John Lavido

After being featured in our music spot, The Thailand based Australian producer @John Lavido is this month SoundGym Hero! So how long have you been on SoundGym? 

Roughly 2-3 months. 

I love the approach to training one's ears. It strikes me as one of the closest things to deliberate practice for detecting things like EQ, compression, panning and so on. I'm a big believer in deliberate practice as the way to develop skill (and even interviewed Anders Ericsson about it here - here's the scientist who did the research on deliberate practice and the "10,000-hour rule").

What was your first connection to music?

Mum's a singer and pianist, and my sister and I were encouraged to study music for as long as I can remember. I started guitar lessons when I was about 12 years old, and stuck with that for 10-15 years. 

What turns me on about music is the goosebumps I get when I find a cool idea, or a cool song, or have a good jam. Even today, despite working mostly in the studio on electronic music, I still love to get together with a few musicians and jam. It's a sublime experience, when you sync up together on stage, and sort of communicate with your eyes, or maybe your instrument. It's this feeling - the musical flow state - and the feeling of being on stage and performing that I'm chasing. 

I love it. I always have.

Tell us about your journey to 100,000 fans? 

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm sharing my journey to 100,000 fans on my website here. If you scroll down to the bottom of that page, you can see the current fan count (8,113 in August 2017).

I'm using the total social platform fan count, plus email subscribers, to come up with my "total", but this approach has challenges. It's difficult to say what a "fan" is. I don't think all the people on my socials are true fans, in the sense that they'd actually pay to see a show or add me to one of their favorite Spotify playlists. I'd like to get a more accurate way of measuring the fan count, but so far, I haven't figured out what it could be.

One of the other challenges has been the realization that ultimately if the music isn't world class, marketing won't help. That, and the challenge of figuring out how much time to spend on music production vs marketing. Lately, I've been swinging back more to production, because I feel that my tracks aren't yet world class.

Who have been the biggest influences on you and how do you think they've shaped your sound?

Oh man. So many.

Lately, I've been geeking out on Infected Mushroom. I LOVE the last 2 albums. Songs like this. The deep trippy vocal here is magical.

I spend a lot of time on Youtube and Spotify, looking for new songs. Trap Nation is one of my go-to channels. It's mostly future bass songs these days. I also love dirty, aggressive trap like Puppets VIP by Gawtbass. I'd love to one day be able to make a track like that. It's so sexy and gives me all sorts of amazing feelings. I want to give people the same kind of feelings.

Reaching further back in time... I love Motley Crue (especially Kickstart My Heart), Guns N' Roses, AC/DC (making a Back In Black remix at the moment), Led Zeppelin, and a lot of the other old rock bands. It probably has something to do with me being a guitarist. I love a good riff or guitar solo.

What have you been working on lately?

Well, Soundgym has been one thing :) One hour day, 5 days a week, got me to "better than 97.4% of users" in 2 months.

In terms of production, I aim to complete one track per month. In June, I finished a Despacito Remix. In July, I made a collab with a friend, but that's currently waiting on vocals, and due to be completed later this month. And like I mentioned above, August has me working on a Back In Black remix (here's a teaser).

Tell us a bit about your workflow at the studio?

I try to work in stages. The first stage is where I get some sort of idea going, usually using basic stock instruments in Logic so I don't get distracted by sound design. Once I've got a cool idea, I create the arrangement and structure using markers in Logic. Then I get the idea working as a whole track instead of just an 8 bar loop. Once that's done, I'll start adding my own sounds and mixing as I go. Then I'll add FX like risers and all that. Lastly, I'll set up a mastering chain.

 

Sometimes, I create a basic loudness mastering chain closer to the beginning so I can have some idea of how the track will sound once done. I find it helps with imagining the finished product while creating.

What are some of your habits when starting a project?

The latest habit is trying to get a cool idea or loop going while only using stock Logic instruments with no customization. So I'll grab the Brooklyn Drum Kit, maybe a bass guitar, and a piano, and try to get something going with only those. 

Another habit is getting the structure done with markers fairly close to the beginning of the project.

What is one of your favorite production techniques and how did you use it in your songs?

Lately, I've been loving cutting up vocals and looping super short sections to create a robotic glitchy sound. I got the idea/trick from Infected Mushroom.

One Free plugin that you recommend?

Camel Crusher. 

What is your secret plug-in that no-one knows about?

Maybe LEVELS? It's a mastering plugin with some cool features that help relative beginners like me.

What advice do you give artists and producers who just get in the game?

Everything starts with the music. Focus on your craft first, and try to leave the marketing for later. And if you're serious about making it into a career, approach it like a job. Schedule time every day to sit down and work on it. Set yourself targets and goals and all that. Be professional about it. If you just try to "wing it", the career will probably never happen.

What does the future hold for John lavido in the music industry?

If all goes to plan, I'll be on a world tour and playing at festivals, sometime in the next 3, 5 or even 7-8 years.

Last question, What is your favorite SoundGym Feature and why?

The white noise practice mode on the EQ games. That has really helped me get a better understanding of EQ frequencies.


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John Lavido
Sep 05, 2017
Thanks for sharing guys!

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