After earning the top spot in KRK’s Kreator Classic beat-making competition last fall, Producer Clyde Strokes was awarded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ― a one-on-one collaborative mix session with eight-time GRAMMY®-winning Producer and former ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, Scott Storch.
From technical tips and personal guidance to workstyle advice, Clyde learned about making music and being a musician.
Since we don’t all get the chance to learn from the professionals, we asked Clyde to share the five most significant pieces of advice he took away from his time with Scott Storch.
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Bring it back to the basics.
Musically, I learned a lot from the chords Scott used.
He is self-taught and used that background to break down the chord progressions for specific beats for me. When we started the session, I was working on drums, and he told me which chord structures he would use for each different type of drum that I was playing.
It was great to get that intimate view of the various styles of music and how he would structure it. It was like a music theory lesson. And, as essential as it was, it did open my eyes. I tend to overthink a lot, and this broke it down to the basics for me to branch off from.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
I’m not going to lie; I was pretty nervous about this collaboration. I have done collaborations before, but they are not often in person. Usually, it’s just sending content and ideas back and forth.
Collaborating helps with networking and allows you to branch off and meet new artists, which is an essential skill right now. So, probably unintentionally, Scott helped me learn how to collaborate by going through the progressions he usually has when he works with producers.
Since the Bootcamp, I’ve been working with other artists more, and it’s way less stressful. I think, “Dude; you worked with Scott Storch.” The nerves are gone now.
Everyone works at their own pace.
Similarly, it was also interesting to see how we all work at different paces, and Scott works fast. As soon as he had an idea, he immediately pulled it up.
I learned how to quickly sift through content for him because I wanted to keep his creative juices flowing. I wanted to move fast, so we didn’t lose that momentum. Thankfully, KRK gave me a great library of content to work with at the Gibson Miami showroom, so I could find exactly what he was looking for and keep things moving.
You’re more than just your music.
Another thing I learned from Scott, which was a huge one, is how to brand yourself beyond your music.
We spoke about this after the KRK Kreativity Bootcamp — how he branded himself further as an artist to enrich himself in other areas. Scott explained, “yes, we’re producers, but we can promote ourselves beyond that.”
For example, he does NFT collaborations. If you get your name out there artistically, you can use that musical identity to diving into other avenues. It was fantastic to realize that music’s not the end-all-be-all for me — I love music, but it’s possible to expand off that too.
There is no secret recipe.
The biggest thing I took away from the KRK Kreativity Bootcamp ― from Scott and my other mentors, DJ Khalil and Amadeus ―was learning more about the music industry.
You have to keep going.
I went into this experience hoping that these successful producers would have the key, but there is no one key to success. People will say, “You’re good, man! When it’s your time, it’s your time,” and you kind of hate to hear that, but they’re not wrong. You must know to keep going, stay focused, and the stars will align for you. All three of them told me, in one way or another,
It was reassuring to know that, as creatives, we all have ups and downs. Hearing them say that I’m doing something right just felt good.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
