Monday, March 19, 2012

Deadmau5 Rant on Collaborations, Songwritting and the like


Below is a direct rant we took from deadmau5's tumblr.

"So, i’ve had a revelation these past couple of days, and i really feel the need to draw attention to the results here.

Theres a perfectly valid reason why i dont usually enjoy the idea of a “collaboration” … allthough you can rest assure whatever collaborations i have done in the past were the results of stuff im totally into, like Flipside, the Foo’s, Cyprus Hill, etc.

All to often, there’s an influx of “big names” that would get thrown around the label from time to time and of course, they fly off the table and out the fuckin door faster than they hit my desk. eg. do you want to do a track with big name X, remix huge pop act y, etc etc.
no. i fucking don’t. i really REALLY don’t.

im passionate about music, engineering said music, and especially art… at least i certainly feel that i am. And the last thing i want to do… is take the meanings and feelings of a piece of music and have some fucking dipshit blab about lookin sexy, poppin bottles, “droppin bass”, or ANYTHING club related. which fortunately for the world *rolls eyes* makes up for 99% of the “electronic music” fad that’s apparently considered mainstream now.

Obviously, this little rant was mainly inspired by “the veldt”.. which i read a couple weeks ago. Im keen on short stories, since i lack the time to dip into a massive novel. And well, as some of you know, other peoples art, poetry, writting or otherwise can very easily juxtapose to your own craft, inspirring you to create your own personal extension or compliment to the work… hence the track itself.
for those of you familiar with the story, check it out here: http://www.veddma.com/veddma/Veldt.htm
anyway, after being inspired, i felt… man, i’d really like to create a soundtrack to this.. a somewhat melancholic yet uplifting audio image of kids bestowed with insane technology which enables them to conjure up any setting or any thing they desire… which in this case, as children sometimes wish their parents were dead by an unfounded retaliation to being disciplined.

what a great story, i figured.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP


so, the melodies done… and a vocal really was optional at that point, wasnt too concerned about it. However, the electronic music community needs more people like Chris James, who i actually just randomly stumbled on via twitter, pretty insane.

he had posted a link claiming he did a vocal to the track ive uploaded on soundclud, ill be honest, i *do* check demos out from time to time… but not nearly as often as they come in… for whatever reason, i took a shot and checked it out… i was fucking nearly in tears. Not because i think he’s the best singer in the world… but because HE FUCKING GOT IT. TOTALLY and COMPLETELY got it.
i had previously stated on the demo that the song was loosely connected to the short story i read… the kid went and read the story, and did what i did. His verses are connected to me in that way, this track is pure. This is how inspiration is supposed to work. Even before hitting the play button on his soundcloud, i almost wanted to roll my eyes waiting for the first verse to have a mention about his last breakup, or this other bitch he thinks is hot, or how he was on his way to a club, or just how warm and fuzzy he felt 

about THA BEAT (or ‘tha bass’ for that mater).

fuck all that.

he righteously did his homework, and came up with just a few bang on verses that completely compliment the story and the mood, which is all i ever want from a song that contained lyrical content. Can’t give him props enough.

The moral of the story is here, is that this is what songwritting should be about. Music is meant to provoke feeling and thought. So if we were to go by popular music, we should all be thinking how sexy we are and we know it, or how our hands should be contstantly up in the air… or maybe we should drop that bass because itss too fucking heavy to lift or whatever the fucking problem with bass is these days.

/rant"

http://deadmau5.tumblr.com/post/19570452553/collaborations-songwritting-and-the-like