 By the time he relocated to London in 2001, Pete “Boxsta” Martin had written over 15 No 1’s and countless top 10’s becoming one of South Africa’s most sort after multi- platinum selling producer/songwriters. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t long before he was snapped up by Universal Island UK, signing his first international label deal writing, producing and developing fresh UK talent with his innovative cutting edge style. He also showed versatility by remixing the likes of Britney Spears, Mary J Blige, Puff Daddy and Bob Marley to name a few.
Today he is not only a multi-talented producer songwriter, but is a sought after mix engineer with productions and mixes on a variety of top selling artists such as Sugababes, Dannii Minogue, Shola Ama, Big Brovaz, The Brand New Heavies to name a few.
After recently signing a 3 year international deal with Chrysalis Music Publishing UK, he has written with an array of top UK and US songwriters such as Pam Sheyne (Christina Aguilera), Lamont Dozier (Motown Legend), Steve Lee (Britney Spears) and Tom Nichols (Jessica Simpson/Celine Dion). He also ventured into new territory working with film composer Klaus Badelt on Catwoman Starring Hale Berry, remixing and lending his distinctive cutting edge style to the movie soundtrack.
FX - How did you first get involved in the music industry and what has led you to where you are today?
B - My father is a jazz musician and producer so from an early age I spent all my spare time in his studio watching him arrange music and produce a variety of bands. I knew that I would follow in his footsteps eventually, so I decided that when I got into my teens I would try work in as many studios as I could as well as write and produce for as many artists. Luckily by the time I relocated to London in 2001, I had a built up a great track record in my native country South Africa and had written and produced over 15 No 1's and top 10's for various artists there. My work caught the attention of Lucian Grange (Universal CEO) and I signed my first label deal in 2002 with Electromode/Universal Island UK and signed a further 5 year publishing deal with Chrysalis Music Publishing UK. I developed a host of new artists under Universal Island A n'R man Darcus Bees (Amy Winehouse) such as Sugababes and even for a short while Joss Stone. I also remixed Mary J Blige, Puff Daddy and Bob Marley to name a few. Then In 2004 I began to work with producer Brian Rawling (Lemar/Cher/Enrique) on a few co-productions. I produced and wrote a track called "Yours fatally "Big Brovaz” through his company Metrophonic. He then played some of the tracks I had been working on to L.A film composer Klaus Badelt who was working on the soundtrack for Cabwoman Starring Hale Berry. He immediately asked me to remix a large portion of the sound track he was working on. I remixed cutting edge beats against the string orchestration soundtrack which was great fun. Between all these projects I was writing, producing and mixing for acts such as Brand New Heavies, Sugababes, Danni Minogue, Big Brovaz, Shola Ama and Nate James.
FX - What projects have you been working on recently?
B - I recently finished some programming on the new Sugababes album called
"Change". I used BFD a lot on one of the tracks called "Denial". The track had
 a live drum sound and feel, so BFD was perfect for just adding additional natural acoustic nuances to fatten the sound up. I also just finished the "Come Closer U.S remix album" which I wrote and produced for Tarkan (11 tracks all in all) featuring Wycleff and hiphop Violinist Miri Ben Ari which was recorded here in London and at Westlake Studios in L.A. Last week I completed 2 tracks on new R n'B star Matt P's new album. This album features tracks from U.S producers Timbaland and Ryan Leslie . I recorded live strings and choir for 1 of the tracks at Sphere studios and wanted the drum sounds I used to sound a lot more "gritty" than the live
instruments so I used the fxs in Guru to dirty up the sounds and it worked a storm!
FX - Tell us about your work with Alan Meyerson.
B - At the moment I have been collaborating with Alan Meyerson on his new hollywood music sound library called Scoregasmic. I first met Alan in L.A where we were both working on the "Catwoman" movie soundtrack for Klaus Badelt. Alan has mixed extensively for Hanz Zimmer, mixing some of the biggest movies out there including Gladiator and all the Pirates of the Caribbean. He is an amazing orchestral producer and mix engineer. He called me down to AIR studio's and played me some of the tracks he had been doing with 30 piece string orchestras, choirs and brass sections. I was completely blown away. I sat in on some of the sessions, absorbed it all and then took a selected number of the tracks away with me to remix at my studios at the Matrix. Again Guru and BFD played a huge part and were responsible for all the drum sounds and groove manipulation heard on the music library. I also cut up vast amounts of orchestral audio and re-triggered/fx'd them through Guru. I then sent Alan the updated remixed versions which he loved.
FX - What is "Sliide Music”?
B - At the beginning of last year, Guru and BFD came along at just the right time for me as I used both programs extensively to launch a new artist called Filly (www.myspace.com/sliideshowfilly) and a new sound that I have been developing called "Sliide". Sliide music basically bridges the gap between the "acoustic" and electronic" music world. Think of it this way: Real Drummer vs a Drumbox - Beatboxers vs DJ beatz. In a typical Sliide track, the first 8 bars have phatt programmed electronic beats (which I used Guru for) and the second 8 bars suddenly completely switch to acoustic drums (Which I used a combination of live drum loops and BFD for). Also, Sliide tracks have no fixed BPM or song tempo so the tempos can “slide” from 110 BPM to 50 BPM in the space of 8 bars. As Guru and BFD follow tempo so well this was not a problem at all. I also had 2 of London's finest beatboxers, SupaTed and DA featuring on the tracks so I would "recycle" and slice the 2 beatboxers plus the live drum loops I had recorded into Guru and then just draw in tempo maps in Logic and Pro tools, Guru and BFD just follow the tempo changes seamlessly. BFD again provided a lot of "acoustic space" in the real drum sound sections of the Sliide tracks. The fact that you can determine how much "room sound" you want to dial into the sound was an invaluable feature for me.
FX - Do you recall the first software program that you used?
B - The first software program I ever used was Cubase on an Atari ST. Completely unstable and a nightmare to use but I loved it all the same.
FX - What FXpansion products do you own and which features do you find most useful?
B - When I first got introduced to Guru a while back I knew almost immediately that it would become my main "drum sampler/beatbox". I had my studio assistant transfer and rebuild all of my drum libraries (which I had built up over the years on various samplers) to Guru. For me, the secret to a great hiphop or electro drum sound has always been about drum sound layering and that’s where I feel Guru really comes into its own. For example, one of my drum pads on Guru could contain anywhere from 5-8 layers of drum sounds to create one unique kick or snare sample. With Guru I have complete and independent control over each drum sound within the layer. So if I say wanted to add more cutoff or resonance into an 808 bass drum that is layered within a few other kick sounds on that pad, its easy to do without affecting the rest of the drum layer. Coupled with the fact that you can then automate all these individual parameters, view and edit them on a separate automation graph, plus add fxs to them, makes Guru untouchable as a drum sampler/groovebox.
FX - Has GURU had an impact on the way you make music and if so in what way?
B - Up until now I have always used Logic to sequence my grooves but with the
addition of Guru, it completely changed the way I work with and analyze drum
 beats. Using the pattern sequencer within Guru opened up a new way of having instant access to all my favorite grooves and quantizes. I can now instantly recall any user groove I have created, in any song I am working in. Also, the way in which you can cross-breed and hybridize your loops is amazing. I love how you can take one feel from one loop and apply the sounds from another. It's also become increasingly important to me to be more mobile as I might have a session in L.A or different locations in London. I now have 2 duplicate Guru setups (one on my Mac Book Pro and one on my G5 at the Matrix) each with the same drum library.
FX - Can you give some tips on the key to creating a killer drum groove?
B - A great tip on creating some interesting patterns and grooves is to double the tempo of your original groove. So say the tempo is sitting at 110, double the bmp to 220. As you program you will find interesting mistakes occurring due to the tempo. If say you program 16th grooves, 32nd mistakes make for interesting and alternative grooves as they become 64ths and 128ths. Also chopping into the start points of your samples can change the sound and groove completely. Experiment with this and you can get some interesting beatz.
FX - If you could create a plug-in that would change your life in the studio what would it be?
B - I would create a plugin that could make artists pitch up on time!
FX - What are your plans for 2008?
B - I am currently developing an exciting young new rap artist called "Verbz" (www.myspace.com/verbzonline) . I think she is fantastic and already we have over 100,000 hits on her Myspace with a track we did called Shopaholic, and over 50,000 hits on another track called Swaggariffic . She is kinda Missy Elliot/Gwen Stefani/ Nelly Furtado in 1. Another interesting project I am involved in is a young Blues/Hiphop artist called EJ. Her sound is a fusion between old school blues mixed with cutting edge hiphop. We did 14 demos in 2 weeks which was MAD! It’s wonderful when you connect with someone like that. I will also be doing a few more tracks for Alan Meyerson as well as a movie sound track in the pipeline.
FX - Thanks very much Pete for your time and insights! |
