What did your journey look like from when you first started producing up to what you’d consider your first major placement?

For the first couple of years after school, my focus was on getting in the room with artists and building real experience. I worked at any studio that would let me engineer sessions, which taught me a lot because you quickly see what artists respond to in real time. At the same time, I was posting type beats online, which was still very effective then, and helped me get my sound out consistently.

I was also dropping a lot of guitar loop kits, especially during the Juice WRLD and Lil Peep era when that sound was in high demand. I was releasing three or four kits a week, which was a lot of work but helped me stay visible. One of those loops got used by Guala Beats in a type beat that Vybz Kartel later picked up, which felt surreal and ended up becoming my first major placement. From there, things started to snowball, and that consistency, especially during the pandemic when producers were actively searching for loops, really opened the door for me.

How do you typically approach creating music from scratch when you first open your DAW?

The most important starting point for me is either the bassline or the chords, because that’s what really sets the emotion of the whole track. Lately I’ve been trying to go deeper into chord inversions and expand my understanding of them, so a lot of my process begins with building a strong progression that captures the feeling right away. Once that emotional foundation is in place, it becomes much easier to start layering ideas on top. Sometimes a sound itself might inspire the direction, but more often than not I’m starting with chords and letting everything grow from there.

Do you have a creative routine you like to follow? For example, do you start at a certain time of day or listen to something before getting into the zone?

I’ve always treated music like a job because that’s how I wanted my career to look, and that mindset has worked well for me. I usually start around nine in the morning like a typical workday. I listen to some music and then ease into things by playing chords and experimenting until an idea starts to form. Whether I feel creative or not, I make it a point to write music every day. Even on days when inspiration feels low, I know that if I stick with it for an hour or two, something good usually comes out of it.

My main writing window is typically from nine until about two or three in the afternoon. After that, I’ll take a break, go for a walk, or just step outside. During that time I like listening to music that’s been inspiring me lately, and when I come back I often feel refreshed with new ideas or emotions to draw from. Most days end up being pretty full, usually from nine to seven, just consistently writing, experimenting, and seeing what sticks.

What are some of your favorite VSTs, and are you also using any hardware gear?

On the VST side, I use Analog Lab a lot because it gives you access to so many classic Arturia synth sounds in one place, and the third party banks for it are really strong. Lately I’ve also been inspired by late nineties and early 2000s R&B, especially the chord voicings from that era, so I’ve been using the Korg Triton VST quite a bit. Zenology has also been great for capturing that same vibe with a lot of its sounds.

For hardware, I still use an MPC pretty often, even if it’s just as a MIDI controller, since tapping ideas out feels more natural than clicking them in. I’ve also started getting into more outboard gear, like a Yamaha SPX90 a friend lent me. It’s an 80s rack effects unit that’s great for wide chorus, huge reverbs, and gated effects, and I’ve really been enjoying experimenting with it.

What’s your opinion on the use of AI in music production?

I’m not really into full music generation since that side of AI feels a bit hit or miss to me, but as a tool it’s been incredibly useful. Even in the past year or two, things like stem splitting directly inside FL Studio have been a game changer. There are so many situations where a sample can’t be cleared but you still want to capture the same feeling, and being able to isolate layers and really study what’s happening makes that process much easier. Back in the day we had to wait for songs to show up in games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band just to access stems, so the progress has been huge.

I see AI more as a time saving and creative support tool instead of something that replaces the creative process. While I’m not sold on the generation side, I do think we’re only scratching the surface of how useful these tools can become, especially when it comes to speeding up workflow. Overall, I’d say I’m pretty 50/50 on it right now.

Can you share how “If We Being Rëal” with Yeat came together from your perspective?

That record started with Synthetic, who already had a strong foundation for the beat. He’s someone I really trust creatively because he has a great ear for what works, and he’d been building with Yeat for a while along with Hologram. The main structure was already there, and I was brought in to create an intro with guitars that felt big, ambient, and orchestral. There was originally a Radiohead sample in that section, but it couldn’t be cleared, so they asked me to recreate something that captured a similar emotion. We tried a version, but it ended up being too close, and with the release getting near, they needed a new approach.

The night before the song was set to come out, Synthetic and Yeat reached out to LRBG and me and asked for a few fresh intro ideas. LRBG and I jumped on Discord for about four or five hours late into the night, just building and experimenting. One of those ideas ended up being the one Yeat chose, which was really exciting because I was honestly disappointed when my first version got scrapped.

I was in LA at the time, and once I got home and we locked into the session, everything clicked. That moment also reflects why I’m often brought into records, which is to add guitar textures and help create those big, organic moments that elevate the song.