Donnie Brooks
Origin: None
I feel that music is the truest form of expression on earth. It doesn’t get lost in translation. Some of the most beautiful music, in my opinion, is made by Sigur Ros and it’s sung in a made up language. A writer can write a beautiful poem or story but sometimes its meaning may get lost in translation. That doesn’t happen with music. I know it’s a movie made about aliens, but in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, we communicate with the aliens with tones instead of words. That’s my relationship with music. It’s transcendent (even in a hypothetical encounter with an alien race). I have traveled the world and seen how beautiful this planet is and I started getting serious about producing when I got back from a tour of Europe a few summers ago. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to see the world while doing something that I have as much of an emotional connection to, and love as much as I love music. I always had melodies and things like that in my head and only in the past four to five years or so have I started getting serious about getting those melodies out to the world. It was only natural for me to get into producing. BTW, I won the Discovery Project under the alias Seven8Seven, but recently made the jump to Donnie Brooks.
Interview
Home Town: Tulare, CA
Currently Living: Los Angeles, CA
Origin Of Name: One of my favorite words is “donnybrook” which means a scene of chaos and disorder. I want my live shows to be wild like that, so I took it and played off the word to make it seem like a name: Donnie Brooks.
Weapon of Choice: A computer, a keyboard and the jumbled mess that is my mind. That’s all I really need.
Source of Power: The acts that got me into making electronic music were Justice and Boys Noize. I heard Cross after my friends went to a HARD Haunted show and were raving about them and I was hooked. Nowadays I take my inspiration from all over, whether it’s electronic acts like Madeon, Porter Robinson, Calvin Harris, or bands like Of Monsters and Men, Sigur Ros, Silversun Pick Ups, to people like Kanye West, Danny Brown, and on and on. When writing electronic music, you can find so many different sources of inspiration from everywhere, whether it’s a drum fill idea from a hardcore song, a nice progression in a orchestral piece, and so on and so on. That’s what makes it so fun.
What is your ultimate career dream?
My ultimate career dream is to be able to write music that connects with people while keeping a roof over my head and food in my belly. I just honestly enjoy sitting down and writing music and the feeling I get when I finish a song I am proud of, and hearing people react to it, is a better feeling than any drug could give me. I’m not in this for the fame or money (it would be nice, don’t get me wrong) and if that does come then it’s just a bonus.
Are you impulsive with your work or do you have a sketch in mind before you start?
Nowadays I am much more impulsive with my work when it comes to producing. I got into a horrible case of writer’s block this past year and it’s because I was getting frustrated and trying to force out music that I wasn’t emotionally connected to. I would go in trying to write a banger or whatever and I just kept churning out generic bullshit with no emotions. Now I just sit down and write what I’m feeling. I may end up with some weird piano track that I could never play live without clearing the floor, but at least I am happy with what I make and it fits how I feel at that moment. It’s reasons like this that I don’t think I could ever see myself being a ghostwriter if I was ever presented with the opportunity. Music shouldn’t have guidelines, it should be expressed freely. The same goes with live shows. I never know what I’m going to play, I rely on how the crowd is reacting and feed off of their energy. DJs are there for the people in the crowd not the other way around.
How important is it for you to experiment and take on the risk of failure?
I feel this is extremely important as a producer, especially now that the market is becoming so saturated. It kind of ties in to my answer about being impulsive in the studio. I was stuck in a time where I was just trying to emulate whatever sound was big at the moment and was getting nowhere. It’s important to try and take risks and go out of the boundaries and “guidelines” of what electronic music is supposed to be. People killed Avicii for his Ultra set but I personally loved it because it was something I had never heard before. Now “Wake Me Up” is the fastest selling single of the year. It’s extremely scary to take risks but if you can do it, people will reward you for it.
What gets you excited when you think about the future of electronic music and club culture?
The thing that gets me most excited about the future of electronic music is the same thing that other people may feel is a detriment to it: anyone with a computer can try to make it. I understand why people bemoan the fact that it seems like everyday thousands of new DJs pop up but I feel like this is great. It may be harder to break through and catch a break because of how saturated the industry is but that is going to force people to continue to be innovative and push boundaries and the industry is going to continue to evolve. All this competition is going to keep electronic music from getting stale. Don’t look at it a detriment, look at it as motivation to continue to get better and push the envelope. Eventually the cream will rise to the top and we will get some really amazing music while those who are in it for the wrong reasons will be phased out.
What do your parents think of what you are doing?
My parents have actually been extremely supportive of what I am doing. I am truly blessed to have them. Neither one of them really listens to electronic music but they seem to honestly enjoy my music. I was a little scared to tell them that I graduated college with a Pre Law degree and wasn’t going to be going to Law School but they understood and couldn’t have reacted better. Their main thing is that they want me to be happy. I still don’t know what my career is going to be and whether or not this is going to work out but I know they will support me no matter what. My dad is the hardest worker I have ever known and I try to emulate his work ethic when it comes to my music. It’s the least I can do since they have supported me completely.
What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?
The best advice I can give is to just enter. If you don’t win, enter the next one and don’t get discouraged. I almost didn’t enter the Nocturnal Discovery Project myself because I was in my own head discouraging myself that the odds weren’t in my favor. Two days before the deadline, I decided to give it a shot and managed to get the remix that eventually got me on stage submitted 10-minutes before the deadline. I know it sounds cliché but you just have to put yourself out there and if you are constantly producing and constantly getting better eventually opportunities are going to present themselves.
Winning Track:
Winning Mix:
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