Syd The Kyd talks Odd Future production techniques

How did you first get involved in production and engineering?
I taught myself. When I was young, me and my neighbours, my play brother and sister, we had a rap group, but whatever, it was just some little kid shit. Then they moved away, and when my older brother moved back a year later he was still rapping and my dad had gotten me a laptop and it had GarageBand on it, and I don’t know, I just got into it. I just knew I wanted to make music professionally. I started getting a little bit into producing, or trying at least, and I knew I at least wanted to have a studio. My dad’s side of the family is really into music, and reggae, over in Jamaica. So I sorta grew up being influenced by music from both of my parents.

At what stage did you join Odd Future?
I met Hodgy when I was 15 or 16. I booked a session with one of his friends and he came along and we just clicked really well, and he kept coming. He told the rest of the crew about me and my studio and they’d been looking for a studio to record in for some time, so it just worked out.

And now you’re openly gay in a crew routinely labelled homophobic.
It’s hilarious to me. I mean I take it with a grain of salt. At first, you know, you want to argue your point, your side. Then you realise they’re gonna get it eventually, honestly. I mean, unless you’ve ever been to a show, you probably don’t know about me. So, it’s only fans who know that we’re not homophobic, or if people have heard The Internet, at least. A lot of people don’t dig deep enough, and are so quick to try to look for something to be mad at or a cause to fight, you know. I understand it.

What inspired the production of The Internet album? 
Jamiroquai, old Neptunes stuff, old Timberland stuff, Stevie Wonder and a lot of funk – Chin Chin, George Levin, George Duke.

How did [Tyler’s second record] Goblin come about?
Tyler made most of the beats, actually on my computer. We used to just all spend time in my studio, so he made most of the beats there – the ones he didn’t make there, he gave me MP3s of, and me and him just recorded. We recorded a couple of songs at other studios but most of it was recorded at my house.

And what is your primary role throughout the process?
My job is engineering and recording the album. A lot of that is to sit there, let them record as fast as they want to, and then put my ear and touch on it, and make it sound clean. Production is what I got into this field for, and it’s what I’m most passionate about. I’ve grown really passionate about performing recently, so who knows… I do record other artists [outside of Odd Future]. I’ve been engineering before I started working with Odd Future, and I didn’t just drop all of that, so I’m still working with other people. Still trying to help real artists have a chance.

What’s your favourite part of the job?
My favourite part of the engineering process is mixing. I don’t like sitting and recording. I hate that, and I have since we got really into it – so I don’t do that so much now. They’ve started recording at a way nicer studio, [Pyrmount studio]. I built a studio at my house, where me and Matt [Martians] and Mike G live, so we don’t have to go to a studio to record. Mke G records in our living room.

How involved were you in The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2?
We had a deadline for the Odd Future tape but these guys didn’t finish recording since the night before we left [For Australia], so I didn’t get to mix all of it – I only mixed half the album. So we’re thankful to have Vic[Wainstein, of Pyrmount Studios] back at home holding it down for us. He finishing mixing the album and he engineers for these guys when I’d rather be at home.

Of your ever-growing body of work, which album do you feel most happy with?
“I think I’m most proud of Goblin. Goblin and Blackendwhite, from a mixing standpoint, ‘cos I did all of that with microphones and equipment I bought with my own money, and knowledge that I taught myself, and it still was able to be sold in stores and it cost us maybe total $300 to make both of those albums – like, the cost of all of my equipment, together. So, I’m proud of myself for that.

What’s been the hardest?
The Blackendwhite mix. For one, Left Brain, when he bounces his beats, his old beats at least, he would turn the volume all the way up and bounce it, and not save the file, ’cos he was making most of his beats on a demo anyway. So I would end up with these super-distorted beats, trying to mix them and still make them sound decent and that’s a learning experience in itself. I learnt a lot mixingBlackendwhite. 

How did you achieve some sense of clarity with such poorly rendered files?
I used a lot of limiting and multi-pressors and EQing and effects. Honestly, half of the time I was trying to make it sound like it was on purpose, and nobody can tell. We turned lo-fi into a sound, so it worked out for us.