It’s been a while since I’ve shared this story, and I know it’s not on this site yet. So I thought I’d tell you all about it.

Ultimately, the reason I’m doing is it 95 North. I was interested in production for many years, but I only took the plunge to actually do it in 2015. I spent years being intimidated by the fact I knew next to nothing about it. I knew nothing about DAWs and my knowledge of music theory was virtually zero.

All I had going in my favour was what I’d acquired from years of listening to music. I could usually spot pretty quickly what sounded right and what sounded wrong.

Back in 2015, I started compiling tracks for a 95 North tribute mix. There were several records that I simply couldn’t get hold of, so I reached out to the 95 North page directly to see if they could help. Richard Payton replied and was incredibly helpful. I ended up doing three mixes, including six hours of music.

The experience encouraged me to throw caution to the wind and start. I got a copy of Cockos Reaper, downloaded a couple of very basic VSTs, a few old sample packs with mostly one shot sounds and started trying to work out how to create something. If I got stuck, I watched a YouTube tutorial to help me out.

It’ll be six years of doing it in a few months from now, and I’m still doing it and hope to be for a long time.

By The Editor

Editor-in-chief at Amateur’s House.