BEYOND 10,000 HOURS
Daybreakers are a production duo made up of a talented musicians Alex Hush & Ric Scott. Individually they have each had their own successes – British born Ric has worked with some of the top dance and trance artists such as Moogwai, Warp Brothers, Paul Van Dyk and Neo, plus mainstream musicians like Lady Gaga and Lionel Richie. Hailing from Barrie, Canada, Alex is also formerly part of the production team Koishii & Hush. He has collaborated musically with Mick Jagger, INXS, Erasure, Duran Duran. Together they have done remixes for Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, U2 and more. The guys took a break from the studio to lay down some very useful advice on the biz to Play MPE.
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN MUSIC
Ric: My mother was a singer, my older brother was a keyboard player, my sister was a pianist, and my oldest brother was a guitarist, so I was always surrounded by music. I got into synthpop (Vince Clarke, Jean-Michel Jarre & Kraftwerk) before seeing Adamski perform ‘Killer’ on the TV and thought, ‘I could do that.’
I studied music from the age of 5 and left music school at 16. At 21, I met a music producer, and I would perform session keys on his songs. Instead of disappearing after the session, I would hang back in the studio to see how the tracks were put together. I would watch the audio engineer and see how he interacted with the producer. I made mental notes on everything and tried to replicate it at home.
Alex: I was drawn to music from the get-go. We always had a radio on in the house and anytime a gift giving holiday came around, I would always ask for records. Just something about the melodies and different sounds and styles really piqued my interest, so I started listening to quite an eclectic range of styles. My interest in music led to working as a board operator at a dance music radio station near Toronto, and from there I got into music production.
WE CAN PICK ‘EM
Alex: When there’s an artist we want to work with, it comes down to being proactive and approaching people. It is not always easy, but persistence (and occasionally timing) does pay off. Once you have built up a decent resume, that helps push things in your favor. We always let anyone we work with know that there is no magic bullet for success. With more than 120,000 new tracks hitting music streaming services daily, you can imagine that not every project gets the audience it might deserve.
Ric: We like to work with a good mix of artists, not just fully established artists. If we receive a demo to potentially work on, if we like it, we will work with it, regardless of how much fame they do or don’t have. Social media also isn’t an important factor to us when it comes to whether we will work with an artist or not. Music existed long before social media.
Alex: I would agree. Having a good social media following obviously can be a benefit when trying to get attention to a new project, but it is not the be all and end all for us. Everybody starts somewhere, and to ignore someone just because they have a smaller social media following is very shortsighted.
THE WORK
Ric: When we are doing a remix, we like to keep the original artist informed on the progress. The artists we work with know there’s a certain direction, but until Alex and I get together to work on the tune, not even we know which final direction it will take.
Alex: We also do some A&R Consulting, collaborating with the artist on the marketing and promotion of the track to make sure they are targeting the right audience with their final product. This could include things such as going over budgets and strategies for artwork and branding, mastering engineer recommendations and liaising with radio and DJ promotion services.
Ric: Be prepared for long hours. Don’t obsess over the music otherwise it will consume you. Go for quality over quantity, and if you need to, follow the advice of professionals. Take breaks between sessions to let your ears re-adjust. What sounded great in one session will sound terrible in another. Personally, we like to work on a project over the course of a month, this is not always possible, but we think that is the perfect sweet spot.
Alex: I would also stress that while it is good to know what other artists are doing, you should always do your own thing. You can be inspired by others, but be true to yourself, otherwise you will be chasing trends of what you think people want to hear and, in the end, if it’s not your own sound, you will never be happy.
Ric: Vocalist-wise, I’d like to work with Becky Hill, Anne-Marie or Ella Henderson. Also, Jean-Michel Jarre is someone I’d love to do something with.
Alex: I would love to work with Shania Twain, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Robyn and Steve Perry.
CCCHHH-AAAANGES
Alex: I think the magic and wonder of discovering music has been lost in many ways. The thrill of going to the record shop and spending time flipping through records, the excitement of bringing that record home, pouring over the artwork and every credit, from producer to graphic designer, is gone. Listening to that album from start to finish and then again and again. Having discussions with your friends about which album or single you bought and what bands to check out. That whole mental bookmark is now a thing of the past. No one will remember the first time they clicked on a song in Spotify…
Ric: Technology has developed a lot since we first started. From the size of studios to the fact that you can fit a studio into a laptop now …and also, the lack of physical media. When I was younger, my friends would come around and go through my record and CD collection. No one comes round now to check out my Apple music playlist.
WHATCHA GOT?
Alex: We have been thrilled with the response we are getting with our latest track, which is a collaboration with the guys from Radio Company (Jensen Ackles and Steven Carlson). We took their track ‘Quarter To’ and gave it a very radical rework and as of today, it’s is #7 on the “Music Week Commercial Pop Club Chart,” so we couldn’t be happier.