Multi-Grammy award-winner and inaugural Jameson ‘Music Distiller’, Anderson .Paak, known for his collaborations with the likes of Bruno Mars, A$AP Rocky, Knowledge, and Fred Again has lifted the lid on the secrets to collaboration in new YouTube Series with Jameson Distilled Sound: Jameson Distilled Sounds Talks.
In his role as Music Distiller, .Paak and his team worked with over 26 artists from countries including India, South Africa, USA and Malaysia to write, record, produce and perform music that brings their different sounds together at the Jameson Sound Distillery in Ireland this summer. As part of the Sound Distillery, .Paak delivered a series of fireside chats, exploring his career, experience as a collaborator and advice to artists on navigating the art of collaboration.
Additional Sound Distillery programming included workshops organised by NTS, the official Sound Distillery Programme Partner, and guitar workshops guided by Fender, the official Distilled Sounds Music Partner.
Now, fans can get the scoop from the talks delivered by .Paak, via a new series from Jameson Distilled Sounds, available on YouTube now.
From Bruno to Dr Dre, Anderson .Paak, distills his collaboration process
Commenting on how to produce a successful collaboration, Anderson .Paak says: “It’s a fine art when you collaborate to make sure you have what you need, but also putting your ego aside and learning how to adjust without shrinking yourself.
Even working with someone like Bruno Mars or Dr Dre, all these people have done so much, they are very particular with how they want to run it, you have to be very sensitive and mindful and say to yourself – Okay – this is how they want to do it, I know how I want to do certain things but I know how I can get to it.
Sometimes an artist will have an idea that they want to do – you just have to be willing to go there – before turning them towards what you think will work. You just have to trick them a little bit into doing the things you want to do!”
.Paak’s top tips for collab’ing
1. Put your ego aside and learn how to adjust to accommodate the other artist, but being mindful to not shrink yourself in the process
2. Be sensitive to what the artist may need – it’s about listening as much as it is sharing your own ideas
3. Learn how to know when to get out of the way when you need, and get in the way when you need to too.
Discover more of .Paak’s tips to collaborating via the Distilled Sounds YouTube here.
Paak breaks down his hit collaboration with Fred Again
Anderson .Paak has had a monumental year. He made his big screen directorial debut with K-Pops!, where he co-starred opposite his son; he released ‘Why Lawd?’ as part of Nxworries, coming eight years after ‘Yes Lawd!’; his track with Fred Again, ‘places to be’ became a definitive summer hit.
Speaking on the uniqueness of his collaboration with Fred Again, .Paak commented:
“Fred again is interesting – he is a very futuristic and abnormal collaborator. He reached out and we met in Skrillex’s garage studio. It was super fun – he had drum sets and wacky little gadgets. His producing style is what I would call a YouTube digger – he has a plethora of YouTube and TikTok clips that he pulls from.”
Revealing who he is still waiting to collaborate with .Paak comments:
“All the artists who are part of Distilled Sounds! The next generation of artists. It’s been so exciting to spend time with artists who have their first projects out. I’ve been listening to their music and new material. Everyone is amazing, all their music sounds great.
I am always thinking about the next person who is coming up, working on their stuff. Pushing musicianship to the forefront. Trying new things. I am excited to work with that person.
I’ve worked with so many people from Paul McCartney to The Game. But there is a list of people I’d still love to work with like Beyoncé, and hopefully some of the Rihanna records that we’ve been working on will come out. Who else? Adele. Stevie Wonder would be great – we’ve done some stuff but it would be cool to do something real with him!”
Fans will have the opportunity to access content from the Sound Distillery and discover new sounds on the Distilled Sounds hub https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/en/jameson-distilled-sounds/.
To learn more about Distilled Sounds visit the Distilled Sounds Hub now.
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