Legendary Canadian Producer, Elaquent - life lessons and beat expression.
How has your experiences Influenced your drive and passion to make music?
Everything I experience influences what I do. To me, making music is a reflection of how you see and interact with the world.
There are a number of musicians I'm inspired by, but I get the most inspiration from conversations with friends, a delicious meal, travelling to a cool place, stories my father tells me, etc. Most of my music is instrumental, and I really like doing soundtrack-of-life themes, and a lot of my song titles reflect just that.
Whenever I fall in creative blocks, it's normally a sign that I need to get out and live life some more.
Can you remember your earliest memory of making music?
The very first memory I have making music was actually on my Game Boy lol. I had one when I was a kid and they made that Game Boy Camera accessory, but it doubled as a game too. The camera part was what everyone remembers, but there was actually a basic chiptune daw in there, and while it was extremely limited, it was the first time the idea of making music was planted into my head.
I always had a fascination of making music, but as a 12 year old child, buying an MPC was out of the question. Luckily the internet became prominent around the time, and I searched and found a program called Fruity Loops, which had a free demo, so that was my first time making a real beat.
The beat in question was horrible, but I felt like DJ Premier at the time. it was a super simple beat with a couple piano notes, and first thing I did was show my older brother, who was honest and told me it was trash lol. But it motivated me to keep at it. I didn't learn how to sample until like 6 months later, and that was when my production gradually improved.
Can you tell us the story behind the track 'Spirit of Richard Wright' on your Rediscovery album?
I gotta give the bro Skyzoo all the credit for that one. I made a list of people I wanted to work with, and had him on the list...had a beat that I thought he'd go crazy over but he wasn't crazy about the beat I sent him as well as a couple others. I pulled out a joint that I wasn't going to use for the project at all, and he ended up loving it. lol it's funny how that happens sometimes.
He breathed new life into a beat I wasn't super crazy about, and he did his thing. As was the case with this album, I gave him free reins to rap about whatever the beat inspired him, which usually results in rappers talking their sh*t on record, which I love. But he opted to do a meaningful song about Black life and some of the struggles that pertain to it, which I didn't expect, but I'm so grateful he opted to do.
It really gave me a signature track for my album and one of the best ones I've ever been apart of, with the great thing being, it came up organically, with very little direction from me. Salute to Skyzoo.
Outside of music, what other influences do you draw inspiration from?
Touched on it earlier, but mostly life and conversations. I'm a big martial art movie fan, and I'm always inspired after watching a good kung fu flick. Wrestling, video games, a lot of nerdy sh*t definitely inspires me. But inspiration comes from unexpected places too. Sometimes reading a book or magazine article or something where you learn something new can be turned into a cool song.
In your opinion, how important is creativity? For you and for others?
It's paramount. Hip Hop just turned 50 years old, and through it all, there are so many styles and sounds that we've heard over the years, with certain sounds being super prominent commercially. Figuring out new ways to do something a touch different or unique is how to push the culture forward.
Figuring out new twists to the formula is what a lot of us strive to achieve, with varying degrees of success, but ultimately, good music is the objective. I wear my inspirations on my sleeve, but trying to make it your own and find your signature is what I think all great artists strive for.
Your style embodies sincerity - do you have any words of wisdom or philosophies that are important to you?
My dad always taught me not to lose sleep over things that are out of your control, and that's a mantra I try to live by. There are so many variables in life, and things that can happen, fairly and unfairly, that can really change your mood and outlook on life, but I find it a little easier to navigate when you remember that very little of it is in your control.
You can only learn from new experiences, but panicking over things you cannot fix is unproductive, you have to learn how to push forward. and the music industry is full of those scenarios that are out of your control, so the philosophy has definitely helped me stay sane.
Bandcamp: Elaquent
Instagram: @Elaquent
Website: Elaquent
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