WEBVTT - Flying Lotus 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:14.400 Pushkin. Just a quick note here, you can listen to 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:17.400 all of the music mentioned in this episode on our playlist, 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.479 which you can find a link to in the show 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:23.280 notes for licensing reasons, each time a song is referenced 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:28.480 in this episode, you'll hear this sound effect. All right, 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.839 enjoyed the episode, Flying Lotus isn't one of those producers 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.720 who just programs beats. He creates an entire esthetic world 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.159 for the music he makes to live in. Over the 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:41.960 past thirteen years, he's a massed a diverse body of 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:45.280 work through the label he started, Brain Feeder. He's released 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.560 four solo albums, produced tracks with Kendrick Lamar, Tom York 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:54.680 director actor David Lynch in The Climb featuring Thundercat. Musical 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:59.120 innovation runs deep in Flylo's family. His grandmother, Marilyn McLeod, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:02.720 wrote songs from Van Gay, Diana Ross, and other motown artists. 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.680 His great aunt Alice Coltrane married and played in John 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:09.160 Coltrane's final bands, then after his death, released a slew 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.160 of classic albums that seemed to grow in stature every 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.520 passing year. In this episode, Rick Rubin and Flying Loads 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.680 chop it up about visiting Alice Coltrane's ashram as a kid, 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.360 why his peak creative hours have changed over the years, 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.680 and why he directed a horror flick despite being scared 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:30.600 to death as a child by the thriller video. This 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.560 is broken record liner notes for the digital age. I'm 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:42.280 justin Richmond. Here's Rick Rubin and Flying Loice. How would 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:46.480 you say your relationship to music has changed from when 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.360 you were a kid till now? It's funny. There's this 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.360 video of me when I was a little kid, and 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.720 I was it was like my mom my grandma asked 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.080 me questions, was I so, Steve, how old are you? 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.480 And he like, like, Steve, what do you want to do? 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.600 When you go? I want to I don't know whatever, 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:07.280 But I was. I was kind of in this little 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.920 interview moment, and then I think there was some Stevie 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:13.400 Wonder that kind of turned on in the background, and 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:15.560 you just saw that I was just like perked up 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.120 and just was like I'm out of here, and I 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:21.359 went towards the speaker and I was like, okay, yeah, 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:26.920 that's the same same. Nothing's strange. I would just say 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.720 that over time that my relationship with music has just 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.200 gotten so much deeper. You know, at this point, it's 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.080 so crazy to think that I thought, maybe four or 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.919 five years ago, that I was the peak of my 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.959 love for music or my love for creating music. And 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.240 now I know that I was wrong, because I feel like, 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.600 right now I'm there again. You know, I feel like 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:55.040 I spent so much time learning things the past couple 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:59.480 of years with synthesis and you know, studying piano and 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:04.000 studying theory, harmonic theory and stuff that actually just yeah, 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:07.639 it gave me another burst of life in this whole thing. 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.280 You know, I feel like I just added more time 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:15.519 than my clock. That's good for all of us, I hope. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:20.000 So what was the LA scene like when you were 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.480 coming up? What was going on when you first started? 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.480 When I first started, the scene that I was really 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.720 kind of watching was what stone Throw Records were doing. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.520 They were doing a lot of stuff, Ubiquity was doing 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.560 a lot of stuff. We had all these cool parties 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.840 like Pooh Bah and Sketch Book. That was a cool scene. 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.800 And you know, there was like a lot of people 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.640 playing music that we like, you like shift from, like 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.600 Jay Dillah and mad Lib, you know, that kind of 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:53.360 beat music that that kind of vibe was going around, 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.360 and you started to see all these other producer beat 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.480 maker kids who were kind of hanging around, but they 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.720 didn't feel I think it was like even more underground 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.160 than Mad Living Diala. It was. It was just like 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.320 weird because we we didn't care about rappers. We didn't. 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.520 We were just like we're gonna do this without them, 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.280 you know, like we just came for the beats, you know. 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.680 And I think that was like that freak a lot 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.440 of people out, I think at first, but I think 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.520 we were there was at a point where it just 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.560 didn't seem like rappers going anywhere, so I think the 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.960 producers were just like, oh, let's just do this. I 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.360 think the scene was kind of built in the parking 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:33.920 lots of a lot of parties because we were just 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.320 like listening the tracks in the cars, like with the 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.160 doors open, blasting them out in the parking lot. You know, 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.919 Like that was like a whole vibe playing tracks on 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.000 the Homies boombox. Could you tell that something was going on? 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.440 Could you tell, like there's a vibe? Yeah, it was 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:51.120 like that it was important. That was important totally. You 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.800 can totally tell it was important. It was because there's 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:57.760 so many people who loved the same things. Yeah, there 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.200 was just there was this just this frustration. It was 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.039 just like this empty thing. It was just a void still. 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:09.559 And I think that that became something that I held 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:13.440 onto for so long actually and try to recognize, is that, 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.120 you know, people need to be heard. They have to 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.320 keep your ear out to the scene. You gotta keep 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.320 your ear out. You gotta like know what's going on 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.960 in the streets, man, because you don't want to miss it. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.279 You don't want to miss the thing. You don't you 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.680 don't want to be left out of the of that 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.919 new moment, the next moment. At that point in time, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:37.280 while the underground was just sort of taking form in La, 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.560 what was the mainstream of hip hop like at that time? 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:45.600 Do you remember, oh, mainstream? Was it still like New 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.760 York centric or not? Necessarily? I would say it was 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:53.200 still New York, but it was starting to get southern, 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:57.839 you know, starting to go in that direction for some reason, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.920 I feel like, why do I want to say, gee, 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:05.279 even it was a thing you know, like around around 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:10.279 then it was like two thousand and five, I guess. So, yeah, 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:14.119 it was like that kind of post Shining Suit era 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:19.279 of hip hop. Looking back, now on the lacne men. 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.320 Would you say that there were any similar scenes anywhere 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.599 else in the world at that time, like kind of 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.000 picking up the same kind of vibe. Absolutely, there was 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.960 a crazy synergy around that moment for us because at 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.000 the same time MySpace came out too, and that was 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.440 a way for all of us to kind of hear 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:44.640 what everyone else was doing around the world, especially you know, 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.120 I think that that kind of helped cultivate the scene 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.560 and let us know that it wasn't just us out there. 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.880 There's small labels in Europe trying to do this stuff now, 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.480 and there's small labels in Japan trying to do it, 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.000 and it was like, okay, well this is something, this 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.400 is actually something, and they keep looking to la So 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.520 that was that was another thing. But I had a 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.479 feeling then my Space was was kind of popping off 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.560 and dubstep was kind of popping it was at the 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.920 same time. Like so it was like a new electronic 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:22.080 thing was brewing. The beats and the wobbly stuff going 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.080 on and calling it wonky and all. They were trying 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.880 to find all types of names to describe it. But 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:31.680 it was just dope because it was the first time 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:37.400 LA and UK are connecting like this, we're hearing stuff 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.840 that just was just born in the studio, you know, 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:45.119 last night, and that's that never happened before then. So 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.600 I think it allowed a lot of people to just 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:52.000 kind of accelerate the sound quicker too. You know, you 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.040 hear something like it becomes part of the consciousness and 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.560 then it just snowballs and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.480 and suddenly you know, there's hell of people trying to 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.040 do this thing. Yeah, it does seem like that connection 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:11.160 between the UK and LA at that time. It's a 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:15.480 fascinating one. Yeah, And it was definitely like just the 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:20.640 underground sound. He knew it wasn't meant to be for everybody, 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:27.920 but people really wanted it back in the day. How 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.160 did you first connect with Kendrick? I first connected with 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:36.040 Kendrick on on Twitter. He was like, have somebody tell 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.720 Flying loadus to hit me up. I was like, I 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.959 was already following this cat. I was like, whoa, what 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.760 do you talk? I'm here, hello, here, here, I am, sir. 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.199 What did he already what did he already have out 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.439 at that time? He was he was still on section eighty. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.000 I think around then. It's just still a kind of 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.960 early days. I think when Good Kid Mad City came out, 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.439 he and I that at his signing in San Francisco. 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:04.760 When that album came out, I came out to a 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.640 signing and he hung out for a little bit. And 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:09.720 you know, ever since then, it was like, we gonna 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:11.040 make something, We gotta do something, we gotta do some 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.080 we gotta do a project, gotta do ep, you got 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.600 you know something. And then, um, the way we really 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.040 started connecting was for some reason, he reached out to 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:21.920 me because he wanted me to help him make his 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.440 live show for the Yeasest tour that he did. What 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.000 a time. I mean that record right there, that was 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:32.040 that was huge record, that one. But anyway, yeah, I 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.920 started working with him around then and I started playing 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.360 stuff to him on that tour that kind of had 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:42.439 that sort of like Parliament sound to it, kind of 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.280 like Funkadelic sound, and he was really feeling that and 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.040 that kind of kicked things off for the Pimp Butterfly 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.000 and it kind of, you know, that was kind of 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.720 the beginning of our collaboration. For our song never Catch 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.920 Me In That was did you did you go on 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.920 the tour. Yeah, I was on the tour for Little Bit. Yeah, 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:02.880 I was there. I was there for the first few stops. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.360 How was that? It was cool? It was cool. It 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.760 was really uh. It was really trippy to have been 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.520 part of that show. And I'd never done anything like 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.800 that before. I never put on helped anybody build a 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:19.400 live show, so it was really uh, it was really fun. 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.479 I never thought that would happen. It sounds great. Yeah, 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.720 it sounds like fun experience and it's interesting to get 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:31.720 to to get to experimenting new arenas. It's just fun. 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.400 It's a fun. You know, if all you ever did 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:39.560 was just sit and make beats forever, I know, But 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.000 then when you go and do something else interesting, and 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:43.880 then you come back, you get to make beats again, 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.360 and it's incredible all over again. Yoh yeah. That's the thing. 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:50.120 Like anytime I have to do anything else, I get 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.439 so excited to just go home make some beats. But 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:55.679 it's just let me make beats, that's it. That's all 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.600 I want to do. I found the same with working 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.400 on different kinds of music. If if all I have, dude, 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.679 was make hip hop records, it would have gotten old 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.400 long time ago. For all I made was heavy metal records. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.520 It would have gotten old. But the fact that I 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:14.040 get to really submerge myself in different different things keeps 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.280 it really interesting. It's always new. I never you know, 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.600 I never know what's going to happen next, and that's 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.360 a good feeling. Yeah, tell me, tell me a little 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.360 bit about your creative process, like, um, are you always 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.320 making something? What's the what's the rhythm of your work? 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.200 Like I'm kind of similar, you know, I'm always in something, 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:35.480 but with music especially, I'm like so in it right 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:40.480 now and always trying to learn more. You know. I 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.479 think whenever I get in a place where I feel comfortable, 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:45.400 I'm like, all right, I need to learn some more stuff. 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.319 I need to learn how to do things that I 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:51.679 don't know yet. And this, this kind of quarantine time 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:55.439 has been really good for me to just kind of 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.079 focus and hone in on a couple of little things 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.440 that I wanted to learn. You know, I really wanted 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.640 to understand synthesis on like a very detailed level. You know, 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.400 I don't want to be one of those people who's 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.000 just like always using the presets and stuff on synthesizers. 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.400 I wanted to know like exactly what everything does, and 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.280 I spend time like just digging into that. So now 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.640 I can go up to any of these boards, I 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.560 know exactly how to get the sounds I want. And 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:26.959 you know, this is like a little bit of time 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.720 that has now, you know, changed the rest of my life. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.280 Now it's like I know from here on out, I'll 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.160 be able to get get busy on it, you know, 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.720 like like I always wanted to. So, yeah, I don't 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.600 know my process. Though I wake up early. I'm not 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:45.880 one of those people who stays up until crazy. I 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.320 wish I could. What are your hours? Usually I start 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.000 to day at six in the morning and then I 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.079 go to bed like twelve one, But I'm like always 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.600 on the machine between you know, work hours. I try 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:02.839 to treat it like a job now really, where I'm 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.960 just like on it nine to five at least, and 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:10.640 then if it's super inspired, keep going. But at five 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.640 I feel comfortable like stepping away and throwing on some cartoons. 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.080 From the time you wake up, how soon do you 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.320 start working? Usually after I brush my teeth and do 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.560 all that stuff, you know, I'm like right right on it. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.880 I feel like that's my best, my best energetic moment. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:28.880 It actually is when I'm like just fresh out of 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.560 bed ready to work, you know, sometimes after coffee and 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:36.480 a joint or something good to go. But I wish 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.280 I could do the late night thing because I do 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.800 find that when I'm up late at night working on 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:45.160 music that I'm less inhibited and the ideas they're not 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.200 as you know, just you don't think so much. She's 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.959 just kind of like flowing whatever. The the ghost is 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:55.640 just like it flows through you way easier, less cerebral, 0:13:56.280 --> 0:14:00.640 you know. But I also find that I'm way less 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:05.400 attentive to detail, and I don't really care about the 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:09.320 little things as much. It's just like all idea. Do 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.600 you think that has to do with you and how 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:13.439 long you've been awake or do you think it has 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.280 to do with something else? For me, personally, it's definitely 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.920 time of day and energy. I feel like by the 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:25.040 time eight o'clock rolls around, you know, I like smoked 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:28.760 like several blunts, and you know, I'm tired, and you know, 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.200 it's just I feel like I need a lot of 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.240 energy to make music. Personally, I need a lot of 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.880 energy or else it's just gonna be like you know, 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.600 a couple of chords. You know, I need to be 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.320 able to, like, I need to have this pulse in me, 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.440 like when I'm working on stuff, or it just don't work. 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:52.120 So whenever I got that, when I got that energy, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.960 it's good to go. Has this schedule and that rhythm 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.960 of working always been your whole life. No, I feel 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.800 like I only really started waking up early when I 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:06.160 started having like British management and then my label, my 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.760 record label, Warp Records. They they're based in the UK, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.960 so I think I started getting used to getting emails 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.160 and phone calls super early in the morning. So my 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.320 brain just kind of go. I was like, whoa, they 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.280 might be trying to find me. I don't know, you know, 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.160 maybe my brain just starts going. But before then I 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:25.880 was definitely like a night out. But now I'm just 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:31.080 kind of adjusted too, you know, always being awake. And 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.640 so it's so funny you say that when I was 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.120 when I lived in New York, I was on the 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:41.720 late schedule, and I would usually sleep until three and 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.280 then yeah, probably not be outside until it was dark, 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.240 and then that would be my schedule. And you go 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.360 to sleep sort of typically heading home as the sun 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:56.160 was coming up was typical. Yeah, that's the artist special 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.480 right there. That's it. So in the morning, you brush 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.760 your teeth, go into the studio, and how does the 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:07.080 process start, Like, what's the first thing you do? Well, lately, 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.800 what I do now is I try to just write 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:13.320 some patches and the keyboard or like synthesizer stuff. I 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.400 go up to a machine, one of my machines and 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:19.720 try to make a patch that I've not heard before, 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.800 whether it's like a cool pad sound or a cool 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:29.120 lead tone something, because then that will inspire an idea always, 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:33.120 so it starts with it. So it starts with a sound. Yeah, 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.800 usually starts with a sound, or you know, I'll just 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.600 start playing keys, play some chords and then you know, 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.600 then trying to find a sound that goes with it, 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.960 and then a thing happens. But yeah, I love just 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:51.200 trying to write patches. I think that's been a really 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.440 fun kind of thing to add to my daily routine. 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.480 Is I have to make a new sound today. What 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.680 does it sound like? And you know what can I 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.120 apply from other things that I've learned to it? I 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.879 mix it with samples. You know what happens when I 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:08.800 run through a reverb? This that whatever, and then maybe 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.159 that's the beginning of a song, and like the past 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.320 few times I've done that, it comes out as a song. 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.560 Does the sound from the time that you get sound 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.520 where it's like, okay, this is the sound and you're 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.240 inspired by it and you feel like, okay, now I'm 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:27.560 ready to develop past finding the sound, does that sound 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:32.240 ever change going forward? Or is that sort of the 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:36.240 central theme that is unchanged regardless of what else goes 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:39.679 on around it. That part is usually unchanged because I 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.240 feel like I end up structuring everything else around it, 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:47.280 you know. But sometimes you find that, oh, well, this 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:50.159 sound was actually too bright in the context of the 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.600 track now, so you gotta filter it down a little 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:55.359 bit and then change things. But yeah, usually it is 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.280 the spark happens with that sound is like oh and 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.600 then you know you started like, oh it sounds good 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.560 with these drums, and oh, he just keeps going, and 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.680 you know, two hours goes by, and yeah, typically, how 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:11.760 long does it take to find the sound? And from 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.240 the time it takes to find the sound, what give 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.920 me an idea? Um, it can take from like five 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.320 to twenty minutes, I think to write a patch when 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.000 I'm not in a hurry to put something out. I 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:29.959 really do enjoy recording sounds and recording noises, grabbing different 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:34.399 tones and things because that's my palette. That's that's what 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:40.320 I have to work with. And you know, we're kind 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.479 of in this time where everyone is using like the 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.640 same sounds and the same drums and the same noises. 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:49.120 So for me personally, I'm in this place now where 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.280 I'm trying to go out of my way to make 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.200 sure that all the sounds that I have are unique. 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.359 So you're working on the sound, what's the feeling in 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:02.520 you that tells you, Okay, I'm gonna move forward with 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.240 this sound? What does it? What does that feel like? 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.240 How do you know? It's it's like it's the same 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.520 sound as when you hear that break on a record, 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:15.000 you know, where you hear something and you're like, oh 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.719 my god, I gotta sample this where it's like it 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.400 almost feels like you cheated, Like it's just like there's 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.840 no way I'm supposed to have this right now, no 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.760 one's watching, you know, It's like it feels like that, 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.760 and that's when you know, and then you like you 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:33.080 get you like you play some chords and there's like 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:37.400 a little like chord. It sounds like, you know, that's 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:39.200 when that's when they do it, when you hit the 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:42.960 record button. Yeah, it's a it's a thrilling feeling, isn't 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:46.000 it that? It is? It is. It's addicting because you know, 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:48.399 every time you feel like you're getting close to that 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:52.679 perfect beat, that perfect thing, and it never is, but 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:57.959 you just feel like, oh, i'most there, you know, if only, 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:00.960 if only? Typically do you work on music thinking it's 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:04.720 going to be instrumental? Is that the typical default? No, 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.360 there's no default. I think I just try to make 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:12.800 stuff and then serve whatever the sound is later, you know, 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:16.680 like it's like, okay, this don't need nobody, just let 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.359 it be. But I think lately I do write music 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.639 with vocalists in mind a lot of times, because there's 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.000 you know how it is, there's people knocking on the door. 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.760 You know, I'm working with Thundercat, you know, and all 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:35.119 these different people and they're gonna want tracks. So I 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:37.920 always try to keep that in mind. But I don't 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.680 ever go into it a thing thinking it's going to 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:43.919 be a certain type of track. But I like to 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.920 just kind of just feel the ghost where we're going, 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:50.400 I don't know, but you got me hype now talking 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:55.600 about making tracks right now, we'll be back with Flying 0:20:55.640 --> 0:21:03.720 Lotus after quick break. We're back with Flying Lotus. After 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:06.560 talking about the difficulties that come along with directing movies, 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.879 Flylow tells Rick about his great aunt, jazz legend and 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:14.640 spiritualist Alice Coltrane. How would you say the creative muscle 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:19.760 is different between making music and making film. Making films 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:23.440 and making music are so different, and they're they're such 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:27.560 different muscles. But it's weird because there are things that 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.120 relate where especially with producing, where you know, it's it's 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.919 up to us to kind of vocalize a lot of 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:37.760 things that are in our minds and manifest these ideas 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:43.600 to people who can. You know, they have these different 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:45.600 tools and different things that they bring to the table, 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:48.359 so you have to be able to wrangle each department 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.359 and be able to communicate with them this grand vision 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.760 that you have. Same with music, same with film, though 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:59.800 both of those things relate. But I would say film 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.040 it's it's way more fucked up because there's way more 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:09.320 money involved and there's way more people involved. And when 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.760 it comes to music, I can i can just sit 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.800 here in my room and make an album alone, really, 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:20.320 But with film you could do that, but it wouldn't 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:23.879 be the most interesting movie in the world. But you know, 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:26.240 if you did it with CG animation or something, that 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:28.359 could be great. But it's hard to make a movie 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:32.639 on your own. I think producing making beats and stuff, 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:38.360 it lends itself to people who are kind of more introverted, introspective, 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:41.159 But I think with films you have to really be 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:47.840 able to be outward and expressive, and it's it's it 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:50.560 is a different muscle for sure. Yeah, it sounds like 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:53.600 with music you have to motivate yourself to do it, 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.080 and with a movie you have to motivate the cast 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:01.160 and crew. Yeah, absolutely, get the vision to come to life. Yeah, 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:03.879 and you have to stay You have to obviously be 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:07.280 the most motivated, you know, like, because there's no one 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:09.520 who's going to be nearly as motivated as you on 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:13.960