Thinking in Sound: Bringing Songs into Existence with Nick Crane
Nick Crane co-founded Racket Club in 2019. Since then he's helped to curate a team of top industry talent, design two state of the art studios, and expand the company from New York to Los Angeles and Atlanta. Along the way he's written hundreds of tracks for brands like Nike, Volvo, Johnson & Johnson, and Ford and scored several critically acclaimed short films - including his latest film "Letter to Rosie" which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. He lives in New York with his wife Jen, daughter Margot, and dog Darlene.
LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response?
Nick> Generally the first step is getting on the same page as the client. Jamming on references, inspiration tracks, things like that. One of the biggest challenges we face on a regular basis is establishing a musical language with our clients - so getting on a call and talking about emotions, likes and dislikes, specifics - the earlier we can make that connection the better.
LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity - what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang - and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?
Nick> Both solo and gang have their pros and cons. For example - when I'm writing music, I tend to get into a flow state that requires a little isolation. But outside of that, collaboration with other creative people absolutely achieves the best results. I love working with editors directly - which actually led to the formation of Racket Club with my partner Micah Scarpelli. I also love when our whole Racket Club team gets together on something - on example that comes to mind is this project for Fortnite I recently worked on - I composed the music in collaboration with my partner and our LA CD Justin Hori, we had Racket Club's Sound Designers Koomba Simmons and Nathan Dubin working on epic SD, and our senior producer Womack helped out with feedback along with the agency creatives. We worked on the music and sound design simultaneously, and for once (this rarely happens) we had time to go through several rounds of exploratory to find the right balance. A lot of times having a lot of 'cooks the kitchen' can be problematic because we're so often working on very tight schedules - but when time allows for it, and everyone's excited and inspired, you can unlock a kind of creative chemistry that takes everything to a new level. We were all just hyped on the creative. The work becomes much more than the sum of its parts.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Nick> Writing and recording music. 100%. The creative process of bringing a song into existence from scratch, from an abstract idea - and everything that goes along with that, is the most satisfying and soul-fulfilling and exciting thing for me. It's the reason I'm in this business. It never gets old.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Nick> Honestly one thing I love about working in this part of the business is how much it doesn't change. Good music is good music and will always be a part of good advertising, it's just so baked into our culture. But of course the process is always evolving. AI is the latest buzzword. While some folks see AI as a threat to the music business (it is, legitimately, for some companies), we're exploring it with optimism. I'm learning more and more about ways it can help make my music production process more efficient. Racket Club is focused on bespoke / original music, which is intrinsically a very human and psychological process. I look at AI as a very powerful tool that we can harness in service of that.
LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?
Nick> There's just so many...I'll go with Emile Mosseri. His film scoring work is beyond beautiful. Mainly thinking of Minari, Kajillionare, and The Last Black Man in San Francisco. It's all gorgeous and inspiring. Some of the most emotionally resonant writing I've ever heard.
LBB> And when it comes to your particular field, whether sound design or composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?
Nick> Hmmm...Stanley Kubrick, RZA, Wendy Carlos, Clint Mansell, Mica Levi, Meredith Monk, Michael Abels, John Frusciante, Alexandra Patsavas, Carter Burwell, Colin Stetson, Nils Frahm.
LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (lets say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?
Nick> That's so interesting - I think overall I find it really hard not to engage with music, so often times it's too distracting. I play music on my commute, when I workout, when I'm doing chores - but anything that requires more focus I just can't. I'm like a moth to the flame with music - it's hard not to get drawn in.
LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music/sound in has changed over the years. There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?
Nick> I try not to get too sucked into this argument. I'll check my mixes on my phone to make sure the frequencies are balanced in the right way to hit well out of shitty speakers, but up until that point I'm composing using the highest fidelity equipment available to me. You can't predict how someone will experience your music - it's so random where and when they're going to hear it. You can't control that. You CAN control what it sounds like to you - and the level of audio detail you give yourself access to during the writing process.
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Nick> Always looking for new sounds, hungry for discovering new artists, new songs. It's an infinite, never ending endeavor. I use travel time for music listening, mostly - on the subway, walking, on the train - or, in the car! Windows down, system cranked, bass cranked, going fast on the highway...that's the ultimate music listening experience for me.
LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised spotify-er…)?
Nick> I used to be a hyper organised spotify-er with hundreds of playlists for various themes and moods. But it got too hard to maintain. Too time consuming. Now I just have one main playlist called 'good' - a few thousand songs. A running list of gems. Then a smaller rotating one for working out, and a few for my daughter / car trips with the family.
LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music (e.g. history buffs who love music that can help you travel through time, gamers who love interactive sound design… I mean it really could be anything!!)
Nick> I like to cook. I especially like to cook without a recipe. That's probably about the closet I get to writing and producing a song...there's a ton of overlap. It's sensory, it's creative...you start with an idea, you get momentum as you cook...sometimes it evolves and you adjust and adapt the seasoning as you go...there's a lot of authorship to cooking. Similar to when I write music, I get into a flow state where I'm thinking freely and creatively and everything else sort of melts away. It's therapeutic for me.
LBB> Let’s talk travel! It’s often cited as one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do - I’d love to know what are the most exciting or inspiring experiences you’ve had when it comes to sound and music on your travels?
Nick> Nothing really comes to mind here, haha. It's been a while since I've traveled for fun. We've got a young kid so, traveling isn't what it used to be. But I do remember trips when I was younger - if I could get to a beach. Listening to an entire album on a beach is a pretty surreal and beautiful experience. I need a vacation.
LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?
Nick> I think I unconsciously go out of my way to protect my relationship with music, to keep it intact as inspiring and mystical like it was when I was a teenager. The biggest challenge for me, getting older, is not having time for writing personal music. Between running a business and having a family...how can you prioritize playing music 'just for fun'? It makes me think of a David Byrne interview that came out along with Stop Making Sense - he's interviewing himself...and he asks why he called his show 'Stop Making Sense' - "Because it's good advice. Because music and performing does not make sense"...I end up pushing myself to stay up late at night, when I should probably be catching up on sleep. Exhausted, alone, getting out the guitar and recording without any intention, just following whatever comes out. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't achieve anything tangible - but it makes my soul feel good. It's spiritual.
