Behind The Music: UK Producer Interview - SJ2FVDED.

SJ Interview Hailing from North-West London, producer, platinum mixer and one half of 2fvded Stewart Justyn (aka SJ) has worked with UK music legends such as Wretch 32, Avelino and Mhuncho as well as superstars across the pond such as J.I the Prince of N.Y. The acclaimed producer talks about his route into the industry, his favourite tracks, advice for new producers, and more.

How did you get into music production?

"I sort of went down the self-taught/academic route. I always had an interest in music creation. I used to play musical instruments in school, I went to college to do music tech which taught me more about the production side, this was before YouTube, so all my knowledge came from magazines. Then I went on to do Popular Music Production at university which is where I learnt about the different tools to make music. "

When you started were there certain producers that you looked up to and took inspiration from their work?

At the time there wasn't as much of a UK scene as there is now. The people I was taking inspiration from were from the States, such as Timberland, Kayne, and Dr Dre. I would take little bits from each one of them. I didn't want too much of that American feel, UK artists would tend to shy away from beats that sounded too American as it was mainly grime that was popular at this point Who have been your favourite artists to work with, and what's your favourite song that you have worked on?

"My favourite artist that I worked with Wretch32. Mainly because everything you hear in his music, he's like that in real life, he's a genius man. As for my favourite song, I will give you two, ones not out yet but it's by an R&B artist called Jvck James. The other is Panther by Dappy."

What's your favorite genre to work with?

"When I was starting out everyone that knew me would say that I was an R&B producer. Whereas now I'm leaning more into hip-hop. I'm definitely back into my hip-hop and sample bag."

What's the creative process behind a track when you're working with an artist for the first time?

"The most important part is knowing what the artist wants. You are there to make the artist's vision come alive. I will just talk to the artist for an hour about their life and where their headspace is. From there I can find out what record they are missing, and we can create from there. Once the artist has some melodies in their head, we can add the bass and drums etc."

How do you navigate the musician-to-producer relationship when you're working on a track/project?

"It's always important that the artist trusts the producer and their ear. The artist can only take their ideas so far, it's a collaborative thing. Both people need to leave their egos at the door and just try things. As a producer, it's my job to offer something different and try and broaden the artist’s mindset."

What's the process of mixing and mastering?

"I describe mixing as when you get a new car from a dealership. Now the dealership cleans it and makes sure it smells good. It's fine tuning any mistakes made in the recording process. For example, I've had it where an artist has recorded one verse one week in a studio and the second verse the week after in another studio. I need to make sure both verses sound the same or as close as possible. It's a lot of fixing pops, headphone bleeds, and making sure the balance between the vocals and the music sounds right. The mastering process is where you make smaller adjustments, like making sure each song after the next sits in the same sonic field."

What advice would you give to an aspiring music producer?

"Stick to doing what you love, a lot of people feel like they must make certain types of music that aren't for them, and they get tired of it. Make what you like to make, tying into that use whatever tools you want to use. You don't need to use what other people are using."

What trials and tribulations have you experienced that aspiring producers might be able to relate to, and what tips do you have on how to get around them?

"With something like a creative block, it never goes away. It used to frustrate me so much that I wouldn't produce anything and blame everything else. I saw this interview with Ed Sheeran, and he said when he gets writing block, he just keeps writing. You need to push through it, I adjusted that to production. Eventually, I can go back to a beat and re-approach it completely. I'd just say keep creating and save every idea to come back to it. You can always take a break or go for a walk. "

Do you think music producers are still overlooked by the public?

"I do think it has got a little bit better, for example, you can see who produced a song on Spotify. I think producers are still overlooked unless they have made their own brand and are almost the same as an artist. I've had my tag removed from my records, how we stop stuff like that I'm not sure, maybe just to do work and build with artists that respect the work that you do. I was watching an interview with Gunna, and he constantly shouts out his producers. Artists might release a snippet, and they don't even tag the producer. That tag alone can help build our name, it's simple things like that. "

What direction do you see the UK music industry going in the next few years?

"Right now, I think genre-wise, things like R&B never do as well as they should in the UK. I've found that in the UK we either like party music or gritty music like grime and drill. We are at this weird point where we are still trying to figure out who we are in terms of our music scene because it's still very new. I can see us going back to the basics, stuff with more substance."