Exclusive Interview
Produced by: Rudy Manager
Edited by: Rudy Manager & Andrej Aroch
Tane Runo - Producer Behind Records for Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar on His Creative Process
On April 18, Tane Runo invited us into the Burbank studio facility where he’s been creating and refining new music for our second interview together. Tane is an accomplished producer whose credits include work with Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, and many others, but this conversation gave us a closer look at the mind and process behind the music. Before we sat down, the Studio Talks team had the chance to watch Tane in his element as he finished an idea with his collaborator Doobie. That moment set the tone for the interview, giving us a glimpse into the way he experiments, reshapes ideas, and stays open to where the music wants to go. In this conversation, Tane dives deep into his creative process, reflects on the differences between Atlanta and LA’s music scenes, and shares what he’s building next with his upcoming project, All of the Above.
“I want to see all the endless possibilities of where we can take it and what we can do with it.”
- Tane Runo
Tane explains his work process.
Rudy and Andrej were watching me make this really cool song with Doobie, and I kept changing the pitch and the tempo of the song. That’s because I don’t like things to sound monotonous. I was explaining to them that I think about torture tactics, where somebody gets put in a room and the same song gets played over and over again really loudly. Musicians can end up torturing themselves in the studio without even realizing it.
There was a part where I had a certain section looped over and over, but that was because I was doing some real precision work in there to get it right, and that’s understandable. But sometimes I also like to write without hearing the music, just to be more imaginative. I want to give myself freedom and have a blank sheet of creative paper to work out ideas. Again, I don’t really care for the monotony of hearing the same thing over and over, so I’ll change the pitch lower or higher.
I’m also doing it to try out weird, strange, and unique things vocally. Different textures, different sounds, and almost different personalities I want to add to the record. Those are the reasons you’ll see me pitch records up and down, change tempos, and do things like that. It’s like shapeshifting. It’s like modeling clay, and I’m trying to make this really amazing, sturdy, beautiful vase that connects on an aesthetic level. That’s how I treat it. I’m constantly morphing, shaping, shifting, and molding it as I’m making it.
So many cool things come from that. One time, I had something on loop because I was trying to get an idea right, and I ended up hearing a background idea. It brings out all kinds of fire seasonings and additions to the recipe as it evolves. That’s why I do it. I want to see where else I can take it. If I take something super low or super high, what can I do with that? That’s why you’ll always see me literally trying weird things.
It’s important that I collaborate with people who are open to that, because a lot of musicians have a very set way of doing things. All that switching I do can throw people off. Luckily, I have some really cool collaborators who understand it and allow me to try those things out. It’s really like a testing lab. I may try something for 30 minutes and then be like, “Nope, back to the top.”
The other day, I worked on this really cool record with the homies. They had made a whole beat at the beginning, then they added more to it, and then they were like, “Tane, get in the chair.” I went over there, slowed it down, and stripped everything off the beat except a kick and a snare. Then I left a hi-hat in the middle of it, and they were like, “Whoa.” I was like, “Thank y’all for letting me do that,” because we had to go through so much. We were throwing so much paint at the wall, almost like some Jackson Pollock stuff, and then realizing, “Okay, that paint looks good with this one. Let’s keep that.” We were really locking in and dialing in on something.
That’s another reason why I’m always shifting the music. I want to see all the endless possibilities of where we can take it and what we can do with it.
Has there ever been a moment where you tried something and immediately felt like, “This is it”? In that situation, do you leave it alone, or do you still like to experiment and see where else you can take it?
That’s a great question. Some things just resonate differently. I’m really trying to figure it out, because I feel like there’s a certain immeasurable thing when it comes to ideas that really just click. It’ll be a moment where I’m like, “This works. This really works.” There are moments where I’ve had a beat, and the first time around with it was really cool. I remember when I was with Doobie, I was freestyling something, and we both felt like, “Yeah.” Having a partner or collaborator affirm it and say, “Yes, I agree that this is really good,” helps because it gives me confidence.
I feel confident in myself, but there can still be a little bit of a battle with imposter syndrome, where you’re asking yourself, “Is this good enough?” Especially when you’re first in it. I’ve dealt with that, but I’ve built a tremendous amount of confidence in myself. I also have other confident, talented people with really refined taste around me who can affirm it and second that motion.
There are records where the first try just works. Like I said, that freestyle might end up being the actual song. Or I might have a beat with a sample or a melody I’m playing, and it just feels good. Even when I do something really good, I’ll still go back and visit it and create something entirely new from it. I had a song that already sounded really good, but I was sitting on it and playing it every day. Then I went back into the session to mess around with something and rebalance it, and I started hearing other ideas. It kept growing into this really fire song.
It just depends. I’m typically in a really creative space. I personally don’t deal with creative block as much anymore, and I worked really hard for that. I’ve tried to get into a space where I can always be creative and make it feel like second nature. There are moments where I’m probably not as fluid or flowing as I am at other times, but if I take a break and come back to something, I’m typically going to be 110% in tune with it. I’ll usually come back and be like, “That’s actually really good.”
Earlier, you mentioned that you work on music every day. How do you keep your ears fresh during that process? Do you have certain routines or breaks that help you reset?
To keep the music fresh, I definitely take breaks. I’ll go chop it up, sit down, kick it with friends, be on the phone, or sometimes end up doomscrolling. The thing I’ve been doing less of, though, is doomscrolling, and I feel like that’s been super cool. I’m trying not to be on my phone as much, or at least be more intentional with it. I’ll be on Pinterest sometimes, and I think that’s a cooler place to scroll compared to Instagram, because Instagram is filled with weirdly curated ads. It’s like, “You’re hungry, aren’t you? You want a cinnamon roll right now?” And I’m like, “I need to make this song.”
I have friends who are always sending me really cool music and putting me on to things. My homies Paul Cherry and Jerred, for example. They had a DJ set for Jerred’s (check) birthday yesterday, and they were playing all this music I’d never heard before. That’s their thing. They finally get to not be in the studio and just play music from friends and artists they really love.
Paul also has a show where he and his wife play nothing but hidden gems. I think it’s called Paul Cherry’s Hidden Gems. They play artists with under 2,000 monthly listeners, so it’s really niche, exclusive stuff. They’ll bring on a special guest to help curate, play music, and put people on to new things. That’s one way I keep it fresh.
Then my younger brothers, Wayne, Zeke, and Ezzie, have cool friends who make cool music too. They’re always putting me on to really fire stuff. And of course, the internet helps as well. There are so many musicians out there. Sometimes I’ll be on Instagram and come across a reel from a really cool musician, and if I keep scrolling, it’ll just keep showing me more really cool musicians I’ve never heard of. So that’s how I stay fresh with it, for real.
What kind of music do you listen to outside of the studio? What do you usually play in the car or during your free time?
I’m not going to hold you, the majority of the time I’m listening to my own music. I listen to music a lot, but outside of my own music, I’ll listen to my friends. I’m usually trying to listen to things I wouldn’t typically listen to, almost randomizing my taste or revisiting stuff that’s in a completely different genre. I like things that capture a certain emotion or space. It sounds fake deep, but that’s really what it is.
I like listening to artists like Bibio. I have a lot of friends who make cool music, so I listen to their music too. My homies Good Girl, Sensei Bueno, and Yuli make fire music, and the homie Childish does too. I’ll also send ideas to my friends to try things out, like my managers Jess and Chass, because they write too. I’ll send them cool stuff and see what they think. I’ll also go listen to my brother’s old music, because he has a lot of music I’ve never heard before. The way my brain works now, I can be really imaginative around the cool things that happen in music.
Actually, two days ago, I saw an Instagram Reel where this kid was playing that Bow Wow and Ciara song, “Like You.” His mom was basically saying she’s going to be the type of mother who educates her kids on music. She was like, “You know this is a sample,” and then she played the original sample, which was a New Edition song called “I’m Leaving You Again.” I didn’t know that was a sample, so I got put on. Then I was inspired to go flip it and make a really cool song.
Those are the ways I stay fresh and get put on to new music. That’s the type of stuff I listen to, so it’s really an incredible smorgasbord of things. It just depends on where I’m at creatively. A lot of times in sessions, especially with new people, that’s the first thing I’ll ask when I open a session. I’ll be like, “Play me what you’ve been listening to. I want to hear what you’ve been listening to. Let’s start there.” I want to see where their head is, what has been inspiring them lately, and then we’ll usually take that and turn it into something really cool.
So yeah, ask people what they’ve been listening to when you start a session or when you’re meeting them, and see where that takes you.
When you open your DAW and start a studio session, how do you usually begin? Do you tend to start with samples, or do you usually create melodies from scratch?
It depends. Sometimes I’ll have a song I really like, and I’ll bring it to some friends, download it, chop it up, and make something from there. Then I’ll try other things, play around with it, reshape it, restructure it, and approach it in all kinds of different ways.
Other times, I might have a voice memo or an idea in my head, and then I’ll layer and sing some stuff on top of that. There are so many cool apps now that let you try things out in different ways. I might have a sample or a video of a sample, put it in my phone, record over the top of it, and then bring that into Ableton or Logic.
Other times, we’ll have musicians in here, and they’ll play something cool, and we’ll get an idea from there. I always have a lot of ideas circulating, like stuff I want to rework, revisit, turn up, and try new things with. But it’s very rarely the same process. I’m honestly always trying to do something different, because I have so many tools and cool VSTs that I haven’t even tried yet. It’s like, “What’s a new way I can try something out today?” It varies. It just depends on the setting, the mood, the feel, what we’re doing, and how we go about it.
When you started today’s session, you already had a beat laid out. Do you usually finish songs in one sitting, or do you like to revisit ideas over multiple days and keep building on them?
Lately, I’ve been double checking my work. I don’t know if they say that in school where y’all grew up, but in America, they would always tell us to double check our work. People would take a test, and the teacher would say, “Go back and look over your answers to make sure they’re right.” So I double check my work when it comes to my music.
I have a lot of unfinished ideas. I feel like ideas are never finished until they’re out, and even then, they can still take on different shapes and forms because people do covers, sample things, and remix stuff. But today, I had been working on some ideas with the homies Baby Rose and Paul Cherry, and I met this guy named Joe Harrison, who’s really cool. David Maxwell was there too, and we were just in the studio the other day trying out some really cool things.
I think we did three cool ideas, but I never bounced one of them. So I just reopened it to check it out, and then it sparked something. I was like, “Okay, this is cool. Let me keep messing with it.” At first, I was just going to sequence it in a cool way, bounce it, and send it to Rose. But then you saw what it turned into. That’s how it works sometimes.
It really just depends. Today was just a moment like that. I have so much music I can revisit. I have my own library of tunes I can go back to and try new things with, and I do that way more often now than I used to.
Do you have any hidden gem plugins that other producers might enjoy, maybe ones that aren’t as widely known?
I mean, in Logic, I use a lot of stock stuff. There’s even a bass I’ve used on some songs in Logic called Classic Analog Bass. It’s just a regular synth bass that comes with Logic, but it’s really cool. Logic also has a muted acoustic bass or electric bass that I use a lot. Those are stock basses, and I use them often.
Nudistort is really cool. That’s a really cool one. Cymatics has something called Omnivox, which is cool too. It creates these things that sound like a crowd, and it’s really moody and crazy. My homie Chase Wav told me about that one.
There’s also this thing called Alborosie Dub Station. They actually stopped making it, which I just found out last week, so I’m sorry if you don’t have it. It’s a super cool plugin that creates dub effects. The new Serato Sample is really good too. I use that frequently.
I also love the samplers in Logic and Ableton. Those are pretty good, and I like those a lot. I’m learning more about Max for Live stuff too, and that’s really cool. I use The God Particle on my master channel, just for a simple touch.
I’m trying to think of what else. I have thousands of plugins on my computer, so I don’t even know where to start. I’m still learning cool stuff every day. Pro-Q 4, of course, is a really good one too. I can’t really think of anything else outside of that right now.
You recently moved from Atlanta to LA. How would you compare the two cities and their music scenes? What are the biggest differences you’ve noticed?
You’re asking the good questions now. I like that. I love Atlanta. People don’t know this, but Atlanta has one of the highest Black populations of any city in America. South Fulton, to be exact, is around 96 to 97 percent Black. That’s one of the main reasons I love that place, just being surrounded by beautiful Black people. And it’s not just Black people. There’s so much culture in Atlanta and in the surrounding areas too. You have the South Fulton County area, Snellville, Chamblee, and all these different areas. I have a studio in Chamblee out there, Madison Records and Fantasyland Records, and there’s just so much going on.
I love both cities. I feel like moving to LA was a really cool choice to have in my storyline, because a lot of amazing things have happened since I moved here. I already feel like I’m an immensely blessed person, and I’ll continue to be that because of the people who come into my life and the things that come with those people. Whether it’s opportunities, the happiness they create, the memories, or All of the Above, which is the name of my debut project coming soon, by the way. It’s going to be really cool.
I will say the quantity of opportunities is super abundant in LA. I feel like this is the number one city for music in the world. I truly feel that way. It’s been a blessing to be able to make those things happen. And I’ve built community with musicians through the internet. That’s one of the best parts, because I did a lot of my work in Atlanta at the crib. For the majority of my placements, I never even met the artists. I wasn’t in the studio with Travis Scott when he made “Grey.” I’ve never met Nicki Minaj. I was in the studio with Usher, but I wasn’t in the studio with Ne-Yo, Kendrick Lamar, Kacey Musgraves, or Fred Again. They may not have even met me or known me yet. They will soon, but what I’m getting to is that you can really make it happen from anywhere. I’ve been able to do that from Atlanta and from here.
I love both cities. I love Atlanta, and I like the idea of turning Atlanta up even more so it can be another LA in its own way, because LA is an incredible city. But there are also a lot of amazing things happening in Atlanta. I love them both for two totally different reasons. Also, my brother Ezra played basketball at USC out here, so he had a semi-professional career, and he’s about to go to the NBA really soon. He just entered the NBA Draft, so shout out to Ezra.
The opportunities in LA are just super abundant. That’s probably why it’s a little more expensive, because there are so many things going on out here, and you can potentially do some really cool things. That’s how I feel about both cities. They’re both really amazing. Atlanta is a really beautiful creative space, and I want to turn it up even more. I want to give it more highlight and spotlight, and bring more sponsors, companies, tech, creative spaces, and agencies out there to really feed, grow, and fertilize the city. There are a lot of seeds and non industry plants out there that are going to grow into something very beautiful, and they’re already growing.
Can you share some of your plans for this year? You mentioned your album, but what else do you have planned?
I’ve been working with a lot of cool artists and friends. I’m working on my debut project, and I was just talking to my friends Moritz and Cody Doss, who are both helping me mix it. I’m excited to bring that to life. I’ve been working on it for a really long while.
I honestly have a few projects in the cut that could’ve come out already, but it’s been really cool. As far as other people’s projects I’m working on, I’m just staying low key and working on what I feel like is some of the best, coolest stuff to come out next. We’ll just have to wait and see, because with the way music works now, whether it’s big, small, medium, or large artists, they don’t always know when they’re going to drop either. You’re just constantly working on things that you like, and hopefully it inspires somebody else to say, “I want to put this out.”
But as far as the things I can control, my project, All of the Above, is definitely on the way. It’s going to be a really special project. I really love it, and I’m excited to share it with the world. I’m excited to see people connect with it and just have it keep being played nonstop forever and evermore.
Do you have a timeline for the project?
In the next 45 to 60 days. We’ve been in really high gear. You saw my face get dead serious, so yeah, really high gear.
We’re shooting content and, of course, doing all those things, but we’re also putting everything in place so we can put this out and really start showcasing the cool stuff we’ve been sitting on. I don’t like the idea of sitting on amazing ideas. I want the world to hear this. I want to play stuff to impress my friends and have people be like, “Oh, that’s really cool.” So that’s where we’re at with it, for sure.
Follow Tane Runo on Instagram: @taneruno
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