Image Cred: Liam Oz
For their second release together, edapollo and Juno Mamba leaned into a brighter, more expansive energy. The result is “U Always,” a vibrant, summery counterpoint to their earlier collaboration, “Drifter” — and a natural evolution for two artists who approach collaboration without ego. Released via Mushroom Music back on May 9th, the track balances emotional nuance with dancefloor confidence.
We caught up with edapollo to explore what makes collaboration work, how to hold space for both conviction and openness, and what really matters when you’re trying to make something lasting.
How do you stay open to collaboration without losing sight of your original idea?
It’s a fine balance and I think you have to really trust the other collaborator’s vision. It’s good to have a conversation about how you might imagine the idea evolving further. I always try to focus on what is strong about the initial idea and what other parts could do with improvement.
Call on each other’s strengths or something they’re enjoying doing lately. If someone is particularly good at drums, let them dive into the drum production and if another is good at sampling or vocal ideas / arrangement, let them have more control over that. Also, sometimes you can lose the magic of the demo by doing too much, so ‘less is more’ is often a good phrase to remember.
Finding the right kinds of sounds that complement each other is so crucial, rather than adding lots of layers in the hope it’ll sound “bigger.”
What helps you hold steady in sessions where everyone has a different vision?
I think if someone has a real vision and is passionate about a direction they want to take an idea, it’s good to let them roll with it and encourage the enthusiasm because often what they can hear in their head might take a little while to achieve and it might go through stages of not sounding so good. I think trying multiple versions of songs is also important and sitting with them for a while to see how things sound with fresh ears and perspective.
How do you know when to compromise — and when to trust your gut?
I think everyone knows that feeling when something happens in a song that hits you in a certain way, for example when you get goosebumps or a sudden emotional response or maybe just something that makes you want to get up and dance. Normally if I’m feeling any of those things, I trust my gut that others might be likely to have a similar response.
I also tend to compromise more if I’m not feeling those things as intensely and I think the song needs fresh input and inspiration to take it to that next level.
What’s changed about the way you take feedback over the years?
I’m way more receptive to constructive criticism but at the same time I don’t always listen or agree to people’s feedback, but I always value honesty, even if it means them telling me they hate my song.
Feedback is so useful when you trust the person giving the feedback. I enjoy getting technical feedback from other producers and writers but equally enjoy getting feedback from people who know nothing about production because sometimes it’s a good indication whether the song might appeal to a wider audience of people.
Have you learned any techniques for sharing your input without dominating the session?
When working in person I think it’s good to swap seats every 20 or 30 mins, so each person is adding to the collaboration and it keeps both parties tuned in and more inspired.
What’s one thing you used to give up too easily in collabs — and how do you handle it now?
I think I’m actually the opposite, I used to find it harder to let go of ideas because I was more precious about things sounding a certain way and/or fitting into a certain stylistic box or genre.
I think these days I’m way more open to the other person reworking my ideas and bringing their vision into the equation because I think it’s good to push the boundaries of your sound as an artist and evolve. It not only keeps it more interesting for myself as a producer but also for other listeners and can help broaden the listenership and reach new fans.
Working with Vinci (Juno Mamba) on our collaborations has been very rewarding because there’s never any ego in the room and we both just want to make the best music possible, our visions for the songs seemed to very naturally align and I think that comes with the experience we both have and the confidence we share in each other.
What do you wish more producers understood about balancing openness and conviction?
I think it’s important to be really excited about all the music that you make and release into the world, so I think it’s important to find people you respect and admire and find a way to create something uniquely collaborative together that melds both artistic worlds together.
With ‘U Always’ we had a very open collaborative process and we actually decided to completely rework the track at one stage, as the original version had been sat around for over a year and we felt it needed freshening up, so we almost treated it like a remix, taking some of the original elements then adding new elements like the main synth, drums and vocals.
Overall we’re both really happy we did this, as we think the new version of the song takes the essence of the original version but elevates it, with a more dynamic groove and a more emotional and hooky vocal part, allowing the track to ebb and flow and be a strong one for the club and home listening.
The post edapollo on Letting Go of Control and Still Making It Sound Like You appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.