Hey Lauren, stoked to have you be part of our series! Give us a little intro to Lauren Flax. How has being a Detroit native and growing up in the Chicago house scene influenced your style? Everything. It’s a pretty special thing to be surrounded by the best of the best in terms of house and techno. I grew up knowing the biggest influencers, and that definitely put a spark in my belly. I wanted to be a part of it.
You’ve worked with the likes of Sia, Le Tigre and Fischerspooner. You are also part of the steamy trip-hop duo CREEP. How do you approach music production when you start working with a new artist? I usually will have a song done or pretty close to being done before inviting in a vocalist. The person I’d like to collaborate with usually presents themselves to me mentally somewhere along the creative process. It’s the same thing for CREEP and my solo stuff. Luckily I have a good amount of talented friends who are pretty open to collaborate. Been very fortunate.
There seems to be a larger roster of male producers/DJ’s. In a recent interview Grimes told Rolling Stone, “I don’t think there are few female producers because women aren’t interested. It’s difficult for women to get in.” What are your thoughts? I say the same thing every time. I am absolutely surrounded by female producers, no matter what city I’m in. Now when I do workshops or speak on panels, there are so many more girls and young women in the audience, very eager to learn. Sometimes they know more than I do haha.
How has technology/tech innovation influenced the way you produce music? I’ve been lucky enough to get deeper into production in a time where accessibility has been the biggest improvement in technology. Anyone can learn to produce with just a laptop and a midi keyboard. However, I started learning how to produce in ’99. We weren’t at that point yet, but luckily I had some friends who let me work in their studios. I couldn’t afford the gear at the time, so it was huge for me. Now I like to be both in the box and out of the box.
Name one piece of equipment you can’t live without. I really love Maschine by Native Instruments. Great way to build a solid library in one place. About to pick up a Roland TR-8 and an XoXbox so my process may start evolving a bit again.
What do you take on the road with you? When I’m djing, I just use USB’s. If I’m playing live, it would be my Maschine, Novation Bass station and my guitar with different effects pedals. I love my electribe space pedal.
What do you think is the most important thing for an artist to remain relevant in today’s ever-changing music scene? To always push ourselves to grow. To innovate and try to land on something that’s never been done before. Pushing beyond one’s comfort zone can be very fruitful. Its also just as important to take time away from writing to replenish your light. I have to remind myself of this all the time. Get inspiration and be surrounded by caring, humble people that are down to spread their knowledge with you.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into music production? I think finding the platform that makes most sense to your brain is the best way to start out. Whether its Logic, Ableton, Cubase, FL Studio, etc, just pick what what makes the most sense to you. You can get most things done in any program. I personally love Logic, Ableton doesn’t work as well for being intuitive but I do know a lot of people who feel the opposite. Just go with what works for you and then start watching them tutorials.
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