iWrite

iStandard iWrite with The Strangerz

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Where are you guys from and How did you guys link?

-CoFFee – “Well, I was born in Hollywood, FL but grew up in Statesboro, GA. I relocated back to South Florida for high school, and have been here since.”
-Marclo- “I was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Coffee and I met through a mutual friend. We did our first song together five years ago, and have been rocking with each other since.”

Seems like you guys have been putting in some serious writing work, what producers have been working with lately?

“We have been very blessed to have worked with some of the industries most amazing producers. To name a few, the most recent include Jerry Wonda, The Ghostwriters, The Fliptones, The Monsters, Chad Beatz, Arex, 1500 or Nothin’, Fuego, and the list goes on”

When it comes to producers and chemistry in the studio in general what is it that you look for musically to connect with?

“When it comes to production, we have a simply theory. Give us a challenge and you will get a hit! Doesn’t matter if its Country, Urban, Pop, or Rock. The Strangerz are international!

Being from a budding musical region such as Miami, how would you describe The Strangerz sound?

“Our name pretty much describes the lane that our sound drives on. We are best known for our catchy melodies, clever concepts, and the “strange” ear candy presence that we display in our songs. When you hear our music you will have no choice but to nod your head and crave more. We are in our own square outside of the box.”

Overall what’s your creative approach to writing these hits?

“We have a very strong formula that works for us. When writing, we like to take real life and add a bitter sweet twist. What makes us who we are is the fact that the listener will relate and fantasize simultaneously. Our music creates a familiar yet uncommon sound that demands attention.”

Congrats on the recent Trina placement, how did that come about?

 

“Thank you. The song is titled “Showing Out” on her latest album “Amazin”. We were given the opportunity to write with the producers of the track C.P. Hollywood and Kparn, both based out of Miami, FL. They have worked with Trina on previous projects and thought that particular record would fit the direction of her current album. Very soon after submission, we were notified that Trina loved the record and wanted it for her album. The both of us were very excited after that phone call. God is good!”

I hear you’re currently working with Def Jam recording artists Khalil and Mr Hudson, what can we expect from those collabs?

“First and foremost, both Khalil and Mr Hudson are phenomenal artist with amazing talent. Expect high energy records that take you to “that place”, and only brings you back to reality to let you know you’re ears just went to heaven but are still on the ground. Everyone listen out and just be ready! Turn it up!”

What’s next on the agenda?

“What’s next? Our manager Lex keeps us crazy busy; which is a great thing! We focus on our day to day home runs, and let him plan the tomorrow’s championships. We have a great team and a great strategy. But to answer the question broadly, our agenda is to simply make timeless music while improving ourselves and those around us.”

Where can we find you online?

“For all of our tweeples you can find us on twitter @thestrangerz”

Any shouts?

“We would like to give thanks to God, our families for their continued loved and support, our manager Lex Borrero and the entire Dream Big Hustle Hard firm, our publisher Rampaige 8, and everyone who has ever given us an opportunity to succeed.”

iStandard iWrite with Nate Walka

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Interview by: J Hatch

Hey Nate, Thanks for taking out some time for iStandardproducers.com. For those new to the name let the world know who you are and what you do.

I do any and everything I can in music, meaning I write songs, I’m an artist, a producer, my style is an amalgamation of several different styles, you know, I’m always trying to push the envelop. I just like doing what people say I can’t. 
 

You recently wrote a smash for Trey Songz ‘Say Aah’, how did you and young yonny link to collab and when did you find out you landed that placement?  

Yonny hit me up on myspcae, post Blame It and was like I’m young yonny, I got this record out etc, I was like that’s what’s up. He was like I’m trying to work, I was like cool, shoot me some joints so to this day he sent, nobody sent me more beats than young yonny, that’s what I respect from him like off top, he sent me 40 individual joints the same day, went through his stuff, heard the beat for say ahh and was like wow, this joint is crazy, and I already had something in my head that I was like yo I just need… it was crazy how it happened, I guess god gets the credit, I was just, I had the hook in my head and ummm, but I didn’t have a beat for it.. so I couldn’t get in touch with anybody who had beats that day so I went through young yonny’s email and listened to the first track I opened and it had that tempo and I was like, this should be cool, so I recorded it that night and sent it to him and he hit me back and was like yo this joints crazy, but what are you saying? I sent him the lyrics and he was like oh ok, that’s what I thought you were saying but ummm. I think that joints dope but my homie he don’t’ know if its dope or not, and I was like yo.. that joints dope man you gotta trust me on that he’s like and was like oh ok he thinks its dope but everyone wanna know if you talking about say ahh really pooping bottles or the other thing, but I really didn’t think of that, it was never really my first thought, thinking, I’m going to be real clever here but ummm, so ahh, yeah man that day I gave it to my manager and my manger passed it on to chef tone cos it was just a hook and a beat at that time, chef does a lot of writing for trey and we got the call back that night saying we keeping this joint and it was like uphill from there. 

Where were you and How did you feel the first time you heard the commercial release?  

First time I heard it was in my car, and I pulled up at the stop light and heard it in somebody else’s car, I rolled down my window, found it on my station, called my mum, aunty, cousins… I felt crazy, you always feel good, songs are like your baby so it’s like for one to go out and make it to radio you kind of feel like a proud parent 

When you write such a big hit do you other artists and label execs say ‘I need a song like Say Aah’ for their projects? How do you stay diverse yet give them what they want? 

This isn’t true with everybody in the industry but for the most part a lot of label execs don’t really know what they want exactly, they just know they want a hit, so its kinda your job as the “artist” (writer/producer) to keep up to date with what’s going on in music and with the people enough to deliver a hit. I think the key is definitely to keep your ear to the ground. Know what’s hot and what’s not… and if you can do that, you can be relevant forever! 

Overall when it comes to writing what’s your creative approach?  

I just try to trust my gut. I feel like all of us have an innate sense of what’s hot and what’s not.. it’s the listeners who are going to buy the record. My thought process is to go in as if I was a listener, when im listening to a record I ask myself why is this record hot to me and what will make me buy it, so that’s where I write from. It’s gotta be undeniable whether you can relate to it or not. 

How important is the chemistry between writer and producer? 

Very important, cant’ have one without the other. I have a few that I have that chemistry with. Its like playing charades I usually write first but sometimes I do write to track its all about us being able to communicate what our vision is and what our thoughts are.  

Do you produce too? 

Yeah. I do everything I possibly can do. And anything I can’t I’m learning so be on the look out for that, I love having different talents, I like to be the guy at the party who knows how to bar tend… lol. I engineer on sessions as well 

Who are some of the producers you enjoy working with?  

Young yonny, jerry wonder, we just did a record on Lloyds album, I also like the runners, jackpot, skims out of LA, kojack, David Ballard, Mo, genesis. Stargate, Ryan Leslie, a lot of people, but too many to mention… you gonna have people calling me up and being like ‘you don’t like working with me” lol! I was under pressure, had 5 mins to answer the question… lol, I had brain lock. 

Who haven’t you had the opportunity to work with that you anticipate happening at some point in your career? 

Timbaland, dr dre, eminem, really want to work with the greats, David guetta in Europe, daft punk etc 

On the come up, musically, who influenced you to become the writer and arranger you are today? 

I listened to a lot of Mase back in my day. I loved that slow flow back in the day. He was dope. Jay-z is phenomenal of course, I listened to the rock band the killers they opened my eyes to a whole other genre of music, all American rejects are crazy, the dream is dope too, when I first moved to Atlanta he had dropped his first album, that inspired me a lot. 

What can we expect to hear from Nate Walker in the near future? 

My album, check it out.. Its gonna be crazy… and if you don’t like it, don’t tell nobody lol 

Where can we find you online? 

Natewalka.com

Twitter.com/NateWalka 

Any shout outs? 

Shout out to my band, the rock bots, (George, Alex and Walter Williams), my producers, my mother, my aunty, versatile music, my manager askia fountain, he’s the real star for real, he hates attention so if you ever see him always put the camera on him, shake his hand, ask him a million questions just freak him out man lol, and shout out to istandardproducers

iWrite w/ KQuick The Writer

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

iStandard iWrite With Kel Spencer

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
KEL SPENCER
Written by Kristen Teesdale

 

What’s up, Kel. Thanks for talking with us about your experiences as a writer in the music industry. To fully understand your success today, let’s revisit the early days. What spurred your interest in writing? What was the first thing you wrote – did you start with stories and poems or go immediately to songs?

KS- I would say my third grade Library teacher got me started. Her name was Mrs. Zimmerman (PS 183, Brownsville, Brooklyn) and she was the first teacher I had that got me into creative writing. It was at that point that I started messing around with writing love letters to girls and even writing things in the bathroom stalls that I knew would entertain anyone who saw them after. Kinda unorthodox I know, but you asked… LOL!

How does your creative process differ when you pen songs for other artists versus times you are writing your own?

KS- One of my pet peeves is to hear a song written by Artist A for Artist B but you can hear Artist A all over it. That’s nasty to me. It stinks. I like to put myself in the artists’ shoes and take in where they were, where they are and where they’d like to go with the new project. Then we get into lyrics and flows and subject matter and what cookie cutter foolishness their label wants sprinkled in th… oops did I say that? Oh, my bad… But, yeah, that’s the process for other artists. The process for me is less structured and more of a feeling. I’ve chosen to be an indie artist for this long so that I don’t have to adhere to certain guidelines and foolery, and I don’t. As corny as it sounds, this should be art that we create that we serve to our market. They, in turn, pay us for our creative expression. But it’s turned into an assembly line and a pressing plant of the same ole same ole that’s forced into a marketplace of people that are screaming for something different. I went on a tangent there, I know… I’m sorry, LOL!

How do you change your writing ‘voice’ to coincide with each different artist? Does it come naturally in the collaboration?

 
KS-I think it’s a mixture of me naturally “mimicking” them along with studying them technically. I can casually listen to Andre 3000, Amir Sulaiman, T.I. or even Sean Kingston, but if I lean in and listen technically, now I’m paying attention to which arpeggios in the music they weave in and out of. I hear whether or not their tendency is to ride the up beat or the down beat of the drum sequence, etc… So I would say it’s a mixture of what comes naturally in me as I listen casually, in addition to what comes to mind when I listen as a student.

What do you take with you after you work with each new artist? What does each teach you as you move into the next project?

 
KS- Honestly, it’s more of who they are as a person that enhances the situation and allows me take something with me from working with them. I’ve heard stories from artists about what they did (good or bad) with their first advance on their first record deal. I’ve heard how this artist’s phone keeps ringing because their baby mama (or baby fawva) keeps calling with the foolishness. Or even how this artist is about to leave our session to cut the ribbon for the new orphanage that they just opened. When you’re not doing music just for a quick check, to be in VIP at the club or to finally get all the chicks that used to dis you in school, you actually pay attention to the little things in life and they serve as the true creative vehicle for what comes out of the beat machine or what comes out of the pen, ya know? Did I just take a jab? I’m sorry. Ok, I’ll stop LOL!
 

What is the secret to writing American Music Award winning songs? Do you keep the purchasing audience in mind?

 
KS- I’m not even gonna lie, I got lucky when it came to those awards, LOL! But seriously, that was a blessing and a lot of it had to do with timing. Switch for Will Smith was the track for which I got a nice amount of hardware. But at the time, Will had a movie coming out called “Hitch” which rhymes with Switch. Also, there was a dance that went with the song, and it was in the midst of a market place where 7 outta 10 songs on the radio had dances to go with them. Furthermore, it was a new sound from Will. So I think all of that added to the formula, along with keeping the consumer in mind with lines like  “Hear that how the Veteran glide the record?/ But don’t download go out and buy the record.” (First Verse; Bars 3 & 4)
 

You are extremely active in the community and run your own literacy program, “Pens of Power.” Why do you feel it is so important for artists to volunteer and generate civic awareness?

 
KS- It’s where we’re from. Even growing up, the hustlers would buy us candy in the corner store, pay for our basketball uniforms or even slide us a dollar here and there if we didn’t tell our parents where we got it. I even remember the older dudes (who were lo-life’s) coming back from boosting clothes and tossing us an I.T. here or there (I.T.= article of clothing, LOL!!). When you come from the bottom, and make it to the top, you give back to the bottom. No questions asked. So even if you don’t volunteer, do town hall meetings or hold bus boycotts, you still should give back, even if you’re not filthy rich. God blessed me with an ability to use words in so many ways. So coming from Brownsville & East New York Brooklyn, which has a downward spiraling youth literacy rate, it’s only right that I scrape up the little pennies I have, attach it to the gift God gave me and give back! As a real man, it’s just what you do.  
 

You’ve garnered major press in recent years, including coverage in Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, and Vibe. How did increasing publicity affect your other endeavors, namely your educational business pursuits at Morgan State University?

 
KS- At one point in time, it made things more solid and more official. Having certain publications and magazines attached to your name meant that you were at a certain level of your career and at a certain level of success. Now, it’s hit or miss. You can easily pay the right person or buy the right person a shot of Patron to get in any magazine or on any blog. You can be an artist in a major publication with millions of subscribers, yet certain blogs with just a fraction of those supporters won’t even look your way. I would say that it does help, but what you do on the ground level to get your peers talking and buzzing has the best effect.
 

What did your background in athletics lend to your career as a writer? How did the dedication and discipline translate to your work?

 
KS- HA! It’s funny you asked that. My sports background actually made me a little naive at first. In sports, 9 outta 10 times, if you’re good and you work hard, then you get playing time. There are politics in sports but not to the magnitude that you can virtually get Zero Shine. However, in entertainment, you can work hard, have a web buzz, have relationships, be talented, have a good image, etc… and be a lot more likely to see no shine than if you were playing sports. I’m sure there is some athlete somewhere reading this who disagrees. But like I said, it’s less likely to happen in sports, I’m not saying it doesn’t happen at all. With that being said, I came into music with the “As long as I’m good and I work hard, then I’ll get on the field,” mentality and that’s not the case.  However, sports did instill in me a work ethic and an ability to create game plans and strategies that 98% of these dudes can’t match. But just like in sports, it’s only the first quarter right now. As the game progresses, you’ll see what I mean.

You’ve already worked with some heavy-hitters in the industry. What artists are on your wish list for collaborating?

 
KS- Lauryn Hill, Damien Marley, Marsha Ambrosius, Ahmir Thompson, and maybe Pooti Tang LOL!
 

How do you feel new songwriters and artists can benefit from what iStandardproducers.com and the producer community have to offer?

 
KS- It’s a dope platform to interact on a face value/creative level. People can hop on, browse, network, form alliances with what/who they like and then possibly make magic together. With that being the overall backdrop to a community like this, I think that’s dope!
 

Where can we find you online?

KS- For now, you can follow me on twitter @KelSpencer, I’m on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KelSpencerFamily and I have an account right here on iStandard too!

I just want to thank you, Kristen as well as J. Hatch and the rest of the iStandard family for allowing me to share the little bit of knowledge I have and hopefully your community can benefit from it. Thanks again…

iStandard Exclusive iNterview w/ ASCAP’s Sam Taylor

Monday, February 15th, 2010