Stephen Kirkwood Lands His First-Ever Compilation Mix With ‘Lange Recordings Miami 2015’
I’ve always wondered if I had the chops to cut it as a big-shot A&R dude. Not to toot my own horn, but I’d like to think I have a pretty decent ear for quality tunes—so I must not be too far off from potentially scoring a decent artists and repertoire gig somewhere. Then again, I have no idea what a job like that would entail.
Steven Kirkwood is, however, someone who knows a thing or two about the position. The Scottish DJ/producer is currently running things in the A&R world for Lange Recordings, and he’s doing a stand-up job at that. After releasing a few breakout trance records on the imprint, he received an offer from Stuart Langelaan to take charge of the department. Fast-forward a couple of years, and Kirkwood has come a long way. He just landed his first-ever compilation mix for the label via Lange Recordings Miami 2015. So there’s that.
Have a listen to the comp’s mini mix above, and catch a few words about life as an A&R head.
Lange Recordings Miami 2015 is your first-ever mix album. How were you approached to spearhead this project?
Stuart [Langelaan] has been really kind to me over my time at LR, and when the opportunity came up, he gave me a call and asked if I would like to put it together… It’s really as simple as that! I am massively honored. It has been one of my lifelong dreams to mix a compilation album, and to work on one as big as Lange Recordings Miami has been massively rewarding.
What’s the most challenging part about constructing a compilation mix?
For me, it’s got to be the progression and flow. When listening to an album, the most important thing is the journey and where the album takes you. From that first intro track to the last, the listener has to feel the emotion and flow of the album overall, as well as experience the magic of the tracks individually. Throughout the project, I kept the vision of going on a road trip through the countryside or the Scottish Highlands (in my case) in my head; this gave me a reference when mixing the album. I often asked myself, “Would this mix or track sound perfect when driving through epic, sun-drenched mountains with a group of friends?” If the answer was yes, I went with it! Track choice is also a massive factor, but luckily I had some amazing music from some amazing producers to choose from. They made my job 100 times easier!
How did you acquire the skills to land the A&R title at Lange Recordings?
To work in A&R, you need an ear for good music, really good communication skills, and of course the ability to bring out the best in people. These key things, as well as hard work and drive, will see you success in A&R, I believe. In my experience, working in the music industry, releasing my own tracks, running my own club night, and DJing up and down the UK years before my time at A&R really helped shaped my skills toward working with such an iconic label like Lange Recordings.
On average, how many demos on do you receive per week?
No two weeks are the same. One week, we can get smothered in 50–100+, and others it can calm down to 20 or 30; it differs massively. The important thing is that we try and get through all demos, except some of the ones that are clearly poorly written and sent out to a million other labels! It’s always a nice touch to know and understand the label you are sending to. It makes a big difference at our end and gives your music a much higher chance of getting picked up!
Tell us something that has happened to you while on the job that wouldn’t happen while at any other position.
I guess the thing that gets me every time is the constant communication I have with people from all over the globe. I have spoken with people from Ethiopia, New Zealand, Miami, London… I could go on forever! Having that experience is really cool for me and just goes to show how small the world really is now, thanks to the internet age.
What are some major deal-breakers that can hurt the chances of up-and-coming artists having their music considered for release on a label?
1. Know the label you are sending your music to. Do research, listen to their sound—does it fit your demo? Is your demo holding its own against the tracks that label is realizing? If the answer is yes, send it!
2. Be polite. Give a very small bio about yourself—where you are from, past releases. Don’t overdo it, but it’s nice to let the A&R dept. know who you are without droning on too much.
3. Leave a clear description of the track, length, mp3 or WAV type, genre…
4. Finally and most important, make sure you leave a VALID SoundCloud (private) link at the bottom of the email, ready for whoever is checking out your demo to stream straight-away. These days, A&R departments don’t want to have to download tracks in order to listen… the sheer volume of music coming through to labels these days is crazy! Can you imagine how clogged your computer would quickly become if you had to download 50–100 demos every week!? A private streaming link is best, and make sure you work out how to send the correct link after uploading the track. I get sent many SoundCloud links that have not been generated properly! So… Upload>>Add description>>Click Share>>Generate Private link>>then send that link. I hope that helps!
As someone with a strong passion for being in the kitchen, what meal do you think would pair well with your latest single featured on the release?
I’d probably make my own organic, thin-crust pizza, packed with fresh veg and either steak & cheese or Italian sausage! That or a Scottish classic, steak pie!
You’ve mentioned you are very fascinated with astronomy. In what part of the universe would you like to throw your own party?
Yes! You are completely right; alongside music, space and science are two things I am hugely passionate about! I often talk with my astrophysicist friends from Glasgow University on my podcast about all things space, and my mind continues to be blown every time…. Considering there are 200 billion stars in the Milky Way, with each one having at least one planet, means that there are around 11 billion potentially habitable, Earth-sized planets out there in our galaxy alone… If I could build a warp drive, I’d pick a nice, healthy planet, head out there with a monstrous spaceship containing the biggest sound system known to man and a few hundred thousand music lovers, set up camp, and make history! I’d stick to the Milky Way at first, party on a few billion planets here, then make the 2.5 million light-year journey to our closest neighboring galaxy, the Andromeda, and see what it has to offer. Considering it’s twice the size as our galaxy, we could be partying for a while!
Buy Lange Recordings Miami 2015 here.
Follow Stephen Kirkwood on Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
Follow Lange Recordings on Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
