Coachella 2023 Recap and Reflections on What's Next in Music

0:00 Music Appreciation. What's good guys?Scoobert Doobert here.I want to talk about Coachella, so I just got back from the music festival and saw a fewof my friends perform, some, you know, front of stage, some back of stage, sideman stuff.

0:27 And I want to talk about kind of like the takeaways that I had from that music festivaland the way that it's changing how I'm thinking about my music moving forward and maybe howit could affect the way you listen to music, the way that you create music, whateveryou may do.This is Love Music More.So it was Music Appreciation 101, hence the intro, but we've, I've changed it a little

0:47 bit to Love Music More as the, as the title of this podcast because that is the goal ofit to get you to love music more.If you haven't rated and subscribed and all that good stuff, I would invite you to followthe podcast now so you always get an update and we'll have more guests and stuff like thatmoving forward, but solo pod today to talk about Coachella.

1:05 So first take away, I noticed that there are a lot of through lines in the ways thatyou perform for a festival at that size.And I also thought it was interesting because this festival is live streamed in a ton ofpeople tune into the live stream.So what it gave the impression of like Super Bowl halftime shows.And what I mean by that is that it's, it's like that dual performance for the people

1:30 in the audience, but also for the people at home.So the production value, all these things are keeping video in mind, which is really fascinating.The other thing is that a bunch of different genres are represented.And I went to a bunch of different shows, a bunch of different genres, but there are certainthings that everybody does and like some of them are kind of cliches, but they work

1:51 and they're cliches for a reason.There are things that people do.So perfect example is like, how are you feeling out there?Yeah.And you hype up the crowd.And a lot of times they do that right before one of their big songs.So they kind of build this wave of a momentum and buy in and focus from your audience beforeyou drop something that they really, really want.

2:13 So it creates a little bit of that tension and release that we talk about in music, butdoing that just with like crowd interplay.Same thing with, you know, throwing your hands up and jumping all this kind of stuff,the audience participation side, or sing along, you know, teaching people lyrics.One of the cool things that I saw was on the big screens, you know, people are starting

2:31 to put more lyrics up there so that people can sing along and maybe highlight some stuffthat they've always seen the lyrics wrong or they don't know what that's what thatpart is.And they put that up on the big screen.I find that really really interesting.And so that's one of the things that I'm, you know, I'm thinking about for my own visuals

2:50 are like, what are ways to, you know, engage the crowd in that way so that you're notjust like drifting to your phone or talking to your friends.That audience is right there with you as a performer.The other thing is that these shows, you know, these stages are big and so the energy isreally, really important.And it's funny, like when you have a headlining show or you're playing in a club or a theater

3:14 or whatever, and people come to that with the expectation of your music.When you are at a festival, sure, like they're coming to your tent with the expectation ofyour music or maybe they've heard one or two songs or heard you on a playlist and like,yeah, let's check out that set.Are they cool?But not only are you competing for those like, you know, people that are bought in, people

3:35 that are sort of bought in, people that just maybe casually know one or two songs and driftedover because they had nothing else to do, you're competing with the sets before and afteryou.And so what that does is it's like an arms race of energy.And so even chill artists like, like, boy genius, you know, they play very acoustic folk,you know, kind of sad music.

3:59 They have to add like these big rock moments to just match that baseline energy and it'sreally fun as an audience member as a festival goer because all of this adds to that experienceof like one punch after another punch after another punch and all builds.The other thing too is we're like as like indie musicians, we're also competing against DJs.

4:23 And DJs bring so much energy because that's basically their whole thing is like reallygood sound, really good lights, ton of energy.And so then when we're like going up trying to do a guitar solo or doing whatever, youkind of got to add that juice so that people don't drift over to the DJ tent for that partyinstead.So that was kind of interesting to see.

4:43 It's interesting to see people, especially in my genre, like, you know, like a Remi Wolf or, you know, MUNA, both of which I, you know, did classes with in college, see whatthey've transformed into.And it's really inspiring because I remember them in college as, you know, just like anybodytalented, but just a normal kind of teenage person.And now they're these like mega pop star personalities.

5:12 And obviously they had great personalities, they had that in them.But the way that they bring it out and the way that the audience and the format shapesthe performer as much as the performer shapes the other is really fascinating and inspiringbecause it's like how do you rise to meet that moment?How do you go up to that next tier of personality and performer?

5:33 It's funny too, like one of the things I've noticed as people get bigger and bigger andmaybe you hear it in my voice too.But their voices change to fit, I don't know what it is exactly, but like as you do morerecordings, you kind of end up finding more quirks in your voice and bringing those out.So like you listen to early version, to later version and the later version is just dripping

5:57 with personality or like like even like, you know, somebody that's like Michael Jacksonwho's always was this amazing singer, like think about Michael Jackson as a kid as ateenager and then Michael Jackson as superstar.And Michael Jackson as superstar has just got so much vibe and personality to his vocaland to his feel and to everything about his dancing and his stage presence.

6:19 And obviously all of that was there from being a kid, but it's like iron type and sharpeningiron diamonds, sharpening diamonds that over a time you end up becoming this version ofyourself that's in some ways unrecognizable from where you started.And it's cool to, I don't know for my perspective, see the actualization of that from people that

6:40 are in my past as one thing and then I see them on the stage at Coachella as another.And it's like, okay, I can sort of understand how they charted their course and then byseeing their course, maybe be able to chart my own.All of that to say, try to find other people in your lives that have grown in that way.And if you're looking for growth, like maybe identify their growth and see like how have

7:05 they changed, how has this collection of experiences developed to them and then see how you canapply those experiences and be very much of that moment soak it all up so that you cantake it to the next stage yourself.That's what I'm trying to do.That's the reason why, you know, big reason why I went.I wanted to see my friends, I wanted to see how they grew.It's also interesting too.

7:28 I did a lot of side, side man, side musician work and playing guitar.Got some people on the podcast, quite a few people on the podcast that do side person stuff.And that, that world is very different because you are intentionally kind of behind the scenes.But looking at somebody like Geo who plays bass for Muna and he's got, he's developed

7:55 as a side man to meet the personality and energy of the band where he had, he pickshis moments to really roam around the stage and hype up the crowd and do his stuff andhe picks his moments to go way back in the background.I think that's interesting, we're like, everybody's playing a certain role.And I think the most fascinating thing for me in this project is reclaiming the ideaof being like a front person.

8:19 But my music isn't like, diva pop singer.My music is like, stoner disco.So it's like, okay, what is that front person like doing?And how do I fit that archetype because it's a, it's a different kind of archetype?And I guess like, you could look at a Tame Impala, but I'm not exactly that psychedelic.I just kind of look like him, I just a little bit, he's better looking at him.

8:41 And then you could like look at other, you know, other people like maybe Mac DeMarco or whatever.But in, in these, these festival situations, I feel like Remi Wolf is a really good exampleof somebody who just like pulls you in, but obviously way bigger, bolder voice than I have.So it's just kind of fun like navigating and charting those, those waters.And then this is the way that it is hitting, hitting in my head.

9:05 The other thing that I notice is it quirks, you know, quirky stuff about you can scale.And so this is something that like, I, you know, I've, I've been drifting a little biton just to be totally honest, where I have a certain like aesthetic of music videos andthings that I've made.And the reception to them has been good, but it hasn't been like, you know, like, oh mygod, you gotta keep doing that.

9:28 So this is, this is impulse as an artist, especially in the modern age to divert yourattention from some of the stuff that people aren't hyping up and put it all in the placethat people are hyping up, which is part of the reason why I make so much music ratherthan making so many videos.But one of the things I was gathering from Coachella was there's some weird visuals and

9:51 some weird stuff that when it's on the big stage, it all starts to make sense.And so it was a good moment for me to be like, okay, the weird stuff that I'm doing willset me apart regardless of people like it now or not.It's like build up the music, get the audience, get on the big stage and then show them theweird crap you make on YouTube.

10:14 And so I'm gonna make that, keep making that weird crap and devote some more resourcesto it.I need to get, you know, a little bit more music done because I always try to stay roughlytwo months ahead of schedule with my release cycle, and I'm only six weeks ahead of schedule,so I gotta get at least one more single done.So then I can, you know, build in that buffer because I don't want to get blindsided by

10:34 getting sick or losing my voice or whatever like I did not too long ago.So once I do that, then I think I'm gonna go back around to develop my quirks, my weirdlittle things.And it was fun like seeing Blink 182, you know, the song that they opened to their setwith is just literally just swear words.And it was like that was, it's obviously it's not like they're hit, but it is, it sums

11:00 up like their ethos as a band, like this is what they're about.They're about making you uncomfortable, they're about, you know, dick jokes and poop jokesand sex jokes and they are embodying like immaturity and fun and chaos.Like they, they talked about their music being like nursery rhymes on meth.

11:23 It's like that is a really cool way to be like, okay, that's how they encapsulate theirband.That's the nucleus of what they've got going on.What is the nucleus of mine?And like, how would I open a set that's not necessarily just like, here's the most popularsong, but instead is like, here's what you just got yourself into.You know, welcome to the rabbit hole, welcome to that Scoobert-verse.Let's go.

11:48 Same thing on that.One of the things that I've been, I've been doing a lot with, with Max, who does my videosand he was on the pod earlier, Max Horwich, he and I are both very into low poly art.So low poly art, like think like N64, Nintendo, you know, 90s graphics where they looklike the top end of computer rendering from a bygone era.So cool.And I'm seeing more and more of that.

12:20 I saw it with Grammy stuff, I saw it at Coachella.It is, it is building and that's been something that we've been on, on for a while.So it's like, that's one of the quirks that I think we need to continue to develop becauseit's, it's developing around us and we need to have our own voice in it.Now, I'm same thing with like fashion.So fashion's been really, it was a really fascinating thing.

12:41 I know that Coachella sometimes gets a bad rap because everybody's there to like takepictures and stuff.But from an artist's perspective, it's really, really cool to see what people are choosingto be seen in, like what is the vibe that they're trying to encapsulate.It's, it's, it sounds shallow, but it really isn't because it's like, okay, what is, whatis in the air here and Coachella is a really good place.

13:07 It's the best place I've ever been to catch those vibes because it's not just like, youknow, the times I spent in LA where everybody's all dripped up and looking cool, but it's differentand it's also hot.So you have limited fashion choices.Some people don't.Some people wear like their thick coats and they look like they're dying, but for thesake of fashion, they do it.

13:28 But what I, what I noticed, obviously girls are way, are doing way more than guys rightnow, which is, I don't look a little at this point, it's like, come on guys, like stepit up.Like have a little more fun.Everybody's just wearing a Hawaiian shirt and it's like, yeah, come on, you know, youcan do better than that.It doesn't have to be expensive, but like get through a shop and get something going.

13:48 But especially women and some, some cool dudes can do it.There was like a different set of self-expression and color, not to mention like a lack of shame,freedom, embracing your body, all the stuff that was, it felt really inspiring to me.It was like, you know, just do what you want.And I think part of it is coming out of that pandemic is, like, I'm not going to dress

14:13 the way that, like people tell me to dress or like, I'm just going to buy off the rackat Macy's.Like, I'm going to dress myself like a, like a video game character, like, what wouldI buy in downloadable content on a video game when we kind of do the same thing on my body?And so I'm trying to unlock that too.It's like fun stuff, stuff that makes people smile.

14:35 And it's not just about my music, it's like about life, you know, what, how can I bringsome colorful chaos and, and fun to an environment.And that's what I was trying to do with what I was wearing, you know, it doesn't needto be the fanciest stuff.But if, if I can make, you know, 10, 15 people smile and come up to me and be like, yo,

14:52 you've got a Savannah Banana's Jersey or Alex Caruso, Black Mamba Jersey from the BubbleChampionship, or, you know, Brian Jones, who's the guitarist for Paramore.And he played on some of my stuff that I made with the previous project.He made a clothing company, Brian Robert Jones, who's wearing some of his crazy stuff.That's like Wilco ban shirts, but they're totally chaos.

15:20 And, you know, it's, it's like, it's like bringing some of that fun, that state of play,just to the way you present yourself, I really appreciate that.And I want to invite, invite people to do that too.Um, some of the other stuff that I thought was, uh, like a good kind of take away wasseeing the video side of it.

15:45 And so my grandpa, he recorded a bunch of, um, the live stream, so I can watch that later.And like Rosalia, Rosalia is probably the, um, the best example of doing all this coolvideo stuff where she was bringing like, uh, a camcorder around that was hooked up, settingup her own shots as she was playing it felt very, um, intimate and edgy and different.

16:12 And then inner cutting, kind of these more amateur things or these more professional thingsis just like a really cool mix.And I was really inspired by that.So I can't wait to watch back on that tape and see how the visual side of music is evolving.And I actually find this more interesting than seeing the way that like music videos are

16:30 evolving because like that's, that's kind of a separate form, but the way that live musicis being filmed, the way that that's changing.That was very, very present in Coachella and it's cool just to be on both sides of it,you know, like you can watch the concert DVD sort of thing that you were sitting in theaudience for the lot more, um, opportunity to learn.

16:53 See yeah, I mean, that's, that's pretty much my, my Coachella journey, some of the stuffthat I took away, um, I've got to go back, that was the other takeaway and I really wantto play there.And so thinking about that from the wanting to play there side, it's like, okay, how doyou make music that could fit that environment?And I got to say it's simpler, not that it's more basic, but that there's less stuffgoing on.

17:21 There's, there are moments where it's like crazy drum fill or crazy guitars or whatever.But on the whole, a lot of this stuff is like, maybe one funk guitar and a bunch of otherpeople that are laying it down, maybe a really dope percussionist, great horn section, they,they were sparing nothing in terms of budget and personnel.But the arrangements themselves were built for a large stage.

17:47 And sometimes I think that there is a, um, over reliance on the amount of tracks thatwe have and digital recording, where we just throw all of the paint against the wall.But honestly, the stuff, the little tiny details were like, little, you know, whatever, it doesn'treally matter that much life.Sometimes it's cool.And if it has the right moment built around it, it's fantastic.

18:09 But the little tiny sprinkles, they kind of get washed away.What doesn't get washed away, drum and bass?Oh my God.Drum and bass are so important, whether they're in the track or live.And one of the challenges that I have at my stage of my career is when you put, put drumand bass in the track, they never turn the track up loud enough.

18:28 But if you have a drummer and a bass player in the room, they are going to be loud justby virtue of the setup.So that's something that has given me pause because if I, if I was able to do tracks, theway that everybody you could go, shall I was able to track the stuff would sound huge, butthere's no way a sound guy is going to turn me up.Sound person's going to turn me up that much.It's built into the personnel.

18:52 So it's like, okay, drum and bass is everything for that big of a stage, that big of a groove.And then the vocal is everything.And so it's like the guitar, all these other things are ornamentation, which is kindof weird.And except for the rare moments where a guitar takes like a big riff or a solo or whatever.Just in general, it is, it is like kind of what I've built this project around with drum

19:14 and bass and vocal and then guitar as the top part.That's what everybody else, Coachella, that was very successful in sounding really goodwas doing.And they were also keeping these really straightforward, they're not letting stuff getin the way of that vocal, not letting stuff get in the way of that groove, inclusiveof bass.As I groove and vocal, everything else comes around that center of gravity.

19:41 And so that's like helping me focus some of my future arranging is if I want to do stuffon that stage, I need to do stuff that can sound really good, loud, aggressive, almostrock bandy.It doesn't need to be necessarily released and recorded that way, but could be interpretedthat way.Does that make sense?Like, you know how like a Super Bowl halftime show they'll add all these big rock moments

20:02 or big gospel chops, like it's kind of stuff on drums, those are added, not necessarilyin the recording, but you have to have a good enough song and a song that's kind of builtin a way that can scale up to the stadium size.It doesn't have to sound like frickin, I don't know, Led Zeppelin to do that, but keepingthat in mind, keeping the idea of like rearranging a song so it can be in a bigger space is

20:27 it something that hasn't crossed my mind enough and you bet it's in my mind now.And maybe that's something that could help arrangers out there too is like think about,you know, if you have a million notes, a million little things, a bunch of tiny high hats,a ton of doubles and panning and all the crazy stuff, that kind of puts you in a club,kind of puts you in a theater, doesn't really scale that much.

20:51 Like, for example, I saw, I've seen some jazz and like really intricate hip-hop kind ofjazz stuff that sounded awesome in a small club and sounded terrible on a festival stage.With that, what you will, doesn't necessarily mean the jazz is bad for a festival, but there'sa certain type of jazz, like dinner party, that works awesome on a festival stage, but

21:16 it's like, it's kind of built for it, it's built for that party.And so keeping that in mind of like, there's a reason why people say, oh, let's write a festivalbanger, let's make a big tent record, like, let's do these things, is that you almost haveto think about the venue in which it's going to be played.And the same way that like a Baroque musician would think like, is this a chamber piece that's

21:35 supposed to be played in a small chamber?Or is this like a requiem that's going to be in a huge church with tons of echo, keepingthose things in mind, help, help you make those arranging decisions and understand thescale of the product that you're trying to make and the place that you're trying to putin.Obviously, it doesn't have to be completely that way because you can rearrange stuff forlife.

21:58 But keeping the idea of rearranging stuff for life can, will ultimately make me make differentdecisions for the record.And yeah, I didn't get to say that's where I'm going to leave it.If you want to check out my music, go to scoobertdoobert.pizza, you can find all my links or searchScoobert Doobert.If you enjoyed this pod, love music more, hit me a follow, a like, subscribe, whatever

22:26 and be sure to rate it because that rating really helps people find the pod and helps thealgorithms and whatnot recommend it to people.So stick around for some more stuff next week, be digging into some other things and gettingsome really cool guests on here pretty soon and be talking stuff like AI, recording engineeringand, you know, maybe even photography.

22:52 So we've got some fun things that can show different angles of the artistic process visuallyand creatively and auditorily, hourly for music itself.Hope this helped you love music more.See ya.