records were made . And of course , back then we really didn ’ t have the internet yet , so you didn ’ t know , you sort of had to imagine . My first recording experience came from the church when we tried to record a couple of songs for the church . There was a local studio in town and the guy was gracious enough to let me go in , he kind of showed me the ropes and I was trying to mix everything . I kind of fell in love with it quite early on . So , it was Gospel music . Kirk Franklin came a little later . John P . Kee was one that was awesome .
[ WM ] Yes , I know what you are talking about . I too miss that experience of anticipation , studying 12 ” LPs at the record store , the full 144 square inches of that front cover and then another 144 square inches telling the story on the back cover .
[ David ] It truly was an experience back then which we don ’ t really have now . On the other hand , we have greater access today . That ’ s a great benefit too .
making career and looking back at the things that have been fairly successful for me in the past , and I ’ ve always had a great relationship with the A & R side . You can ’ t make really great music , and this kind of goes without saying , you need a great artist . That is the first thing , you need a great artist , and then you need great songs . Those two things kind of support each other , because if you have a great artist , they are striving to create really good songs .
As a producer my job is to help the artist get there to whatever vision they are trying to accomplish . Then the A & R is there to help facilitate whatever we need to make that happen . Sometimes it ’ s just saying , “ Hey listen to this . You know what we ’ re going for , are we there ?” And sometimes it ’ s going , “ Hey , I think we should do this or that ”, or sometimes it ’ s the artist , or sometimes it ’ s me saying , “ I think we ’ re going off track ” or “ I think this is right .” So , when you have a good A & R , they ’ re invaluable because they really can help the process in a lot of ways . There are a lot of things involved in the record process that if you ’ re not in the business you don ’ t understand . Nowadays I think it ’ s even more intense . There ’ s a lot of stuff that happens aside from just getting something finished and turned in , there are so many things that happen after you turn it in that you kind of have to be around for .
Four or five years ago you had a couple years to promote a record , now you get the record out and you ’ re doing even more , you ’ re doing more content , or you may add a feature to a song that was already recorded and released . So now you may have the main artist ’ s A & R and the other artist ’ s A & R . So , with all of these things it kind of takes a village of people to get some of these things accomplished , so having a great A & R is invaluable .
[ WM ] Which producers and A & R people have inspired you ?
[ Davif ] I do a lot of country music here in Nashville . A friend of mine Joey Moi ( who has
[ WM ] An understanding of the marriage of A & R ( artists and repertoire ), is a key component in producing music . Songs and compositions have to not only be great , but also the perfect fit for the artist . Ideally , A & R involves collaboration between the record label , the artist , and the producer . Historically we ’ ve seen this with everyone from Quincy Jones and George Martin , to the great Jerry Wexler and John Hammond II . I ’ ve often considered Walt Disney to be one of the greatest A & R men to have ever lived . What are your thoughts on the A & R process alongside the producer ’ s role ?
[ David ] I think it ’ s a two-fold question . A great A & R person is invaluable because they ’ ve had enough experience making records with artists and producers that they sort of know how much to be involved or how much not to be involved . That ’ s sort of a nuance , but like anything it takes making records a lot to really understand .
I ’ ve been fortunate throughout my record photo by Jeff Johnson