It's not every day you get to make a record with one of tomorrow's brightest producers who just so happens to be your son...
But that's exactly what I've had the great privilege to do.
I had more fun making this EP than I should be allowed, and I love how the songs turned out. This all started when my son Kipper, a phenomenal producer and songwriter in his own right, worked on a few demos for me a while back (a demo is like a rough sonic sketch of a song to turn in to the label and management that gives them a sense of the potential musical direction a track might take). When my record label heard them, everyone asked about those tracks. I was glad they heard the magic, too.
The label and management called a meeting and we started talking about what would be the best home for these songs and the idea of Kipper and I doing an EP was born.
We had about four weeks to pull it all together and between using Kipper's closet as a vocal booth, swapping ideas back and forth via email and text while we were both going opposite directions on the road, and a quick 2 days of recording in my cabin quarters at the camp I was working at in July, we got it done—pressures and complications that I'd be worried if a veteran producer could navigate, but Kipper stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park like a consummate professional.
(However, it was uncomfortably hot in that closet...)
The finished product is 5 songs that we hope you'll find fun, fresh and innovative. The project leans pop because that's Kipper's specialty, and pop songs are the hardest to write, so I enjoyed the challenge and had a blast working on them with not only him but also our song-writing partner, Jilian Linklater. More layers, more synth, more outside-the-box vocal effects, more hooks, and even bass drops—creating these songs was about forgetting the "rules" and stepping outside my norm. I hope listening to them feels like rolling down the windows and letting "your hand ride the wind."
Teaming up with Kipper was reinvigorating, and I'll forever value this collaboration. I'm more than just a proud dad, I'm an inspired musician! I hope you enjoy listening to this collection as much as we enjoyed making it for you.
