How likely would you think it is for someone to be nominated for a Grammy using little more equipment than an iPhone app? For Steve Lacy, he had that done by the age of 17. Steve Lacy’s musical journey began in Compton, California, where he grew up with his mother and three sisters. He discovered his love for playing guitar at 7, after playing the videogame Guitar Hero and realizing he wanted to try the real thing. This led him to teaching himself to play guitar and bass. Shortly after he joined his high school’s jazz band as a freshman, he met his friend Jameel Bruner who at the time was playing keyboards for the band The Internet. He invited Lacy to sit in on their studio sessions for an album they were working (Ego Death), but what started as a simple sit-in spiraled into Lacy producing 6 of the album’s 12 tracks and playing bass. This would later land Lacy a Grammy nomination and kickstart the beginning of his solo career.
Steve Lacy grew up in a sheltered environment. Besides school he was never really allowed out with friends much. He couldn’t go to the same parks as his friends, went to a private school until sixth grade, and wasn’t allowed to hang out with neighborhood kids. As a result, there was much more time for Lacy to focus on his own opinions and style. This sheltering by his mom didn’t create any negativity in their relationship, however. In addition to his intrinsic love for playing the guitar, one of the largest extrinsic motivating factors in Lacy’s life is his mother. When he got to high school, she made him choose between an extracurricular, and gave him the confidence to pursue the jazz club. Matt Martians, a member of The Internet, was also another motivating factor. He always made sure Lacy knew his talent and put him in the mindset that he could pursue a solo career.
Lacy’s integration of his personality is one of the central aspects of how he produces others and his own music. He values being unique above all else and maintains a nonchalant, in-the-moment- attitude in many parts of his life. I think he described something as “cool” about 15 times in each of the interviews I read. This comes in through the way he puts together his songs. He feels an analogy between his music and plaid, a combination of different emotions and sounds, that come together in an unexpected way. This relaxed attitude also shows up in the way he physically produces his music. Over the course of his career, Lacy has become famous for being the “iPhone producer”. All his music was originally produced on his iPhone, using an iRig to connect his guitar and bass, singing vocals straight into the microphone, and mixing everything with GarageBand, making all of his accomplishments that much more impressive. Since working with the Internet, Lacy has gone on to produce for Denzel Curry, Kendrick Lamar on the song “PRIDE.”, and Mac Miller to name a few.
Sources:
https://www.ssense.com/en-us/editorial/music/steve-lacys-yellow-brick-road
https://www.carhartt-wip.com/en/journal/news/2018/11/steve-lacy-predicting-the-future
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/qv78yv/steve-lacy-interview-tyler-mitchell
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/steve-lacy-iphone-producer/
I love Steve Lacy's music and this was a really interesting post to read. I had no idea about his past and journey to making music before reading this and it was so cool to see how he rose to prominence in the music industry. I would also agree that his personality is a huge component to his creativity as it is so apparent in his interviews and is deeply reflected in the music.
ReplyDeleteI think how his isolation influenced a lot of his creativity is fascinating, and his story is very unique. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI love Steve Lacy's music but all along I had no idea his story of how he became an artist and producer. It's really impressive and inspiring how he was able to use the technology he had access to growing up to create high-quality music. It seems like him being somewhat isolated from normal friend group activities growing up, allowed him to truly develop who he is as an artist and producer.
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