WCM welcomes legendary producer K Warren to our team of UK artists.
Not needing any introduction with his outstanding contribution to the UK garage scene WCM takes 5 with K, and gets a brief up date on what he has been up to and a little bit of information about his career so far.
Welcome to WCM K-Warren….
K: Thank you
As we are all aware of you had some of the biggest success in the UKG industry! What was your big break into the scene?
K: I would say the initial break was when I was with the Architechs & put out the Brandy & Monica “The Boy Is Mine” remix which opened up a lot of doors for us.
Can you tell us some of the biggest highlights of your success?
K: There has been some good times. In particular there was the promotion of one of my singles “Coming Home” where
Leo & myself toured and done a bunch of TV & radio interviews.
Who inspires you musically?
K: My inspiration comes from many artists & genres. Because of my caribbean background I was exposed to a lot of Reggae, Soca & a bit of Country. As I was growing up I listened to a bit of everything from Hip Hop, 80s Electro, Soul/RnB & chart music. I was also very much into the early rave scene from House to Hardcore which evolved into Jungle then Drum
& Bass then later got into Garage. One of the reasons I like to go abroad is that I end up hearing sounds that I’ve never heard before. I get inspiration from everywhere.
Many may not know that you all produce in other genres can you tell us a little bit more about the genres you have produced for?
K: Where talking UK Garage, House, Drum n Bass, EDM. I’ve worked with many different types of artists that I’ve adapted to which meant producing Pop, Country, RnB, Ballads, Reggae/Dancehall & Soca. I’ve even done a bit of Classical for
computer games/TV ads.
Rumour has it that you have an album coming out soon can you tell us a little more about the album and feature tracks?
K: This album will be a collection of my Old Skool Garage tracks including classics like “Coming Home”, “Call It Fate” & “Something In Your Eyes”.
Are you working on any current remixes?
K: Currently working on a couple of remixes for up & coming artists.
Will we see further collaborations with any previous artists you have worked with?
K: Yes you will. With Leo (singer of Coming Home & from The Streets) and Shelley Nelson (Something In Your Eyes).
Is there anything else you would like to tell us or future projects you have up your sleeve?
The Old Skool album is ready so as well as working with other artists I’m working on a new album with new artists, new UK Garage plus a sprinkle of melodic Drum n Bass for good measure.
What advice can you give to up and coming producers?
In this day & age producers/composers are expected to be everything because of technology. i.e. Composer, producer, recording engineer, mix engineer and in many cases even mastering engineers. These are separately skilled jobs and takes time to learn so don’t beat yourself up when you’ve finished a track & mixed it yourself and are not happy with how it sounds – mixing takes a long time to learn. I would recommend focusing on good composition, production and arrangements especially as you can always get a professional engineer afterwards. Even though you might be a talented composer & come up with great melodies etc you may still lack good taste in sounds. Choosing good drums/synths/samples etc is a skill that you can develop over time as a producer. If you’re unsure if your track is good enough I think a good tip would be to play it amongst other tracks (by other artists) that you already like. If you’re a DJ try including it in your set – you will soon know if it works or not as this will keep you to be very objective.
Is there any studio equipment you couldn’t live without or would recommend to artists that are new to production?
My studio has become my instrument and wouldn’t like anything to be taken away. There’s a Tube-Tech multiband compressor that I like to put the whole mix through to add an ‘expensive’ glue sound that I really like. I would invest in 1 or 2 bits of high end analog gear to add a bit more dimension to your sound. When mixing inside your DAW I would recommend using as few plugins as you can get away with and stick to the highest quality EQs you can afford.
Finally, how did you hook up with WCM and what makes them your choice of management?
I was working on a Dubstep/HipHop record with Vapour and we got into a conversation about management & how helpful WCM was to him. Vapour is not only very talented but also an intelligent man so I trust his instincts. When I checked the website and the roster etc I became even more interested especially as I feel it’s important for a management company to understand you as an artist as well as the music you make.
For all you K Warren fans here is a little snippet of whats coming in the near furture!!