pretty excited about that!
Isaac-Joseph: What has been the most challenging moment about making music?
Brontosaurus: Working for my current boss is pretty tough. But its
rewards are great at the same time. A couple of weeks ago we were
working on a remix that required original
samples to be replaced with our own non sampled sounds. I would spend
an 8 hour day trying to replace a half second tone or horn stab and
still not get it quite right! It worked out in the end though.
Isaac-Joseph: Describe the feeling you get when you are performing on stage live?
Brontosaurus: Nate and I are currently creating a live set that
involves live improvisational beat making. It’s very difficult to do
this well. But it’s also great when we pull it off. Performing has
never been a high point for me; I’m more of a studio hermit.
Isaac-Joseph: What do you feel others can learn from each other in the music business?
Brontosaurus: Networking and contacts are so important! It’s ridiculous. Talent helps, but its not essential, unfortunately.
Isaac-Joseph: Final thoughts from Brontosaurus:
Brontosaurus: If your interested in hearing the latest tracks I’m working on check out:
www.myspace.com/bsaurus
www.myspace.com/nathannicelosangeles
Oh yeah, and an instrumental album is on its way!
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