Producer Spotlight: Oh Its Chris
Q. Can you talk about any particularly challenging projects you've worked on?
A. I got into music production when I was 15 years old, but I didn't really get into it until I was really 17 or 18 years old. Honestly, at the time I was playing in a band back at home in the Rio Grande Valley and one of my friends' band, On The Nightingale Floor, their producer, not only did he produce their music, but outside of that he was producing artists and rappers alike. He goes by PurpleKBeats. He's basically my OG that really kinda opened my eyes and what got me to dive into music production. He's currently signed to the NarcoWave camp with guys like Dro Fe and a few other notable west coast guys. But yeah, I got into music production because of him and it's been a thing for me since.
Q. Who are some of the artists you have worked with?
A. I primarily have worked with a lot of locals back at home in the Rio Grande Valley. Some of my frequent collaborators are Sho', Nueelz, NFS G Ro$e and a lot of the dudes over in the NFS camp, Lil Deadbeat just to name a few. I've worked with some other folks outside of Texas as well. One of my more frequent collaborators is from Utah, he goes by VENOMm and he's a really dope artist I fuck with as well.
Q. How would you describe your production style?
A. I would say my production style is very cut and to the point. I'm mostly associated with my production style being trap, emo trap, and very melodic pieces of music and production. I make beats, music, whatever you want to call it for artists. I've always believed that the artists are the most important part of the song, especially since they're the ones doing the singing or rapping over the production behind it. I just leave room for the artists to do their thing!
Q. How do you balance the creative and technical aspects of production?
A. I approach working with new artists more so on a personal level. As much as I love doing music and cooking up, I really approach new artists by treating them like friends, ya know? I got to really fuck with their energy and their vibe? I think that's super important to me, building solid relationships that don't always have to be about business per se because as I get to know these people on a personal level. I want to push them to make the best fucking music they can because I want to see them succeed at it.
Q. What are your views on the business side of the industry?
A. I would say the most difficult project I worked on was back in 2019. It was a beat tape I worked on called "Unaffiliated: Vol 1". It was a fucking hard time when I first started that project. I lost my pops a week and a half after I turned 26 back in March 2019. That project in particular brought out a lot of emotions in me. I was dealing with the loss of my pops, a lot of heavy drinking that came associated with losing my dad and coping, dealing with my ex wife at the time and so that project was bringing out just feelings of anger, sadness, hopelessness and just a big clusterfuck of emotions.
Q. How do you handle the pressure of meeting deadlines?
A. I'm a believer in being a student of the game. Studying the trends of music and where it's going. Honestly, I listen to a lot of the popular Spotify playlists like RapCaviar, Most Necessary, and No Cap playlists. Study those producers and artists styles of what they're doing and I just apply it to my own and how I see it fit into my music I work on.
Q. What are your thoughts when you have to handle working with difficult artists or personalities?
A .Man, I've worked with some very difficult artists before. Honestly, I do my best to stay away from that kinda energy especially when word may go around that particular people are difficult to work with. I would say there's boundaries to that. Difficult people to work with because they choose to be difficult and they don't wanna hear the value you can bring to their table and then there's difficulty with artists. That's a healthy difficulty because we're pushing each other to bring the best out in the music and in ourselves.
Q. How do you handle creative differences with the artist or label?
A. It really just depends on how said creative differences are at the time of the session. I believe that the artist should trust their producers just as we as producers should trust our artists that we work with. Like any relationship, it's a 2 way street and the people involved should be able to express themselves without making it a big deal. Compromise is the word I gotta say that comes to mind when it comes to creative differences.
Q. Can you tell us how to balance the pressure of maintaining a consistent level of quality?
A. I normally balance it by creating what I want on the creative side. Normally that's just the skeleton of the beat, a song I may be working on at the time. The technical side of it, I really don't focus too much on it until the very end of the mixing/mastering process. Which for most engineers I've worked with never really asks me to do much on fixing up my mix of the initial product. I would just say, level your sound selection and that for the most part works for me.
Q. How do you handle the pressure of maintaining a consistent sound?
A. Man, that is such a hard question... I'm my biggest critic when it comes to the music I help produce and that I'm involved in. I think the thing about being consistent is always gonna be important, however I'm always setting a new bar for myself. Take the analogy of someone wanting to lose weight for example. You gotta hit the gym, eat right, hit those goals at a time and the more you build towards it you knock those goals down and see the progress you start making. Shed 5 pounds, 10 pounds, etc. Only you yourself got that drive in to determine how far you'll go if you really wanna be successful and consistent.
Q. Can you talk about any techniques or tools you use in the studio?
A. My process in the studio for technique and tools is pretty straightforward. Organization of my sound packs is important. Most DAWs have options to set up for a template. I'm realy big on organization and efficiency. Knowing where I have my drum kits, my sound packs, loops, samples, etc. Just discipling yourself to have a good workflow really is the key to being efficient at being a music producer.
Q. How do you handle the pressure of staying relevant in the industry?
A. Staying relevant is hard. I do believe that the producer market in general is pretty saturated these days, but I don't really let that discourage me. I just push myself to make music that I'm proud of and I find that more than enough for me to keep myself relevant. It comes back to just staying consistent with sound and consistent with the product you provide from a couple questions back.
Q. Is it difficult to handle the pressure of staying innovative and creative?
A. The pressure of staying innovative and creative is a hard one, but I gotta remember why I love doing this. I'm just a fan of the music just as much as the listener is a fan of an artist or a band. I like making music that I know I like, that's tasteful and pushes culture just a bit.
Q. How do you handle the pressure of staying competitive?
A. I stay competitive with myself if I'm being honest. I set my own bar for how competitive I wanna be. Don't get me wrong, I do pay attention to other producers making some noise and I'm happy for them cause ya know whatever they're doing is working for them! I wanna see people win. My time will come when it comes, but again it works for me and I'm honestly good with that!
Q. Can you talk about any upcoming projects or collaborations?
A. As I mentioned earlier, I played in bands in high school and an early part after graduating from high school as well. I played in a few deathcore/metalcore bands back then: Destroyers of Eden, As Skylights Burn, A Perfect Manslaughter and Capsizing The Seas. Outside of hip hop/rap music production, my first go at production really was with Destroyers of Eden and Capsizing The Seas. Definitely a whole other ball park compared to production I do for artists and rappers, nonetheless it taught me a lot of lessons that I still practice to this day.
Q. How do you handle the pressure of staying profitable?
A. Staying profitable... It's awesome that I make some money from this producer gig. Honestly, I'm really grateful and blessed to have that opportunity, but it isn't everything to me. I would do this shit for free if I really wanted to. Again, I just love making dope music with dope people and that for me is the payoff.
Q. Can you talk about any trends or changes you see in the music production industry?
A. I feel like we're going back to a lot of nostalgic music. Like the recent boom of 2000s era pop punk being cool and all that now. Like I used to be made fun of for liking that music when I was in elementary, those same people who made fun of me for liking that now are eating it up. Same thing with how I feel about hip hop and rap music. I think it's seeing a new trend with those rage and hyperpop type beats that the new generation really is into. Hell, I'm even a fan of it. I think it's really cool that EDM music is crossing over into the hip hop and rap space. I'm really excited for the future of it!
Q. How do you handle the pressure of maintaining a consistent level of productivity?
A. I think when it comes to maintaining a sense of productivity and feeling pressured by it, it just comes back down to the person themselves. I have times where I don't feel like doing much to be honest. I think the longest break I took from producing was last summer, I went almost 3 months without doing anything. I just wanted to take a break. And coming back to productivity, you gotta also take care of yourself mentally, physically, etc. That's super important to me and that should be something any artist or producer should do as well.
Q. Is it difficult to handle the pressure of maintaining a consistent level of success?
A. Success is interpreted differently amongst folks. My version of success may not be somebody else's version of success and that's okay. Maintaining that level of success to me is just knowing whoever I'm working with is knowing we did the best that we could on a track and just seeing where that song goes. As my career grows, I only get more excited to do more. I'm excited for my future success because there's so much I am working on at the moment.
Q. What are some exciting new projects you're working on?
A. This year, I got a few releases planned where I'm producing and executive producing. First one to really line up will be with my day 1 artist and one of my best friends, Sho'. The project is called "Can't Buy Love 2". which is a follow up from our 2021 release "Can't Buy Love". Frank Sisqo and I have been working on an untitled project as of right now, but we have at least an album's worth of material from the last 2 years. What I really love about this particular project is that it is a collab between Frank and I because Frank also produces outside of being a singer and a rapper, so this project has so much going on with it. The plan is to hopefully have that out later this year. VENOMm and I are about to start working on our collab project as well in the coming months. Lil Deadbeat and I are planning a follow up from our early 2021 release called "Pray 4 Me". Nueelz and I have been talking about a project as well so I would love to get started on that soon considering we have a few unreleased songs where the songs are just fucking ragers. Finally outside of working artists and rappers, I'm really excited to be producing both my bands' material. After a 10 year hiatus, my band Capsizing The Seas is coming back and I can't wait to show this very personal music with everyone and lastly, I have a new band called DETHRXNED. I just started writing some of that material, so the future burns bright and I can't wait to put out the music I've been working on with my friends and just having everyone go fucking crazy, man. Thank y'all for having me and I really appreciate y'all so much!
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