https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaFK6AHhU8s
My nephew had a party coming up where he and his mate are going to DJ. As part of his preparations he showed me his new decks and explained how he creates and mixes music, the effects he uses and what makes him choose one thing over another was fascinating.
We ended up talking about older music and his constant search for new sounds and samples. Soul and Motown are obvious hunting grounds because you can hear their influence everywhere, but he’s always looking for something different… something people a bit different.
That brought us to drum beats, and to a band I’d been holding back from sharing. Not for any particular reason. Sometimes you just have to wait for the right song and the right moment, and this felt like it. It comes from one of those huge bands everybody knows, but it isn’t one of the songs everybody reaches for.
It’s great being able to share a song in person and watch his reaction as he hears it for the first time. His musical knowledge keeps getting deeper, but this was new to him. I’m a sucker for a strong intro, and this one comes in all guns blazing. Hard, heavy and brilliant.
What really strikes me, though, is the space between the notes. The drums stop dead rather than drifting into one another, and that silence makes each hit feel even more powerful. It led us into a conversation about pauses in music and how much they can add. I already know another song I want to share in a few weeks because it contains one of my favourite pauses. I feel that will appear soon on this list!
For now, I’m going to stay with ’70s rock. Last week’s song came from that world too, so perhaps this becomes a little series… famous bands, but tracks beyond the obvious choices. Songs with something he might be able to sample and work into music of his own.