Podcast 2: Frank Ocean

Innovative Artist: Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean, is a refreshing newer artist who has become more popular in the last year. He is a member of the group Odd Future, aka OFWGKTA. Frank is not only a unique vocalist of the group, but he also written songs for other various artists like Justin Bieber, and Brandy.

Aside from writing songs for other artists, Frank Ocean has written some great songs for himself. His style is very unique, and he has an interesting vocal range that I would compare to Prince. His songs have unpredictable, yet very enjoyable sound to them. Frank’s style is R&B, sometimes mixed with rap, and a lot of electronic music behind, with heavy bass, sometimes with offbeat, or even off key music behind. Somehow, Frank transforms the songs into something beautiful, having you forget about the imperfections going on in the background. He seems to sing melodies that can compliment almost any instrumentation, and he mesmerizes with his voice.

Frank Ocean has impacted me as a Producer because not only does he make music you can feel, and relate to, but Frank makes music that Frank wants to make. His sound is unique, and as an artist that’s what makes you stand out, having your own sound. When you hear a Frank Ocean song, you know it’s a Frank Ocean song, you’re not sitting around trying to guess the artist because they all sound alike, he is not that kind of artist. I love his mix of Electronic music, Hip Hop, R&B, but I mostly appreciate him for his unique and unpredictable singing style. I feel that because he is so innovative and unpredictable, that his career is going to have longevity, and his music will be appreciated by many generations to come. Frank Ocean is not the most known artist, but he is not far behind whoever that person is right now. Frank Ocean will be a household name in the near future.

It won’t take five years for Frank Ocean to have an impact on me. I already admire the way his songs are all different, unpredictable, yet pleasant and refreshing. I also admire that you can’t quite fit his music into a box. Yes he raps and sings, but you never know what you are going to get in a Frank Ocean song, but you know its going to be good, and that’s what makes him interesting. Many of the artists I admire, step out of the normalcy, and make music that comes from the heart and mind. Frank Ocean is definitely one of my favorite artists at this time. I just want to make music that I think sounds good, that is different, and what I want to make. It isn’t art to me if everyone is telling you what to do and what not to do, and I want to make art.

Electronic Music Innovation - Aphex Twin

I remember the first time I heard Aphex Twin was on an MTV compilation called MTV’s AMP. It was the first time I heard an almost total classical song mixed with a techno, drum and bass percussion.

Richard David James, better known as Aphex Twin, is a DJ turned Producer from the UK, who gained success in the 1990’s. Aphex Twin was heavily influenced by Brian Eno, and ambient style of electronic music, and combined it with the more popular style of Drum and Bass, for his sound. 

James, unlike many other Electronic Artists of his time, preferred to record his music to tape. This set his sound apart from the rest of the Electronic artists with the unique sound he got from recording to tape. He was also is very specific and technical when it came to the recording process, and made sure that he employed the best companies to press his records out. Aphex Twin is not only innovative for the use of analog and digital equipment to create his music, but also technical on the end result of his product before it was released to the public.

With many aliases throughout the years, and a mixture of different sounds, Aphex Twin’s fans can still recognize a hint of “Aphex Twin” in the music. His sound is not just Electronic Ambient Techno Drum and Bass, it is music you can dance, or relax to. The most interesting thing that I learned about Aphex Twin was that his music has been arranged for the London Sinfonietta. He has also influenced the group Radiohead, even releasing songs with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood in 2011. The name Aphex Twin derives from Aphex System’s Limited, an audio equipment company, and the Twin part comes from his brother who died at birth a few years before James was born, also named Richard James.

The impression Aphex Twin leaves on me as a Producer is that you can’t just focus on the music you are creating, but also how it is recorded, and the end result. You may have an amazing sounding piece of work, but if you don’t have a good company to duplicate your recording, your music might not be perceived as you would like, or even in its best quality. I also like that Aphex Twin composed music that mixed genres not thought to be mixed, such as Classical and Drum and Bass; the first time I heard “Girl/Boy Song”, I was blown away by the mixture. Aphex Twin is definitely a leader in the electronic scene, past and present.

Electronic Music - Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk are the originators of electronic music. They created a futuristic, unusual new style of music, much ahead of their time. They were fascinated with sounds, and melting them together to create a musical piece of artwork, and they were not worried about what people thought. Kraftwerk paved the ways for electronic music entirely. Weather it was Punk, Pop, Rock, R&B (basically every genre), Kraftwerk and their electronic sound changed music. If it weren’t for Kraftwerk, no electronic music would exist today.

From 1974-1981, they ditched their more experimental style of creating sounds, and started making their music and albums with a theme. Kraftwerk employed classically trained musicians to help perfect the ideas and concepts to their themed albums. They were now putting more thought into their art, and more aware of their influence.

Creating themed albums, and pioneering electronic music are two of Kraftwerk’s most notable accomplishments, but not the only. Kraftwerk were such interesting artists, that they influenced an entire era. David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Gary Numan are amongst the huge array of artists that crafted their sounds from the influence of Kraftwerk’s electronic art. Kraftwerk also influenced other countries with their unique style, and even were the first to release albums in other languages. Overall, Kraftwerk has influenced music as a whole, and without them, music would be boring.

As a Music Producer, I believe that Kraftwerk has influenced me more than I will ever know. After learning about their music more in depth, I have a greater appreciation for them. In fact, I feel more connected to the group entirely, because I too like to create things that sound different and interesting, that are influenced by electronics and sounds, even everyday sounds. Many things outside of the box sound like music to me. I had always been fascinated with Trans-Euro-Express, and how they emulated the European Transportation into a song. Conceptually, Kraftwerk are true pioneers, not only just of electronic music, but the imagination of music, and the endless possibilities. Ralph and Florian are truly idols.

Podcast 1: Marvin & Lupe

Marvin Gaye "What's Going On"

Prior to Marvin Gaye recording “What’s Going On” his image was more of a handsome, clean cut, more of a sex symbol. His songs were all Motown songs, upbeat, love type of songs. It wasn’t until he saw the world start to go mad, that Marvin Gaye decided to alter his image.

Marvin Gaye’s brother came back from The Vietnam War, and told Marvin all about it. Marvin saw how they treated the soldiers after they came back from the war, through his own brother’s struggles. His brother also told him about how life really was over there, and that he would give up his own food to go in the garbage, so the starving children digging for food could eat. Marvin’s disgust for the reality of the situation of the world is what made him want to make a difference, instead of ignoring the problem.

Not only was “What’s Going On” not the Motown type of song, but Marvin Gaye was married to Barry Gordy, the founder of Motown’s sister, Anna. Barry Gordy didn’t want to release the song because it didn’t go with the traditional Motown sound that had already been established. Barry didn’t want to try anything new, and he wasn’t going to make it easy for Marvin either. Barry thought that by releasing this type of song would ruin Marvin’s career, and Motown’s reputation also. Because of Marvin’s previous success at Motown, and his strong will, he took his stance on the songs release by protesting any further Marvin Gaye Motown Recordings until the song was released.

Prior to “What’s Going On”, the Motown sound was more about love songs, or upbeat R&B, they were popular, and aside from Marvin Gaye, they had many of the great artists of the time on their label. The daring release of “What’s Going On” was a style unheard of for Motown. The song was about war, the killing, starving people, all the negative, and depressing things that were going on in the world. It was more a plea to stop all the awful things going on in the world instead of covering them up. The song also created what became Marvin Gaye's sound, by recording Marvin singing, and doubling up the two to create a large vocal sound, almost like his own background singing, or reverb.

The impact of “What’s Going On” was more effective that ever imagined. It opened the doors op for artists and producers like myself to be able to find new ways to open people’s eyes up to the world. I too like to make music that has meaning, rather than the constant popular, “what sounds like everyone else”, meaningless music that seems to flood the market. I want to also make music that people can relate, or learn something from, music that impacts the world in a good way.

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico was a 60’s rock group that was put together with a German model. The group was guided in an avant-garde direction by the artist Andy Warhol, together creating prolific 60’s pre-punk type of rebellious, undirected music.

Lou Reed and John Cale attended the same college and came together because of their love of music. They formed a group with their friends called Velvet Underground. John Cale was an experimental producer type, and Lou Reed was the rebellion of the group, leading them in different directions with his innovative ideas.


Andy Warhol got together with The Velvet Underground, and brought in German model Nico. Andy’s idea was to put music, art, and film together and create something no one had ever seen before. They took the act on the road, and created pop art.

The Velvet Underground & Nico had no boundaries. As the creators of pop art, the group wrote music in whatever fashion they pleased. Backed by an inexperienced drummer, who held the backbeat of their music, and Cale and Reed basically jamming out, and making “amateur”, rebellious music with their friends (aka: The Velvet Underground). Their sound was known to have the feedback, distortion, and other types of background noise. They were one of the first groups to completely control their music, and didn’t care who liked it, even though they had a large cult following. The Velvet Underground just did what they wanted.

As a music professional, The Velvet Underground is inspiring because they made music they wanted to make. They didn’t care who liked them really, as long as they got to express themselves the way they wanted. I also appreciate the fact that they put themselves out there and created something new. Artists that aren’t afraid to make their own sound, and be set apart from the norm, are inspiring to me.