Getting at "That Thing" with saxophonist Jesse McGinty (Camila Cabello, Meghan Trainor, Scoobert Doobert)
Love Music More · hosted by Luke F. Walton (Scoobert Doobert)
Guest: Jesse McGinty
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Topics discussed
Host note
Jesse McGinty is a session multi-instrumentalist who thinks like an arranger, the episode title comes from his habit of finding the one thing that's off in a track, fixing it, and watching the whole song snap into focus.
We talk horn sections as relatively static canvases where small margin changes rewrite the output (unlike guitar-world knob sprawl), his long-running trumpet partnership in a two-room studio, and why he couldn't program believable drums without a decade inside great drummers' pockets. There's also honest talk about singer-songwriter insecurity, Christmas remake season, and starting Japanese practice nine years ago when everyone asked "why?", with no map, and a career that kept opening because of it.
Selected moments
- Horn arrangement on Santa Buddy 3:02 Host/guest connection: Jesse arranged horns on Luke's Christmas record.
- Fix that one thing 16:40 Episode title frame, identify what's off, fix it, energy returns.
- Horns vs. guitar knob rabbit holes 40:12 Static horn beds vs. losing the performance in pedal technology.
- Couldn't program drums without drummers 9:35 A decade with incredible drummers before thinking like one in the box.
- Scared of singer-songwriter 21:49 Three-chord cowboy songs as something to run toward, not away from.
- Started practicing Japanese 33:36 Nine years ago with no plan, foundational to happiness and career.
- Trumpet partner & two-room studio 57:52 Sax/woodwinds/low brass vs. trumpet, switching engineer roles.
- Best at one thing vs. good at many 63:37 High-school pastor advice that shaped a multi-instrument path.
Selected excerpts
I identified this is the thing that's off for me — I fixed that thing and all of a sudden the whole song started to come into perspective. Then I had energy to stay up.
Horns are fairly static — on the margins can we change things and make a world of difference? Guitar is the opposite: so many knobs and pedals you can lose yourself in the technology.
I couldn't have programmed drums without spending like a decade with incredible drummers and touring with people — I couldn't think like that without learning from all these different people.
I started practicing Japanese nine years ago. Everyone was like, why are you doing that? I don't know — I like it. It's been foundational to my happiness in my career.
You're either going to be the very best at one thing — in my case jazz tenor sax — or really good at a lot of things. Guess what, you're not gonna be the best. So you'd better be good at a lot of things.
FAQ
What does Jesse McGinty mean by getting at 'that thing' on Love Music More?
He describes finding the single element in a song that's blocking everything else, fixing that one issue (arrangement, part, tone, performance) until the whole track clicks into focus and the session regains momentum.
Does Jesse McGinty discuss Japan on this episode?
Yes, he talks about starting Japanese practice roughly nine years earlier with no clear career motive, and how it became foundational to his happiness and professional path over time.
No public transcript: curated notes only. Listen on the links above.