If I can remember, it was back in October.
I think 2016.
I was meeting up with a friend named Mark Pelli.
He’s an incredible guitarist.
We got in the studio and he gets on the guitar and he just starts playing this guitar loop.
And I was just like, “Yo this is incredible.”
It’s super jazzy.
It was just dope.
A dope vibe, you know what I mean?
I’m really into stuff that brings out emotion in the music so when I heard those chords
I was just like, “Yo you gotta just fuck with it.”
Just do something with it.
Just built on it and it became what it was.
I try not to think about other artists when I’m creating ‘cause we often think about
what an artist wants back in the day or before.
We always have to think ahead as producers what could an artist be on that they’ve
never been on.
When I sent Cole that track, he was in the process of building his secret album, the
‘KOD’ project.
I didn’t know about it.
I don’t think anyone really knew about it.
I don’t even think he even knew about it at the time ‘cause he’s just creating
organically.
I threw that track to him and it just fit the mold of the project so well.
Cole is an incredible lyricist and songwriter so I just knew he was gonna deliver something
just crazy on the track.
And he did.
When I first started “Kevin’s Heart,” I linked up with this guy Mark Pelli.
He’s a great friend of mine and an incredible guitarist.
And he just… you know, was playing some guitars.
This is how it all started.
The moment I heard that, I just knew that was something special.
He adds a couple layers after we recorded this.
It was a crazy vibe but I wanted to make something interesting out of it so I started stacking
effects.
I added this effect called Retro Color which I use a lot.
It gives you that you know… vintage feel.
I threw this over top with a little bit of digital distortion that gives it that like
kind of video game feel.
It doesn’t really sound like a guitar.
It kinda sounds like a synthetic feel.
I just always try to elevate the track to next level and make the sound interesting.
The next thing I’m thinking is to add bass.
I open up this VST.
It’s called the TAL.
The TAL Uno.
It’s pretty much like a mimic of the Juno.
So I pull out this bass, did a little tricks to it, mess with the effects, and I came up
with this.
The bass is pretty much mimicking what’s going on with the chords.
I just really copied what Mark played.
So from there, I just wanted to add a little bit more bottom presence so I started adding
in 808.
The 808 was just from a BWB pack.
I always have a little bend in my bass.
It’s like a little signature thing I would always do.
I don’t know.
I just felt like it’d add a little character in the bass.
Usually, I’ll add the kick next because the bass kind of has to marry with the kick
really well.
It has to just knock together really perfectly.
It’s a pretty simple pattern.
So after that, I’ll start adding hi-hats.
Then I added a second hi-hat.
There’s another hi-hat that I added as well.
The next sound I’m gonna be looking for is a snare so I pulled up this snare right
here.
I just wanted to EQ some of the sounds a bit so you know, I took away some of the highs.
Then I added a drum shaper.
Pretty much, I layered that snare with a clap and together, this is what it sounds like.
The next thing in line that I thought of was to add some percussion sounds.
That’s just like a minor clap that sits under the track so when you play it with the
other snares.
I also added an open hat you know, just to hit every time before the snare comes in.
And then I added this little percussion… almost like a hollow bongo sound.
This is pretty much all the drum tracks together playing at once.
So after I did all the drums, I had the guitar, I had the bass…
I just wanted to add a couple more things to bring out the hook section almost.
So I pulled another sound from the TAL Uno.
If you look here, it’s echoing and the pitch is up all the way.
There’s almost this falling effect that’s happening in the lead and I did it with this
plug in here, Effectrix, if you listen carefully.
The next effect I added is called Crystallizer.
It’s pretty much adding a sense of reverb or doubling from the sound.
Another sound that I added to the track was just like a random, almost paddish effect.
It’s a sound that I found from Omnisphere.
It’s called Communing with Whales.
It kind of has like this whale singing effect.
That actually has an effect over top so I added Retro Color to that.
So if I add it with the drums, you’ll hear it like this.
It’s a really simple beat.
We got the guitar.
We got the bass.
We got an 808 just to add some bottom and the lead.
It’s really simple.
What I like about the beat a lot is that it has trap elements, but it’s very soulful.
It’s very musical and I think that Cole’s album pretty much embodies a lot of that.
I know Cole definitely has a lot of respect for me as a producer.
I’m big on like sound choices and things just sounding right on the track.
I’m like a doctor when it comes to this.
I’ll go through 100 kicks, 200 kicks until I find the right one.
I’ll go through 100 snares until I find the right one.
I think he really appreciates that aspect.
I’m all about the production and he understands that and he’s just a crazy lyricist so…
It’s just like the perfect situation.