Producers Corner: Audio Games Interview

New York City might be the “Mecca for Hip Hop,” as 24-year old producer Audio Games says, but he himself hails from another New York state city: Rochester. However, having moved to Queens two years ago, Audio Games has wasted no time in making himself feel right at home by working on recent projects with NYC and Stones Throw Records rapper Homeboy Sandman, who was recently featured on Ok-Tho here. We caught up with him to get an inside look at what a producer should and shouldn’t to get better and more popular, as well as an update on what he’s being doing musically over the past few months.

Ok-Tho:

Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get into making beats?

Audio Games:

When I was 16, I had a copy of Fruity Loops. Back then I had been listening to a lot of Kanye West, with all his soul samples and stuff like that. All these dudes that were chopping up soul samples back in the early 2000s, that got me going. So I started, I don’t even remember how, but I figured out at one point how to chop up soul samples on Fruity Loops. Ever since then, I’ve been doing it.

OK-Tho:

What’s your producing set-up now?

Audio Games:

It’s very, very, very basic. I have this portable USB turntable, and I just plug that into the laptop and then rip the samples right off that and into Fruity Loops and chop it all up that way. I don’t use a drum machine or anything like that, I just chop it all up with a mouse and keyboard.

OK-Tho:

As a producer, you make the beat and then someone else puts the rap on. But you obviously don’t want to work with a rapper who isn’t any good, so how do you get your beats in the hands of the right people?

Audio Games:

Every once in a while I’ll be in a little phase where I’m trying to find more rappers. Maybe two years ago I was really checking the Web a lot, and looking out for new rappers that aren’t really that well known, which is the type of rapper that I like to work with. Then I’ll send them some beats and sometimes we end up making a bunch of music together. If I come across a rapper that I think would be a good match for the styles that I make then I’ll shoot them an email with some beats.

OK-Tho:

Is that how you ended up working with Homeboy Sandman?

Audio Games:

Yeah, I just sent him some beats through email, like the one for the song “Subject Matter: Out Now” [that you can hear here], which was when he was releasing an EP on Stones Throw Records called Subject Matter. And then sometimes I’ll also carry a flash drive with me with some beats on it.

OK-Tho:

Did you and Sandman work together on any other songs?

Audio Games:

I did that song for him and then I had a project that was kind of over the past year, I released it in 3 phases. It’s a 3-part concept project loosely based off Shakespeare’s MacBeth, and other random shit. I got him on a song for that too.

OK-Tho:

If you were to give advice to a producer who’s just getting started, what would you say?

Audio Games:

A lot of people I think would give advice on how to be successful and what not, but I would say do your own thing and explore as much as you can. Try to create the sound of however you feel, and eventually people might dig it. I’m a firm believer in that you got to go way out into unknown territories in order to find the best stuff that you can make. You can’t just try to be safe. You gotta go out there and explore and do crazy shit or else you’re never gonna make the dopest shit that you can make.

OK-Tho:

Where do you get your samples from?

Audio Games:

I’ve got plenty of sample packs and stuff, but I’ve gotten drum packs from friends who produce too. Then a lot of times I just blend lots of different drums together to make my own sounds, so that the work is really layered. A lot of times I like to sample drums from records and then on top of that I do a lot of digital drum work and just blend the two. 

OK-Tho:

How do you start your songs? Do you get your inspiration and write it down, or do you just go in with no idea and start messing around?

Audio Games:

When I’m sampling, I’ll always be looking for the sample or I’ll just go into the folder I have that has a bunch of samples that I just haven’t gotten around to yet. The main inspiration for the most part would be the actual song that I’m sampling. I’ll listen to it a few times and then you start to hear the different parts that you want to play with. Like I said, a lot of the stuff that I’m working with now is with live instruments, not so much myself as other musicians, so with that it’s more that you’re getting inspiration from other people that are helping out. Sometimes I’ll just pick up the guitar and mess around for a while, and then after doing that after doing for a week I’ll come across something that I really like. And then I’ll try to make a beat out of that.

OK-Tho:

When you’re doing a collaboration as a producer, how much do you direct the rapper on what to do? Do you just leave it in his or her hands completely?

Audio Games:

If it’s my own project, a lot of times I’ll give more direction. But if it’s somebody else’s project, then my goal is more to help them make exactly what they want. So if I see that they’re trying to head in a certain direction, then I’ll nudge them into that direction. But it’s their choice. I try to steer them where they’re trying to go.

OK-Tho:

What’s going on with your right now? What’s your most recent work?

Audio Games:

The most recent thing I’ve released is the R.ichard Oasis album, Figments of a Drunken Mastermind’s Imagination, which I’m really proud of [and which you can hear here.] Rich is a really unique rapper, and that’s exactly what I like: people who try to do things differently.

OK-Tho:

What have you been doing since then?

Audio Games:

I’m always working on beats, but in particular I’ve been working a lot more with actual instruments. I’ve been playing a lot more guitar, and working with my friend who plays trumpet. I have another friend who’s really good at jazz guitar, and then another one who’s sick at blues guitar. So I’ve been trying to work with a lot of friends because I’m surrounded by so many talented people so I feel like I should kind of try to convert some of their music into Hip Hop. I’m also working on a musical but that’s not going to be coming out for a long time.

OK-Tho:

Not a whole lot of producers turn around and do musicals. Is it going to be a musical with rap beats, or are you stepping out of the rap world and writing musical songs?

Audio Games:

It’s all rap samples. I won’t say exactly what movie it’s based off, but it’s based off a classic film from the 60s that a lot of people are familiar with. It’s a Hip Hop interpretation of the musical genre. I did all the beats, and wrote all the raps, but I’m not going to be rapping it. That might be happening within the next year and a half, at the latest.

OK-Tho:

Do you have any upcoming plans besides the musical?

Audio Games:

I do have something coming up with Steve Thells, because I’ve done other stuff with him. He’s on some of my projects, but I’m doing a full thing with him that we’ve been working on for a year, maybe more. We’ve both been busy, but I think this winter it’s gonna be coming out. I don’t have many plans for releases until I’m finished with the stuff I’m working on right now. But I do know that R.ichard Oasis mentioned something to me that he’s coming out with. I’m pretty sure it’s a project with beats that he has from me that never made the album. 

[A song from which you can hear below:]

OK-Tho:

What are you listening to nowadays?

Audio Games:

I listen to a lot of jazz, like Ahmad Jamal. As for Hip Hop, I really like Earl Sweatshirt’s album Doris. I really like that album’s beats, and then also the ones on Tyler’s album Wolf. The production on that album blew me away. I listen to a lot of music but don’t necessarily make stuff like the stuff I’m listening to.

OK-Tho:

Anything else you want to add?

Audio Games:

Yeah, your articles, that stuff is fucking awesome. Composer’s Corner, right? I was actually telling some of my friends about that. I’ve never seen anybody do that analysis with rap lyrics, it’s fucking awesome. You’ve got to keep that up.

-If you enjoyed this article, check out Martin Connor’s website The Composer’s Corner here. The Composer’s Corner blog deepens a listener’s appreciation for rap by showing exactly how one should listen to rap, and what to listen for in it. The blog features rap analysis, rap sheet music and notations, advice on how to rap and more. Martin Connor is a 2012 graduate of Duke University with a degree in music theory, and manages up and coming artists like R.ichard Oasis. You can follow Martin on Twitter @ComposersCorner, or email him with questions or comments at martinedwardconnor@gmail.com.