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Ever wanted to collaborate with your favorite musician? You could follow in the footsteps of L.A.-based musician AM, whose email to Shawn Lee helped yield the upcoming album Celestial Electric.
A few years ago, AM was coming home from tour when he heard one of Lee‘s tracks on the radio. AM dug the song’s ’70s vibe, so he reached out to Lee via email — hoping that the electronic missive would make it to the musician rather than a PR person or manager. Lee responded, and the two became overseas friends (Lee resides in London).
A few years later, the two started collaborating. Lee would send AM drumbeats, and AM would write songs over them. They continued trading tracks until they had enough songs for an album. You can check out a bit of their process in the video above, part of a series called “Building The Track.”
“It was a good chemistry,” AM says of the endeavor. “He could trust that I was going to come up with something cool, and I could trust that he was going to make it sound cool. So we didn’t have to be in the same room together, because we just knew that the instincts were matching.”
Going in, the musicians didn’t really know what would emerge. But AM says they limited the scope of the album by restricting the instrumentation to the bare minimum, including one electric guitar, a handful of cheap synthesizers, and Lee’s drum beats.
“In terms of the sound of the record, man, we didn’t really have a plan,” AM says. “It just came out that way. We knew that it was going to be groovy and funky and synthy.”
And groovy it is. The disc sounds like a synthed-out throwback to the ’70s. Check out the track “Somebody Like You” below.
“I still can’t believe I’m playing with Shawn,” AM says. “I’m still a fan. This has nothing to do with managers or anything, this is just pure artist-to-artist, and that, to me, is proof that if you’re a fan of somebody’s work, you should reach out to them — because there’s nothing to lose.”
Somebody Like You- AM & Shawn Lee by AMSOUNDS
More About: AM, music, music monday, Shawn-Lee, videoFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:18:10 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/45LjxHVdnRE/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/shawn-lee-am/#comments
Ever wanted to collaborate with your favorite musician? You could follow in the footsteps of L.A.-based musician AM, whose email to Shawn Lee helped yield the upcoming album Celestial Electric.
A few years ago, AM was coming home from tour when he heard one of Lee‘s tracks on the radio. AM dug the song’s ’70s vibe, so he reached out to Lee via email — hoping that the electronic missive would make it to the musician rather than a PR person or manager. Lee responded, and the two became overseas friends (Lee resides in London).
A few years later, the two started collaborating. Lee would send AM drumbeats, and AM would write songs over them. They continued trading tracks until they had enough songs for an album. You can check out a bit of their process in the video above, part of a series called “Building The Track.”
“It was a good chemistry,” AM says of the endeavor. “He could trust that I was going to come up with something cool, and I could trust that he was going to make it sound cool. So we didn’t have to be in the same room together, because we just knew that the instincts were matching.”
Going in, the musicians didn’t really know what would emerge. But AM says they limited the scope of the album by restricting the instrumentation to the bare minimum, including one electric guitar, a handful of cheap synthesizers, and Lee’s drum beats.
“In terms of the sound of the record, man, we didn’t really have a plan,” AM says. “It just came out that way. We knew that it was going to be groovy and funky and synthy.”
And groovy it is. The disc sounds like a synthed-out throwback to the ’70s. Check out the track “Somebody Like You” below.
“I still can’t believe I’m playing with Shawn,” AM says. “I’m still a fan. This has nothing to do with managers or anything, this is just pure artist-to-artist, and that, to me, is proof that if you’re a fan of somebody’s work, you should reach out to them — because there’s nothing to lose.”
Somebody Like You- AM & Shawn Lee by AMSOUNDS
More About: AM, music, music monday, Shawn-Lee, videoFor more Media coverage:Follow Mashable Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Media channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:18:10 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/45LjxHVdnRE/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/01/shawn-lee-am/#comments
