Q&A: Nick Hook
Producer, solo artist, DJ, and longtime Moog fan Nick Hook stopped by Converse Rubber Tracks to serve as guest producer during Moog Week. He was nice enough to chat with us about his music, his city, and how he got his start in the industry:
Could you describe your path to becoming a musician?
I grew up in Saint Louis Missouri. My parents never played me music once in my life, so it wasn’t really a musical household.
When I turned around seventeen or eighteen this dude that was a radio DJ gave me a CD of like Acid and Fruity Loops and all kinds of computer programs.
I became friends with this band called Glassjaw. And their singer Darryl and I really related on Wu-tang and things like Automator, and this is when everyone started liking drum breaks and beats. So he was making beats and I was making beats. This was like September 2003.
One day I was at work and Todd [guitarist from Glassjaw] IMed me and said “Do you want to come out to New York for a week?” Cause I was the only guy who knew how to put an 808 on a sequence. Like really I think that’s why he called me. He didn’t know anyone who could line up tracks. It was so primitive.
And we made music everyday. We made some really tight shit. And then Warner Brothers decided they wanted to sign us.
That’s like how I started. The band was supposed to last a week, it was supposed to be like one week long and then I would go back to my life. That was phase one.
Being invited to New York, was that definitely the moment where you were like “I can make music work?”
To this day it’s shocking that it’s real. When we did our band, I thought when I was 30 I would just be like “That was a cool run, but I’m done with this shit...” But when I turned 30 was when my career actually started. I just turned 36 on Saturday. So I’m still kind of blown away by it all. I don’t take it for granted.
How old were you when you started doing music full time?
Twenty four, twenty five. When I moved here, I had never put out a piece of music in my life. My first record was a major label album that we spent 300,000 dollars on.
Crazy. So if someone was just starting out in music, what advice would you give them?
The thing I try to keep in mind when I do music is “Why did I start doing this?” And it was cause I just enjoy it. So I think if you’re trying to make money off this stuff, that’s whack. Make dope shit. Have a job so you can keep it as a hobby, and if you can crossfade it being a hobby and it being a career, that’s how it’s going to work the right way.
What drew you to working with Moog?
Moog was actually the first company to endorse me. I played a Voyager on tour. I’ve had a relationship with them longer than anyone. I think Moog is in their next renaissance phase.
Do you have a favorite piece of gear, MOOG or otherwise?
It’s not the gear, it’s the people who use the gear. It goes in phases. I love the Voyager, I’ve been using it forever, I love the OP1. The Ableton Push. It’s like kids I guess. You wouldn’t say your favorite kid. Well, maybe some parents would…
Being in New York, how do you feel like that affects your music?
It’s everything man. I just think that the melting pot, like hearing a car drive by playing reggaeton, just hearing people talk on the street or riding my bike from my house to the studio, its just like everyday, its so dope. Nowhere is like this. Nowhere in the world is like this.
Do you think you’ll be here forever?
If they don’t price us out. Or if we make the money we’re trying to make (laughs). I’ll always have one foot here, for sure. I feel like we get sick to our stomachs when we leave for too long.
What do you hope to be remembered for?
I just like bringing people together man. That’s what I do. And people have passed that on to me. It’s a blessing.
Cool!
Respect. Shouts out Moog, Converse.