Mike & Keys

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Behind The Board: Mike & Keys On Their Special Relationship With Nipsey Hussle, Working With Gladys Knight & More

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The duo talk finding inspiration at a Jay-Z concert, gleaning wisdom from legends like Gladys Knight & more: "That's always the goal, to make a song that's forever."
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Aug 26, 2019 - 12:30 pm

GRAMMY-nominated producers Mike & Keys might be on top of the game, but they haven't forgotten where they came from. Boasting credits with everyone from Nipsey Hussle to BJ The Chicago Kid, Snoop Dogg to Faith Evans, the duo, formerly known as The Futureistiks have built a name for themselves in hip-hop and beyond.

Behind The Board: Mike & Keys

Since the beginning, the duo felt they had something to say with their music, and that they belonged at the table with the great producers and artists of their time. 

"We were confident," said Keys. "We could do this, we could make music for a Jay-Z, to that caliber. I think it was his Blueprint 3 concert, we went there. Seeing a live band play the beats, it just sounded dope live, so that really inpired us to keep forth and making music."

From early in their career, Mike & Keys worked with Nipsey extensively, becoming close to the late GRAMMY-nominated rapper both in the studio and in life.

"We were more than just music producers to him," said Mike. "We were friends, we did everything together."

"With Nipsey, it was pretty much all the mixtapes that we were a part of" added Keys. "He was like, 'You guys are my sound.'"

WATCH: Nipsey Hussle #NoCover

The duo's sound is sought out because it comes through as authentic and timeless.

"People feel what really came out your heart," said Mike. "That's why some of the best songs is what came out of  someone's heart, what they was really feeling at that time... that's always the goal, to make a song that's forever."

"We just want to give quality to the people, because they deserve it," Keys added. "That's what music is about, is to make people feel good."

Watch their full Behind The Board in the video above to hear what Mike & Keys learned from working on Gladys Knight's last album, plus their plans to release music of their own very soon.

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John Loose

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Behind The Board: John Loose Of Dolby Labs On Spatial Audio & Using "Little Moments" To Create Mix Magic

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The director of audio/visual production at Dolby Labs talks about how Dolby Atmos technology is changing cinema sound, what he feels makes a good music mix and more
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Sep 23, 2019 - 1:34 pm

John Loose knows how crucial his role as engineer is in the movie-watching experience. In the latest episode of Behind the Board, the director of audio/visual production for Dolby Labs dissected how spatial audio is changing cinema sound, how engineers use little moments to create musical magic, approaching modern mix elements and more. 

Behind The Board: John Loose Of Dolby Labs

Starting by tracing his music roots to his dads career as a clarinetist and pianist, Loose became a concert percussionist and pianist before becoming an engineer. Now, at Dolby Labs, Loose spends most of his time working on Dolby Atmos, a spatial audio technology that has become the standard for film release. Atmos takes cinema sound beyond the limitations of simply panning between speakers, instead creating audio objects that can be tracked around the room and rendered to the room on playback.

"{Dolby Atoms] was really designed so that we could get over this need, in the cinema industry espeiciall, to get a higher resolution, meaning more speakers, more channels, without making the Hollywood mixers do a special mix for every single configuration," Loose explained

Loose also dives into how the, "Little moments that we all choose as engineers to pull out of a mix and to draw your attention to,"  can be made bigger with Atmos without losing the original intention of the mix. He cites Beach Boys' Brian Wilson's early mono mixes as examples of how certain moments rise to the top and relates the technique to approaching modern mix elements such as loops.

Learn more about Loose's work at Dolby by watching the video above, and stay tuned for more episodes of Behind The Board.

Behind The Board: Michael Denton On Working With E-40, Making Music 3-D & Keeping Creativity Tactile

Julie Wolf

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Behind The Board: Julie Wolf On Touring With Ani DiFranco, Trust & Serving The Song

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The multi-talented producer dives into her musical past, how jazz and improvisation changed her life, what makes a great record and more
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Sep 9, 2019 - 11:24 am

Versatile, soulful and intuitive, Julie Wolf has blazed her own trail into a music career that combines producing, composing, performing, music directing, teaching, sound design and more. Based in Oakland, Calif., Wolf's resume of collaborators includes Carly Simon, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Maceo Parker, Toshi Reagon, Bruce Cockburn and Sia. In the latest episode of Behind The Board, she dives into her musical past, touring with DiFranco, and what makes a great record.

Behind The Board: Julie Wolf

Wolf recalls taking a gig as music director for a musical theatre production in Seattle that led her to enroll in a jazz program, which reignited her interest in music.

"It was a complete plate tectonic shifting life-changer, opening my heart and my ears and my soul to jazz and improvised music," Wolf said. "It gave me life."

She goes on to detail how she began to work with singer/songwriters and hit the road with legendary folk disfuptor Ani DiFranco. Wolf found her niche in performing live in a band that had not had a keyboard player prior to her arrival, and she began to merge her diverse musical experiences into a larger production philsopy.

"There is a through line you can follow like a north star: Does this serve the song? What does the artist want to communicate? Have you opened the channels of your heart and your creative flow so this comes through unobstructed? I think that's what makes a great record," she said.

Now Wolf specializes in music production, composing for film and dance, sound design and music editing with her company, Julie Wolf Music. She also serves as in-house music producer for the legendary Fantasy Studios, where she puts the lessons she's learned through a life in music to use with artists from a wide array of genres. 

"The more trust that is developed and built, the more risks can be taken," said Worlf. "And that's where really beautiful music is made."

Behind The Board: Mike & Keys On Their Special Relationship With Nipsey Hussle, Working With Gladys Knight & More

Peter Asher

Peter Asher

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Behind The Board: Producer Peter Asher On James Taylor, Cher, Linda Ronstadt & More

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The legendary record maker talks about the importance of songwriting, the evolution of his studio tools and his work with some of the world's biggest artists
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Mar 15, 2019 - 10:39 am

Over the course of his five-decade-plus career, GRAMMY-winning producer Peter Asher has touched some of the finest recording in music's cannon. His body of work has earned him 13 GRAMMY nominations in all, and he won the coveted Producer Of The Year GRAMMY Award for 1977.

Peter Asher Shares How He Got Behind The Board

His musical and sonic imagination can be heard on recordings by great artists such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Diana Ross, Randy Newman and more, and in his work as an artist himself with Peter and Gordon, all of which has informed his core philosophy for making great records; it's all about the song. 

"You can't make a great record without a great song." says Asher. "My admiration for great singers is possilby even exceeded by my admiration for great songwriters. And when someone is both, when it's a James Taylor or an Ed Sheeran... that's the best of all possible worlds."

Asher earned his first two GRAMMY nominations back in 1970 for his work with Taylor, including noms for Album Of The Year for Sweet Baby James and Record Of The Year for "Fire And Rain." 

"[Becoming] a producer was an ambition of mine. The minute I started making records as an artist and watched what a producer does, I kinda went, 'I want to do that. I can do that,'" he says.

In this episode of "Behind The Board," Asher also talks about what tools he uses in the studio, how those tools have changed, what it's like making albums with Cher, Ronstadt and Taylor, his experience being in the recording session for the Beatles' "Hey Jude," and much more.

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Jennifer Decilveo

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Behind The Board: Producer/Songwriter Jennifer Decilveo On Making Records With Truth & Trust

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The dynamic songwriter/producer tells her story in the studio, from kick-starting her career with Beth Ditto to collaborating with today's most creative musical minds
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Mar 8, 2019 - 10:16 am

From her first break making a full-length album with Beth Ditto to her work with Melanie Martinez, Anne-Marie and Andra Day, Jennifer Decilveo has built a career on the core tenants of truth and trust. In this episode of Behind The Board, Decilveo talks about how these elements lead to identifyable songs and recordings. 

"I like stuff that, I think speaks to me, i think is written for me," Decilveo says. "I think making music for yourself and just speaking your truth is probably what people latch onto, because they can feel that."

Decilveo's success is the studio can be attributed to her collaborative attitude. She brings experience, perspective and tons of creativity to the table. But in the end, it's about establishing enough trust to let the best idea win.

"I'm definitely somebody who has a very strong opinion, but I can be silenced, and I want to be proven wrong," she says. "It's all about the artist, assuming they have a vision and that they have a sense of self. It's just them allowing me and trusting me to achieve that."

Watch an exclusive interview with Decilveo above to learn more about her craft.

Behind The Board: Harvey Mason Jr. On The Role, Meaning Of Being A Producer