Interview: Smythe
September 7, 2020
In 1978, Herbie Hancock released his 19th studio album, Sunlight. By that point, Herbie had established himself as one of the most forward-thinking musicians of his era. Much like his mentor, Miles Davis, by the mid-late 70s, Herbie was just as much enmeshed in Jazz as he was Funk. This album in particular prominently featured Herbie’s vocals processed through a Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder - a technological device that transforms the voice with the aid of an instrument, allowing the voice to be harmonized with itself. While Herbie had explored in previous albums, Sunlight felt a little different, more polished and decisive. Herbie certainly wasn’t the first person to use a vocoder, but there was a distinct way in which he used the instrument, and maybe even a precursor to a sound that would become popular in the 80s with Roger Troutman, and later with Daft Punk in the 90s.
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Last week, John Smythe a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer, released his debut single, Crush, an up tempo, infectiously groovy song featuring the talkbox. For the past few years Smythe has been helping craft samples as a Content Producer for Soul Surplus and Splice — you can find his samples used by producers and artists ranging from Lil Baby to Madlib — a member of the duo, The Latest, and collaborator with Weathrman, a collective of producers. But, with this new single, we get a peak into the genius of Smythe, the solo artist.
Earlier this year, Smythe reached out to me, saying that he had plans for releasing a song, and asked if I would be interested in photographing the cover art. (I said yes without hesitation!). For the album art, Smythe was interested in emulating the aesthetic approach of Herbie Hancock’s Sunlight album, much in line with talkbox usage. What you see is the result of that collaboration!
Below is our conversation about his new single, how it was conceived, his thoughts on working in collaboration with others, influences, and much more!
Stanley: First, congrats on the release of Crush! What was the inspiration behind the song? How was it conceived?
John: Thank you! Crush has a few different points of inspiration.
Back in February, I would listen to podcasts and interviews about Prince (and also binging his music) and how he would write one song a day back in the early 80’s. Prince of course played everything, programmed the Linn Drum, and then engineered his own vocal takes. I told myself I would do the same thing every single day for a month. This song came out of that batch (which means more music coming!).
The song is about having a Crush on someone. I essentially describe my own personal type in the song: caramel skin, natural hair, vibrant personality. I wanted it to feel light and fun.
Like I always do, I programmed the drums first. Obviously very Prince inspired with the placement of the floor tom. Then I recorded the guitar loop, slap bass, some analog synths via the Moog Sirin. Then I wrote the entire song, singing a rough pass of the melody in my iPhone notes to retain the idea. After that, I recorded it through a Korg Minilogue through an Electro-Harmonix Iron Lung Vocoder.
Stanley: One of the things I appreciate, and find most fascinating about you, is that you’re a prolific sample creator through your role as a Content Producer with Splice, while also producing for others, and being a part of a duo, The Latest, on top of a bunch of other things. But this is your first single as a solo artist.
What does your creative process look like making music for yourself versus making music for, or with, others? Is your process similar? Different?
John: That’s a great question! And one I am still trying to find out for myself. I definitely work better alone. Recently I came to the realization that while my skillset is very beneficial when collaborating with others, I still have yet to release anything fully representative of me, and what I like. That was the reason for releasing this single, so yes! My first solo release!
The process for myself is like I just described, and it can be very fast, and very satisfying and rewarding. With The Latest, it might take a little longer, but it can be more rewarding because I love working with vocalist and songwriters and Natalie is a fantastic vocalist and songwriter. It takes my production and mixes to another place. Where the process differs is that once the music is made, it is then handed off, and takes a different shape once she comes back with a full song idea. Creating with Weathrman, I function less as a multi-instrumentalist, and more as a co-producer/guitarist. I’ll come in for a session, and leave and won’t hear the music again until it comes out.
I think I need to operate in all three of these to be happy, but I say work better alone because I am very decisive. It means I can create songs like Crush in a few decisions, playing everything, mixing everything. I can do it all, but it doesn’t mean that I always necessarily want to do it all at all times.
Stanley: You pull from a wide range of styles in your music, and you also played all of the instruments on Crush. Who were some of your musical inspirations for this song?
John: As I mentioned before, definitely Prince! When I created a “sonic mood board” in my mind, which I tend to do often, I created a blend between:
-Prince, for his groove
-DJ Quik, for big bass, West Coast sounds/talkbox inclusion
-Michael Jackson, for how his drums and guitars are syncopated together
-Katy Perry, for bright pop colors, and
-Phoenix, for thick guitar textures
It seems like a lot to think about, but it is barely a second thought for me because I consume a lot of these artist’s music and know what I want to pull from when I want to create something inspired by these elements. Again, this is why I work “better” alone, because not everyone can understand why I would blend DJ Quik, essentially a Compton rapper (and genius), with Phoenix, a pop band from Paris. But in my head it makes total sense.
Stanley: I love the feeling and sonic quality of Crush. What equipment did you use for the recording?
John: Now we’re getting nerdy!
For guitars, a Sterling AX30 through an MXR Dynacomp, through a Traynor YCV40, mic’d with an MD421 into a Dizengoff D4.
For bass, a Fender Jazz V with Flatwounds into a Heritage HA73EQ through some more analog outboard.
For synths/talkbox, a Moog Sirin for leads, Minilogue/EHX Iron-Lung for talkbox, and pads, and a Moog Opus 3 for synth strings
For drums, I used a mix of vintage sounds from the Sequential Circuits Tom, with some newer sounds to create vintage color/punch on the drums.
I mixed it all through a Stam Audio SA4000 bus compressor into a Handsome Audio Zulu Tape Saturator.
As you can tell, I love to talk and think about gear!
Stanley: Will there be any more new music we can expect following Crush?
John: Definitely!
Not sure what I’m dropping next, I want to use this time to get my feet wet, and see what the response is like. I want to switch up the vibe slightly with the next single, so definitely it’s going to be something special and different!
