{
  "schemaVersion": "v1",
  "slug": "eat-the-beatles-influences-and-growing-creatively",
  "title": "Eat The Beatles (Influences and Growing Creatively)",
  "kind": "solo",
  "listenUrl": "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Eat-The-Beatles-Influences-and-Growing-Creatively-e2hib7p",
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-14",
  "source": {
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    "normalizedSchema": "v1",
    "transcribedAt": "2026-06-09T08:46:51.201Z"
  },
  "paragraphs": [
    {
      "startSec": 19.31,
      "endSec": 46.59,
      "text": "What's good, everybody?Scoobert Doobert here.Welcome back to Love Music More.Today I want to talk about influence.This is a topic that I want to start askingmore of my guests about.It comes from a book called Eat the Buddha.And I'm going to switch it around and say eat the Beatles,which sounds gross.But it's going to illustrate the concept of tryingto digest influence into a way that turns you"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 46.59,
      "endSec": 73.47,
      "text": "into the kind of musician,the kind of artist, the kind of really anythingyou want to be through the power of creative digestion."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 120.39,
      "endSec": 148.67,
      "text": "Anyway, let's eat some Beatles.So I've been talking about this on the podcast for a while.And I'm not the fastest reader because I'mkind of doing a lot of things.But I've been reading here, there, and everywhereby Geoff Emerick, who's the primary recording engineerfor the Beatles."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 148.67,
      "endSec": 172.07,
      "text": "And it's been a really fun thing to just at least,you know, I understand that it's not a perfect recollection.It's a little bit of a biased autobiography.But he talks about the very specific studio thingsthat I have the biggest questions about from the Beatles.And it's a really great way to learnthe mindset that he was bringing into the studio.And that's what I want to talk about today"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 172.07,
      "endSec": 204.75,
      "text": "is the difference between listening to the musicor experiencing the art form because this isn't just musicof something you're into.That's obviously it's important.You like it and you want to experience it.And then you'll soak it in a little bit through osmosis.But there are more active ways rather than passive waysto try and get some of that goodness into your work.And reading books, you know, obviously."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 204.75,
      "endSec": 235.07,
      "text": "But trying to think of mentality, I think,is really the point where you start eating Beatlesis you start looking at it and breaking it downinto what are the constituent partsthat created this thing that I love.And where was their head space?It's easy to go to drugs or whatever.But the beauty of what the Beatles had is they had the chaosand the creative energy of the band members themselves."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 235.07,
      "endSec": 270.91,
      "text": "But then they also had the foundationand like music school, music nerd, classically trained,George Martin to provide that to buttress that, you know,to put it into a shape.And then they had Geoff Emerick who was pushingthe available recording products that they hadthe gear into new and unexpected ways.But they were also doing it, you think Beatles,unlimited budget, whatever.They didn't have the best, you know, stuff."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 270.91,
      "endSec": 289.07,
      "text": "The people in the United States were already, you know,running way more tracks when they're dealing with two tracksor they have a eight track in the US,but they've got a four track for the Beatles in the UK.That kind of stuff.And I actually think that that's part of what the magic wasbecause they were trying to like synchronize tape machinesand having to do it at the same time"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 289.07,
      "endSec": 313.27,
      "text": "and they'd kind of mess up and then they spliced together takesall these kind of like hacky ways to get to their end goals.I think that's kind of built in and baked inis that creative limitation.They had pretty much unlimited time,which I think is also another interesting kind of componentis that they, yeah, they had deadlines and stuff like thatbut they're the Beatles, like who's going to tell the Beatles"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 313.27,
      "endSec": 336.99,
      "text": "that they can't do something.But they didn't have unlimited access to gearand they didn't have unlimited time with musicians.They were able to like hire people,but it's like when you're hiring the orchestrafor a day in the life, it's not like you havein multiple days, you've got them for this one time.And then you look at that,that's a perfect little vignettein looking at how this works."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 336.99,
      "endSec": 360.95,
      "text": "And I don't want to just focus on Beatles.I'm just trying to give the perspective of influenceand ways to draw from it.That's a good vignette.If you look at day in the life,they pull in incredible orchestral musicians.They can't quite hire an entire orchestra.So Ringo has the idea,why don't we do one third of the orchestraand then just triple track them?So then it's a whole orchestra.So though, you know,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 360.95,
      "endSec": 385.67,
      "text": "many orchestra comes into the studioto EMI, Abbey Road Studios.And they dress them up.They put them in like little party hats and stuffto make the musicians feel uncomfortable.And it's a combination of George Martinand some of the other orchestral musicianswho had played with the Beatles before,trying to reassure the other people in the sessionthat they're in a pop session."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 385.67,
      "endSec": 407.35,
      "text": "So they just have to roll with it and have fun.Some people left,but the people that stuck around,they had a different head space.And they were uncomfortable with the situationthey were putting,because Geoff Emerick was trying to close-mic their instruments.And they're not used to having a,you know, microphones mic'd right onto their hornor right up on their violin.So they're, you know, knocking it away,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 407.35,
      "endSec": 424.95,
      "text": "trying to push it away.And Geoff Emerick is fighting with them,trying to get it closer and closer.There's people in the studio.It's this party atmosphere.It's really uncomfortable for these musicians.But because it's uncomfortableand because they have the foundation of people like Geoff Emerickwho's trying to get a certain soundand they have the foundation of people like George Martin"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 424.95,
      "endSec": 449.39,
      "text": "who's trying to reassure and coax and pull inthe producer's stuff, the musiciansinto this uncomfortable environmentbut still have them perform up to their standard.A combination of all of that gets you a day in the life.Arguably, you know, the coolest thing ever recorded.But like look at that in the component partsrather than just as a whole.Because as a whole, how am I going to recreate that?"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 449.39,
      "endSec": 473.43,
      "text": "I don't have access to an orchestra.But like think about it in terms ofyou're working with a new musician.How do you put them into a uncomfortable situationthat they still feel like they can performwith their highest level?It feels like the song be it a party, be it somberwith candles or the rain outside or in a cabinor whatever, you know, like try to think of like environmentor even the way that they're dressed up"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 473.43,
      "endSec": 499.71,
      "text": "as they're performing and they're playing it.Think about the mic techniqueand trying to find something new in terms of likewhere you're even just placing your microphone.And then think about like new ways of doing it.Like Ringo, hey, I'm working with this budget.Instead of just pulling up to the Royal Albert Halllet's get him in the studio and triple track him.And then also like thinking about what bands"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 499.71,
      "endSec": 521.83,
      "text": "are the bands that you're into, into,like just take it one step further and listen to them.Or look at what are the other things that they worked on?Like George Martin produced other acts.You can learn more about how George Martinproduces by listening to more of this catalogand the same way that you can learn moreabout the Beatles by their solo workor Geoff Emerick by the other records"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 521.83,
      "endSec": 556.59,
      "text": "that he mixed or that he engineered on.All those like little things can help kind of paintthat mosaic, but then also like look at it.It's of Beatles, they're, you know, the band.They they have all these component partsthat you can try and digestif you're like a solo artist.This is my goal, my challenge, impossible challenge,but that's what makes it fun.You look at, you go, okay, Paul McCartney,best melodies ever."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 556.59,
      "endSec": 584.18,
      "text": "All right, great.I'm gonna try to like write melodies like Paul McCartneyand bring that kind of joy and freedom to making music.But then you're also gonna look at himand say, okay, what was he into?Okay, he's into bass players that I'm also into.So perfectly, James Jamerson's perfect example.So like now we have this common threadof I'm not gonna make Paul McCartney baselines,I'm gonna make James Jamerson baselines"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 584.18,
      "endSec": 605.18,
      "text": "because Paul McCartney was trying to make James Jamerson baselines.But I'm gonna try and do it with McCartney-esque melodies.And then all of a sudden, it's like, okay,that's a little closer to the Beatles,but in a new kind of way.And then you sprinkle in your own influences.Like, what would Paul McCartney sound likeif he was influenced by Thundercat, you know,that's what I'm going for, right?"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 605.18,
      "endSec": 628.86,
      "text": "So it's like a little James Jamerson,it's a little Thundercat, it's a little,Paul McCartney, it's a little Brothers Johnson, you know?That, and then you mix all of that togetherand you add in D'Angelo and it's like, okay,yeah, you're getting closer to it's Goober Doobert.Yeah, and then you fail at all of thatand then you get closer to it, right?It's shooting for the moon landing in the stars,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 628.86,
      "endSec": 657.46,
      "text": "even though the stars are way farther away than the moon.I digress.But so that's like one component,the top of the, whatever, the pyramid of the melody,and then the bottom, the bass line.And then you go, okay, what's in between?You go, okay, Ringo.Ringo's a great drummer to study frombecause he serves the song.You can be complicated on the drums,but if you make the song, the primary focus of everything,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 658.66,
      "endSec": 689.38,
      "text": "then you like write around the melodyand that's something I try to do on drumswhen I'm playing or when I'm programming.Let's try to, you know, it can be complicated,it can be simple, but whatever.The melody should be the person at the steering wheel.So the accents on the kick and the snare and the toms should be indicated by what the melodyand the bassline are doing,rather than necessarily the other way around."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 689.38,
      "endSec": 716.31,
      "text": "Sometimes it works out that way,but that's what I like about Ringo is that I feel likeit doesn't sound like somebody that's like,hey, lay down a beat and I'll write to it.It feels like, hey, write a beat to this thing I wrote.And the beauty of what we got in recordingand DAWs, digital audio workstationsis that we can change stuff.So I can lay down a temporary beat to write toor just a general feel for a melody."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 716.31,
      "endSec": 735.83,
      "text": "Maybe like this happens to me a lot.Or write a little melody, that'll be the starting point.And then I'll take that melody,I'll find some accent patterns,I'll write a drum part to that.I'll flesh out the melody, maybe get some chords,maybe get a little bit of lyrics,and then I'll revisit the drumsbecause naturally the melody will have shifteda little bit as it's kind of digested and involved."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 735.83,
      "endSec": 761.47,
      "text": "And then you tweak the drums,and then you place them bass after you've got drums,melody and chords, and then after you finish the bass,then you tweak the drums again.The drums should be subservient, really.Like, they're super important.Obviously, the drums are probably the loudest thingin the song, but I'm always changing my drum partsall the way up to the very endbecause I mean, I'm adding new information."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 761.47,
      "endSec": 789.79,
      "text": "And the drums should be reacting and conversingwith that new information.It shouldn't just be this static steady loopunless you're going for that, which sometimes you are.But it's like, you want it to talk.That's what Ringo did.And then you take the rhythm guitar and the energy,the chaos of John Lennon.And then you add in the cheekiness, you know?So you have like, you have two different types of cheekiness."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 789.79,
      "endSec": 814.79,
      "text": "You have the obla-deobla-da type of cheekiness.Like, day in the life is a perfect exampleof the two different vibes of songwriters,but try to consume them both.Try to get it to a point where you can write songsthat are both biting and joyful.So you can flip between those two things.And they both did, right?Like, they both have John Lennon's got silly songs,Paul McCartney's got songs that will make you cry,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 814.79,
      "endSec": 851.71,
      "text": "like, you know?Then you add in the upstart energyand the feeling of always growing as a songwriteror exploring other musical cultures,developing yourself and sense of self that George Harrison had.Also the freedom to pull in people like, you know, Eric Clapton.It's very, it's a very interesting and unique wayto look at career arc and arc of songwriter.Sparklein, George Martin, who gives that music school stuff."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 851.71,
      "endSec": 881.07,
      "text": "And so it's a really funny thingwhen people talk about the Beatles.Like, oh, they didn't know how to read music.You know, who did?You know, it's like, he's around.He played piano on a bunch of the recordings.He helped them write a bunch of their background vocals.He was the ever-present.There's an important backbone going on here.You're not just hearing, when I'm 64,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 881.07,
      "endSec": 908.15,
      "text": "that clarinet part didn't just magically come out of the air.It's Eleanor Rigby did not just magically get writtenby Paul McCartney and its current state.It's like, no, George, give us something that feels like thisand then he has to go and write it, orchestrate it.But that orchestration, and I'll do another part on this,is rooted in the most basic of basic music theorythat is exceedingly difficult."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 908.15,
      "endSec": 939.15,
      "text": "And it is like the stuff that gives people bad tastewith music theory, including Beethoven, by the way.And that's SATB part writing, aka choral writing,aka palestrina, or the road steps to Parnassus.Stuff that's very difficult, that I will never be great at,but neither was Beethoven.So, you know, perspective.But still, that's your vitamins.Like, that's the stuff you don't."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 939.15,
      "endSec": 967.51,
      "text": "You can't overrate grinding that out a little bit.And by having somebody in the band basically around the band,to give that, I really think supercharged their musical growth.Because if you have somebody in the room that's able to say,oh, what about this?Well, oh, I hear what you're saying.What if we change that chord to this?Oh, you're doing some modal exchange and some harmony."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 967.51,
      "endSec": 990.39,
      "text": "It's like, oh, you threw in this weird, spicy chord.And it's like, oh, I know what that chord is.I know what it's doing.Oh, yeah, what if you added this because that normally goes with that?And you provide context to bold decisionsthat might not necessarily be informed by theory.But you can do both of those things too.You never have to be bound by a textbook,follow your ears."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 990.39,
      "endSec": 1012.39,
      "text": "But then after you follow your ears, take a step back and go,oh, I see what I was doing there.You know, like, I do this sometimes with my music where I willall right, I do my thing, not think about theory whatsoever.Just do what sounds good.And then take a step back, write it out on sheet music.Look at what I'm doing and go, oh, okay.That's interesting.Basically, analyze my own music."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1012.39,
      "endSec": 1032.93,
      "text": "But then after I analyze my own music,I'll usually get a new idea.Or like an extra sprinkling of a part or go,oh, what if I doubled this middle voice up and octave?So now it just creates this extension.But it's hard to think of doing that and tell youlike, kind of put on a different hat.Put on the George Martin hat.And then you've got to put this thing into the computer."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1032.93,
      "endSec": 1056.93,
      "text": "So that's where your Geoff Emerick hat comes in.And the thing that I've been liking so much about this bookis that it's just such a state of play in the studio.It's such a, how can we do this?How can we take that further?And that's where I try to be too.It's not about making things perfectlybecause there's no such thing.And it's not about getting something to necessarily sound good."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1056.93,
      "endSec": 1083.05,
      "text": "It's about getting something to move you emotionally.I've read a really sad thing on Reddit.There's a bunch of people on the audio engineer subreddit.And somebody coming up,was doing their first mix and they posted on it and they asked,how do I know when I'm done?Almost all of the comments where you knowwhen you're done when you give up.That's like, man, that is such a sad way to look at mixing."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1083.05,
      "endSec": 1108.61,
      "text": "I responded and nobody knew who cares.But, and I said, you know when you're donewhen it moves you emotionally, it's not when you give up.You don't, it's not like there is a mountain topof perfection of mixing and you have to go acrossall these switchbacks and EQ every little tiny thing.It's like, honestly, a lot of times that ruins a songwhen you do too much.You need to go to the point at which you feel something"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1108.61,
      "endSec": 1135.55,
      "text": "deeply and then stop because it's done now.And that's the energy that I get out of this.Like these mixes and stuff, they're not perfect.And he jokes about it and he'll talk about like messed up edits,things that they've ended up fixing in some of the remasters.But I love it.And then on the other side too.So you have the freedom, the state of play,you have the different personalities of the band members,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1135.55,
      "endSec": 1163.59,
      "text": "you have growth, you have engagement,you have influence in looking at other people's influences.And then you also have this one,which I thought was really cool.On Sergeant Peppers, they would play the bass last.And so this is something that I've stolen as technique wise,not the bass lines, nothing copyrightable.I took this idea though of playing the bass lastbecause the bass is the glue"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1163.59,
      "endSec": 1188.39,
      "text": "and it's the conversation between the drumsand the vocals and the guitars, whatever.The bass is the final bit of interestand it takes up a ton of space in a mix.So if you don't have bass dealing with stuff,you can really get kind of in the weeds with the presence,the higher end frequencies,the mid, like high mid-range frequenciesand the low lows from the kick.And you can kind of like shape all of that"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1188.39,
      "endSec": 1207.71,
      "text": "without having this big ol' beefy, muddy thingin the middle of it all that clouds your perception.And I loved reading about it, so here's a little excerpt.Paul was willing to put in the long hoursfree of distraction to create harmonically intricate bass linesand then play them as well as they could possibly be played.There were nights where he would labor until dawn,"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1207.71,
      "endSec": 1226.59,
      "text": "keeping at it until his fingers were literally bleeding.In turn, it was Paul's desire for perfectionthat enabled me to finally come up with a recording techniquethat yielded the ultra smooth bass soundthat he and I had been pursuing for years.The key was that we would move his bass ampout of the baffles and into the center of the studio.I would then play some microphone about six feet away."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1226.59,
      "endSec": 1252.47,
      "text": "With the studio empty, you could actually heara little bit of the ambience of the room around the bass,which it really helped.It created a certain roundness,put it in its own space.It transformed the bass from a supporting rhythm instrumentinto a lead instrument.I thought that's cool.And one other thing he was talking about wasin the mixing stage, so he says,most recording engineers begin a rock mix"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1252.47,
      "endSec": 1272.99,
      "text": "by trying to get the balance between the drumsand the bass before they add in the other instruments.But because Paul's bass lines were so importantto the pepper songs, I got in the habitof bringing the bass track in last.I'd essentially sculpt the bass soundaround the other instrumentsthat you could hear every nuance.Not only is everything in perfect balance,but all of the individual components that go"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1272.99,
      "endSec": 1298.87,
      "text": "into the complete sound are carefully shapedto occupy their own sonic spaceand not to interfere with one another.Pretty cool.I love that.So it's like you have this freedom,you have this energy,and then when you have to get specific,when it's time to be perfect,you go put in those hours.But do you need to build that intuition into,like when, because if you just do it all the time,then you end up going crazy."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1298.87,
      "endSec": 1332.15,
      "text": "Like actually, there are a lot of musicians,but literally went crazybecause they tried to get too perfect.And you will injure yourself sometimes.I have just carpal tunnel or bleeding fingersor whatever part of it,but you don't want to make that the norm.And that's never the goal, but it's part of it.And I like the idea of just, I don't know,anything you want to do.Look into those influences and dig into it."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1332.15,
      "endSec": 1362.31,
      "text": "Like for example, with Japanese,the darkness and people that are better,then I am a Japanese of which there are many.Japanese language learners.And they have all told me the thing I don't want to hear.The key for me to take my next step in Japaneseis to learn how to read and write it.The hardest thing to do, the thing I've been putting off.But that's the thing that's stopping mefrom becoming native level fluent."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1362.31,
      "endSec": 1391.19,
      "text": "Instead of having to use my limited vocabularyto communicate an infinite set of things I want to saywhen you learn how to read and write it,you then basically get an infinite vocabulary.But it's impossible to access thatwithout going through that step.And so just like SATB, Coral or Kestrel writing,I have to go through that journeywith my Japanese language skills.But I only learned that by talking to the people"
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1391.19,
      "endSec": 1422.67,
      "text": "and it's like there's some steps you cannot skip.And through influence, you can find those steps.And you can find the ones you skip too.And hopefully people that are listening to this,if anybody who's listening is influenced by music,my music, hopefully you can hear a little bitabout how I think about influence.And hopefully that can influence the waythat you think about influence.And we pass it on down the chain."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1422.67,
      "endSec": 1451.83,
      "text": "With that, if you'd like to hear my music,check it out at www.scoobertdoobert.pizza.And be sure to like the thing on YouTube,the episode on YouTube and subscribe on YouTubeand subscribe on Spotify and give it a five starand Spotify if you could.You go to the little dots and you click on ring show,five stars.Because it really helps, helps people see this thing.Hope you enjoyed this."
    },
    {
      "startSec": 1451.83,
      "endSec": 1458.59,
      "text": "Next week we got another great conversation coming up.So definitely stick around and I wish you a great week."
    }
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