N*E*R*D: On The Nose...
Artist:
RWD
They've been laying low for a while, but Chad 'n' Pharrell have really come back hard this year with Madonna, Common and Santogold all up in their Pro-Tools. More excitingly though, it's the return of everybody's favourite rock/rap group, N*E*R*D with their amazing new album Seeing Sounds. Hattie Collins spazzes out with Pharrell...
You've been very quiet recently - where you been at Skateboard P?
I had to do a lot of fashion stuff with BBC/ Ice Cream and also every once in a while I like to switch direction and change style. That's why, if you listen to the Madonna record it's very different to the stuff we've done before. We're just in a different world right now.
The Madonna stuff is ok, but Common's U.M.C? It's nuts!
[Laughs] We kept talking about going in the studio for two years straight. We had done Come Close a couple of years ago, but he said he wanted to go back in and work together. We finally we scheduled it and it was just magical. He was into where I was going.
Was U.M.C as influenced by D&B as it appears to be?
Of course, of course. But I was annoyed by D&B when I was young. You have to think about it, what could we do more energetic than Lapdance. So we had to speed up the BPMs so we took it to 140!
Grime is at 138BPM - do you listen to much of that?
Oh yeah, yeah, I like that stuff. I like all kinds of music, so when I got to Common that was the kind of world that I was in.
Are artists always that open with your sounds?
A lot of artists are very open now but we've had to fight people over the years, to push them to want to try different sh*t. But now people are really, really into different things, so that makes me really happy man.
Was it hard to persuade Madonna to step out?
Nah, nah, we had a great time.
Had you met her before? Were you scared/ intimidated?
Nah, I'd never met her before. But nah not at all scared- I just wanted to do the best job possible.
How much was she involved in putting the tracks together?
We really collaborated and she pushed me harder and harder and harder. At first it frustrated me cos I'd never been demanded around like that, but after a while, I got used to it and it made me be even more efficient than I would normally be. I learned a lot. I thought I was a workaholic before - now I'm a workaholic.
Given how different your new stuff is, is it fair to say you might have reached a level of complacency a couple of years ago?
I don't know, all I know is that I'm super-inspired at the moment. I really am. I've been doing a lot of reading and movies and watching old Youtube clips, different things.
Talking of 'clips', how's thing with Pusha and Malice?
All is good, we're family.
How did you feel about All In My Mind not doing so well.
In hindsight, I realised that it should have been a compilation with a bunch of artists, rather than just me. Once I did a couple of shows I was like 'Uh-uh, this ain't working.' So I let it go. The energy just wasn't right.
The new N*E*R*D tracks - Spaz!?? WTF?!?!
You are so funny man! You like Spaz?
Hell yeah. With Everybody Nose, are you into drugs yourself?
No! I don't even drink like that. I mean, we celebrate with a drink sometimes and things of that nature, but otherwise I'm good.
How did you get Lindsay Lohan to be a song about coke?
Because we're just talking about a party and so she's trying to get in the party, she's not doing any drugs or anything. We thought it would be kinda clever [laughs].
Another amazing track is the Beatles-ish Crashing Down...
Yeah, I was trying to capture a little Todd Rundgren, a little Beatles. I love chords so I was trying to get the best chords in there at an intense rate to help to illustrate the definition of the words and sh*t. I was just trying.
Can you please tell us about C.R.S?
Oh, you mean the tour with Ciara, Rihanna and Shakira, right? That’s what you mean, right?[laughs].
Come on, you, Kanye and Lupe?
Nahhhhhh [laughs].
Alright - so, when did you first fall in love with music?
I remember loving Queen - Queen was dope. Growing up in the projects, I was around all types of sh*t like Donnie Hathaway, Queen and Rick James. Back then country music was still big so I was digging Dolly Parton; Working 9-5 was huge in the hood. I grew up in a world where everything was cool, music was music, people were people.
You've got BBC, Ice Cream, N*E*R*D, production... how do you do it all?
Right. It sounds like a lot. You gotta just love what you do. If you love what you do, it’ll be alright. Cos if you love it then it sends you to explore and if you want to explore, you’ll find it.
N*E*R*D perform at Projekt Revolution on the 28 June. Seeing Sounds is out now and Everybody Nose is out 7 July
RWD Magazine
They've been laying low for a while, but Chad 'n' Pharrell have really come back hard this year with Madonna, Common and Santogold all up in their Pro-Tools. More excitingly though, it's the return of everybody's favourite rock/rap group, N*E*R*D with their amazing new album Seeing Sounds. Hattie Collins spazzes out with Pharrell...
You've been very quiet recently - where you been at Skateboard P?
I had to do a lot of fashion stuff with BBC/ Ice Cream and also every once in a while I like to switch direction and change style. That's why, if you listen to the Madonna record it's very different to the stuff we've done before. We're just in a different world right now.
The Madonna stuff is ok, but Common's U.M.C? It's nuts!
[Laughs] We kept talking about going in the studio for two years straight. We had done Come Close a couple of years ago, but he said he wanted to go back in and work together. We finally we scheduled it and it was just magical. He was into where I was going.
Was U.M.C as influenced by D&B as it appears to be?
Of course, of course. But I was annoyed by D&B when I was young. You have to think about it, what could we do more energetic than Lapdance. So we had to speed up the BPMs so we took it to 140!
Grime is at 138BPM - do you listen to much of that?
Oh yeah, yeah, I like that stuff. I like all kinds of music, so when I got to Common that was the kind of world that I was in.
Are artists always that open with your sounds?
A lot of artists are very open now but we've had to fight people over the years, to push them to want to try different sh*t. But now people are really, really into different things, so that makes me really happy man.
Was it hard to persuade Madonna to step out?
Nah, nah, we had a great time.
Had you met her before? Were you scared/ intimidated?
Nah, I'd never met her before. But nah not at all scared- I just wanted to do the best job possible.
How much was she involved in putting the tracks together?
We really collaborated and she pushed me harder and harder and harder. At first it frustrated me cos I'd never been demanded around like that, but after a while, I got used to it and it made me be even more efficient than I would normally be. I learned a lot. I thought I was a workaholic before - now I'm a workaholic.
Given how different your new stuff is, is it fair to say you might have reached a level of complacency a couple of years ago?
I don't know, all I know is that I'm super-inspired at the moment. I really am. I've been doing a lot of reading and movies and watching old Youtube clips, different things.
Talking of 'clips', how's thing with Pusha and Malice?
All is good, we're family.
How did you feel about All In My Mind not doing so well.
In hindsight, I realised that it should have been a compilation with a bunch of artists, rather than just me. Once I did a couple of shows I was like 'Uh-uh, this ain't working.' So I let it go. The energy just wasn't right.
The new N*E*R*D tracks - Spaz!?? WTF?!?!
You are so funny man! You like Spaz?
Hell yeah. With Everybody Nose, are you into drugs yourself?
No! I don't even drink like that. I mean, we celebrate with a drink sometimes and things of that nature, but otherwise I'm good.
How did you get Lindsay Lohan to be a song about coke?
Because we're just talking about a party and so she's trying to get in the party, she's not doing any drugs or anything. We thought it would be kinda clever [laughs].
Another amazing track is the Beatles-ish Crashing Down...
Yeah, I was trying to capture a little Todd Rundgren, a little Beatles. I love chords so I was trying to get the best chords in there at an intense rate to help to illustrate the definition of the words and sh*t. I was just trying.
Can you please tell us about C.R.S?
Oh, you mean the tour with Ciara, Rihanna and Shakira, right? That’s what you mean, right?[laughs].
Come on, you, Kanye and Lupe?
Nahhhhhh [laughs].
Alright - so, when did you first fall in love with music?
I remember loving Queen - Queen was dope. Growing up in the projects, I was around all types of sh*t like Donnie Hathaway, Queen and Rick James. Back then country music was still big so I was digging Dolly Parton; Working 9-5 was huge in the hood. I grew up in a world where everything was cool, music was music, people were people.
You've got BBC, Ice Cream, N*E*R*D, production... how do you do it all?
Right. It sounds like a lot. You gotta just love what you do. If you love what you do, it’ll be alright. Cos if you love it then it sends you to explore and if you want to explore, you’ll find it.
N*E*R*D perform at Projekt Revolution on the 28 June. Seeing Sounds is out now and Everybody Nose is out 7 July
RWD Magazine
Submit to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
Amardeep
30 Jun 2008, 17:51
30 Jun 2008, 17:51
N.E.R.D,the neptunes and solo projects anything pharell duz it utterr genius
