Kerry "Krucial" Brothers Interview Transcription
DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on, everybody? It’s your boy, ‘Z,’ doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is a Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter. Please welcome the very talented Kerry “Krucial” Brothers – how you doin’, Kerry?
Kerry Brothers: I’m doin’ good, thank you. Thank you for havin’ me.
DJ Booth: It is absolutely my pleasure. When you hear the introduction that I just gave you, and it includes the attribute “Grammy Award-winning,” what immediately comes to mind?
Kerry Brothers: What immediately comes to mind is honor – I’m very honored to be recognized with my peers in an industry where there are so many people who are very talented and have won Grammys. This is the one award that you get that’s actually judged by people who do what you do, and it’s just a great feeling. It makes me proud that my mother knows that all that noise I made throughout the years [wasn’t] in vain.
DJ Booth: Kerry, when you first started working in this industry, were you confident that you could achieve the level of success that you’ve reached thus far?
Kerry Brothers: I always had a drive. When I first got into music it definitely was just for the love; I was real passionate about doin’ what I loved. I always wanted to own my own business, and I always wanted to do music, but it took a while for me to put two and two together. I always was real set on makin’ a living doing something I love; the success is just a bonus, know what I mean?
DJ Booth: With the current state of the record industry – sales are on the decline, they’re tryin’ to come up with different ways to bring in new revenue – how is a producer/songwriter like yourself affected the most?
Kerry Brothers: On the producer side, it’s pretty much the same, except companies are not so willing to give the big budgets they would before. They’re lookin’ more to do work on spec first, whereas before you’d get your money up front. Technically, people are always going to need songs for movies, for TV, for various things, so as a songwriter it really doesn’t affect you that much.
DJ Booth: Let’s say tomorrow all four major record labels decide that in order for the recording industry to succeed at a higher level, they’re going to go 100% digital – could that system work in today’s current climate?
Kerry Brothers: We’re close to that right now. We’re an instant gratification generation, where people don’t want to wait to go up the block or drive wherever they gotta drive to have a record. To have it at their fingertips as soon as they think of it, that’s where it’s goin’. Music is always gonna be around. It’s really necessary to keep up with the technology nowadays and find various ways to be part of that movement.
DJ Booth: What would you say is going to be the kiss of death for the hard copy CD? What will it take to finally meet its end?
Kerry Brothers: Wow… I don’t know. I really don’t wanna see that, ‘cause I’m a fan of picking up a CD and pickin’ up artwork, and opening the booklet up, and I kinda miss that. If that really goes away, maybe I guess if they get really into, when you purchase something online, you can print out a nice booklet, but even with that, I don’t really see it bein’ satisfying. But that’s just me, and people who are really into the artwork. People don’t even really know song names nowadays – it’s like, “Play number 6,” “Play number 7!” and that came from CDs. I really don’t wanna see it go.
DJ Booth: Well, I’m with you; I don’t wanna see it go either, but obviously evolution needs to occur in order for a success to be bred. Let’s dig deeper into Kerry Brothers. Describe to me what a studio session is like for you and any of the artists that you’re working with, the collaborative process, if you will, step by step. What does it take to make a hit record?
Kerry Brothers: [laughs] That’s the mystery of it all, you know what I mean? When I get in the studio, I might start with the melody, I might start with a track, I might start with someone on the guitar – [there are] various ways, depending on what we’re doing for that day and who I’m working with. First and foremost, you just try to get a nice vibe, nice atmosphere, make it comfortable, and just go by what you’re feeling. And when [you] get in the studio to work on one song you always get on a little side note where you come up with something you didn’t plan to do, and a lot of times those are the ideas that come out great and are done quick. For example, writing “No One,” we just had the track down, Alicia was just humming melodies, and we started puttin’ down a couple of lyrics, and without even knowing what the song was about, we just had that feeling, like, “Wow, this [is] great,” and you get a great feeling about what’s going to happen, and the rest is history. There’s some songs, you go like, “This is gonna be wonderful, everyone’s gonna love it,” and no one gets it. So there is no real formula. All I would really say is go in and go with the vibe, go with the feeling, and just do what you feel. I think when you try to force a song or try to make a hit, that’s when you fail.
DJ Booth: I have a feeling that if there was a formula, you probably wouldn’t want to share it with the world.
Kerry Brothers: If there was a formula, somebody would have figured it out and everyone could do it.
DJ Booth: Kinda like your mom’s secret recipe she doesn’t want to give to any of her sisters.
Kerry Brothers: Exactly, exactly.
DJ Booth: Kerry, everyone is obviously familiar with all the writing, composition, and production that you have contributed to Alicia’s albums, but talk about what it’s like working with other artists. Because you are so close with Alicia, when you work with a different set of artists, is the dynamic completely changed?
Kerry Brothers: Everyone’s different. For example, working with Robert Randolph, who’s a genius on the steel guitar, in the studio it turns into, like, he’s performing a concert and I’m just watching it. When I work with artists, I like to let therm take the lead. I”m not one of those producers that tries to conform you to my sound, or whatever it is, try to dictate how you should sound; I like to make sure they keep close to what their fans know them for, and just enhance it, and just try some various things they wouldn’t normally try. All the artists I’ve been workin’ with, it’s been a mutual respect, so it’s always been fun. I haven’t had any disaster stories where you get some artists who turn into divas, or they don’t wanna listen, or they don’t wanna show up or whatever. So when I work with an artist, it’s always different. I’m more a person who goes off of feeling, and the feedback and the reaction that you get in the studio.
DJ Booth: What is the craziest reaction that you’ve ever gotten in the studio, after you played some production?
Kerry Brothers: Just excitement, somebody yellin’ like, “Woo!”
DJ Booth: [laughs] In addition to your work, of course, with Alicia and Mr. Randolph, you’ve been working on projects with both Brandy and Anthony Hamilton. Discuss those collaborations.
Kerry Brothers: Oh, working with Anthony, amazing. That guy is a brilliant writer, so fast – he’s sittin’ there improvising while the track is being made, and you’ve got to concentrate on what you’re doin’, but you just want to stop and listen to him sing. So it was really, really, really amazing. For Brandy, I just played some tracks for her, she reacted [to] the tracks, and then worked with various artists to get a song together for her, so I’m about to get back in the studio with her. So it’s been real good, I’ve got no complaints.
DJ Booth: Kerry, everything that I think most people read about you involves your work as either a producer or a songwriter, but what a lot of people need to know is that you’re also involved in the rap game.
Kerry Brothers: Yes, I put out an independent EP a couple of years ago. That’s where I started out at, that’s what really made me feel like I wanted to get into music, and really inspired me. I started as an aspiring rapper, and I used to work with various producers. When I couldn’t get with them, I started makin’ my own beats, just to rap on, and then people was like, “Oh, you made that beat? Can you make me a beat, too?” [and I] started from there. That’s what really got me into doin’ things. But as far as [being] a rap artist, I’m doin’ it more on the independent side, more for me, not really tryin’ to go in the mainstream with it.
DJ Booth: How serious would you say you are about a side career as an MC?
Kerry Brothers: If it happens, it happens. I just love puttin’ together songs, so if it’s my song, someone else’s song, I’m good.
DJ Booth: Kanye had a lot of success starting off as a producer and then transitioning into an emcee, but a lot of industry insiders I’ve spoken with, they seem to think that if you’re good at what you do, don’t bother doin’ the tango in someone else’s arena. So have you talked with people who, when you’ve mentioned that you also can rap they say, “Listen, you’re such a great songwriter and producer – why don’t you just stick with that?”
Kerry Brothers: Well, you get that reaction at first. During the time the EP was out, I was doin’ shows at SOBs in New York, and people [came] by, and they kinda changed their minds, like, “Wow, this is a real hip hop show, this is the real deal – I didn’t expect it to be like this!” And what happens is, people try to put you in one box, but if you look at the history of entertainment, most entertainers from Doris Day on, there were so many actors that were singers, dancers, painters and also [those who] wrote literature. We’ve started breaking everything into little categories, and we should get that just because this person’s known for this doesn’t mean that that’s all they do. I think that’s a bigger illusion – if you have talent, you’re usually talented in more than one area.
DJ Booth: Exactly. As a matter of fact, what you just said mirrors what I heard from Ryan Leslie a few months ago. He was tellin’ me the exact same thing: don’t put me in a box; I can do more than one thing!
Kerry Brothers: Exactly.
DJ Booth: Kerry, at this point of your career, you might want to go in one of many directions. Where would you like to see the next few years go for you in this industry?
Kerry Brothers: Well, just venturing out. I’m really takin’ time to study my craft, gettin’ back into learning to read, ‘cause I really don’t read music and I want to definitely strengthen that, and just strengthening all the weaknesses and keeping the excitement. I always like to learn new things, even the technology, and various different programs, like ProTools. In my near future, I have a couple of independent movies that I’m going to be scoring, and that’s pretty much where I’m goin’, just doing music in different areas – for movies, for TV, for various things, and just branchin’ out more.
DJ Booth: So you’re tellin’ me that you’re gonna take over the entire entertainment industry, basically.
Kerry Brothers: [laughs] It’s time to spread the wings a little more!
DJ Booth: Well, I wish you the best of luck in that pursuit. Give everybody a website or a MySpace pages, so they can all find out more about Kerry Brothers.
Kerry Brothers: Okay, you can log on to www.krucialkeys.com, and my MySpace is myspace.com/krucial.
DJ Booth: Well Kerry, than you so much once again for takin’ the time to join me inside the DJ Booth, my friend.
Kerry Brothers: Thank you, Z.
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