Minimal Audio just launched Listening Room, a new artist-led series shining a light on the stories and creative processes of some of the most interesting producers working today. For the first episode, they brought in OddKidOut, and it's a good choice.
His dad noticed him air-drumming in his car seat at six and bought him a drum kit. By 15, he’d saved up for his first MPC and was sampling vinyls, chasing the sound of J Dilla. That pretty much set the direction for everything that followed.
He started the project under the name OddKidOut in college because he genuinely felt like the odd kid out. At that point, he was making hip-hop beats exclusively. Then in 2016, Instagram featured him for his finger drumming routines, the post blew up, Skrillex signed him to OWSLA, and he moved to LA. From there, the sound evolved into what it is today.
A broken 2013 vinyl player he refuses to replace, an MPC, his laptop, and a stack of records that all mean something to him. One came directly from DJ Shadow’s personal collection. Another he bought purely because the cover looked interesting, with no idea what was on it. That last one says a lot about how he approaches the whole process.
He describes it like going fishing, you never know what you’re going to pull out, you just hope it sounds good. He listens for a small moment, chops an ambient pad he likes, and runs it through Morph EQ to sculpt the mid-range and trim the highs and lows. Morph EQ not only sculpts the frequencies, but it also adds movement to the sample. For the low end, he reaches for Current, whose bass patches he calls “insane,” and you can hear why. Then come the drums, which he live programs using the MPC.
The next vinyl and the one after follow a similar direction. He definitely has a good ear for finding small portions of a track and creatively resampling them to add his own touch. It’s often understated how having that one comfortable sound design plugin or piece of gear helps in making tracks quicker.
For him, it’s Current. He simply switches between presets and instantly has a sound that fits the overall vibe he’s after. He builds three beats live in the session. The speed at which it comes together tells you everything about how deeply embedded this process is for him. Overall, quite an interesting episode, especially for upcoming music producers looking to see how the professionals make songs and come up with unique ideas.
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