Audient Producer Profile: Shook
With a new album about to drop and a huge following already in place, we took the opportunity to catch up with electronic producer and artist Shook on all things gear.
Tell us a little but about Shook and how you got into music?
I first started making music under the name Shook to have a creative musical outlet for all of the stuff in my head. I have been producing music on different aliases, but they were a lot more genre specific. With Shook I started experimenting with different sounds, and styles, and ended up producing the music that I really enjoy making.
What inspired you to start producing electronic music? How did you get into the scene?
Before making electronic music, I have been surrounded by music all my life. I come from a very musical family, my brother is a guitarist and an excellent drummer and my father is a jazz pianist. But really got into electronic music at a very young age. I first started recreating old rave tracks, and very fast D&B kind of stuff. But that wasn't really going anywhere for me. I've been studying Jazz and Classical music, but was also really into electronic music in my younger years. Somehow I think I subconsciously translated that into the music I was making at the time and still do.
You have a completely fresh approach to the genre combining funky guitar riffs, with an electronic back bone. From a creative point of view what made you combine the two?
For me it's more interesting to listen to melodies in a song. Today I only hear beats, and less melody. I like hearing music that shows off the musicianship of a singer or instrumentalist. A funky guitar riff or a piano playing a subtle melody, I love that kind of stuff. I think I miss this a bit in music now. I like music that changes and evolves with melodies and chord progressions.
I think that's the reason I listen to a lot of old records more whether this be funk, disco, jazz, pop or classical. Somehow back in the 80's they still had that raw musicality in their songs. When Synthesizers came, and more ways to produce music they changed their sound but still had that musicality you hear from the 70's. I think it was an amazing era for music. But I don't want to do a case study of artists from back in the days, I just try to create music that I like and what feels good to me.
You have a new album on its way - give us the lowdown?
For the new album I dived a bit deeper than my previous album I think, on an emotional and personal level but also on a musical level. It was made in a relatively short amount of time. Just a few months after I finished my first album 'Shook', I had enough tracks down for the next album. I actually had more than enough, but had to filter some out because they didn't fit with the rest. I tried to make it a musically satisfying album. For me this means a lot of melodies, chord changes and feeling. Also structurally I tried building the tracks more based on feeling instead of the standard 16 bars structure.
So this means, that there is a lot of changes to different parts of the song. Some tracks are very jazzy and are a bit more complex harmonically. For instance, I have one track where the middle part gets transposed to a totally different key with totally different chords. It's not all like that though, other tracks from the album are more cinematic with huge synthesizer pads and orchestral strings other are very dreamy and atmospheric and more laid back.
I tried to make a balanced album with different moods and themes. I used loads of synthesizers and old drum computers for the overall sound, that's definitely more leaning towards the 80's. I think some sounds from that era have an almost timeless quality to them. I also recorded a lot more funky guitar riffs and melodies with the help of my brother Billy for some of the songs from the album. Some songs feature vocals (the first single 'Violet Hues' features the talented song writer & vocalist Juliet Klaar), but it's mostly an instrumental album.
How do you approach your tracks from a recording point of view? Tell us about the recording process - where do you start?
Sometimes I get inspired by a quick groove I made, and then I start improvising over the top of it on the synthesizer and then ideas just come flowing out. Mostly if it's a chord structure, I record straight in the line in, no midi. I just try to play it in as perfectly timed as possible. If that means playing it over and over again, then I will just have to go with it. I still prefer to do it that way than using a soft synth with a midi keyboard. For very complex melodies and such, I still sometimes first compose midi notes, but usually I just end up playing it in the old fashion way.
I really prefer to create the sound on a Synthesizer like the Prophet 08 or Minibrute as I go, so it fits the melody, and then I hit the record button and go with it.
At other times, I already composed the song on a piano first. Then I just set a tempo, or a click track and play most of the parts in live straight in. Usually I build the drums, bass and such at a later stadium.
I have a lot of synths. It's a bit of an obsession haha. For piano parts I use one of my Nord Stage's, but I basically use every synth I own. I really love old synthesizers and new ones. For my album, I used a lot of Prophet 08, Juno 60, DX7, Arturia Minibrute and some old string synthesizers like the Korg PE-1000. Every instrument has its own sound and character, and it's up to the musician to make it work the way he or she wants it to.
Your currently using an iD22 + ASP880 - what drew you to Audient products?
It was the most pristine sound quality that I have heard in a long time. I was used to recording with other older gear, and they did the job at the time, but when I first heard the sounds quality of the ID22, it really opened my ears to a new world! At first I was pretty skeptic, but when I heard the difference I was blown away. It really helped improve my mixes. It really makes a lot of difference if you have a very dynamic and rich sound to begin with. If it already is a good recording to begin with, most of the times you don't have to 'work' that hard to get a good sound in a mix.
What are your favourite features?
Besides the obvious sound quality, my favorite feature of the ID22 is that I am able to quickly toggle between different monitor speaker set ups. I wasn't used to being able to do that. I love that you can adjust the remote settings to your liking. Checking a mix in mono is so easy, and setting up different commands to buttons is a breeze. It allows you to focus better on what you are working on right now other than going into endless menus. You just set up, and you are ready to go. Also, the feel of the main volume knob is great!
Any recording tips or tricks you think people should try?
I love recording with the di from the ASP880. The JFET circuit has some very subtle musical distortion, which I think is very pleasant when recording guitar, but I like to record synthesizers on it too! It's a very subtle color, but a very pleasant one and I suggest others to try it out!
