Thinking in Sound: Embracing New Soundscapes with JINGLEPUNKS Composer and Producer Tate Gregor
Tate Gregor is a music producer from NYC at JINGLEPUNKS, with extensive experience in the production of cutting-edge pop, electronic, and hip-hop music (among many other genres.)
He cut his chops producing original compositions for TV, film, and radio, as well as sonic branding and doing sound-design for a large number of high-profile clients. With roots in New York City’s DIY electronic music scene, and an enormous body of music-production experience, Tate uses his skills to elevate music compositions, productions, and artists alike.
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?
Tate> I always start by reading through the brief multiple times to familiarise myself with the client’s ask, and if I find myself at all confused by the direction, I usually like to do some broad research on the client. I’ve found getting a sense of the client’s age, where they’re located, past projects, just their overall vibe, etc., can be really helpful in pinpointing what they’re looking for in the final product. For example, this comes up all the time when the word 'nostalgic' gets thrown around - nostalgia to a gen z hip-hop artist from LA is obviously going to be very different than nostalgia is to a reality-TV music director in their fifties from NYC, so clarifying where they’re coming from is essential to achieving their goal.
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?
Tate> So, to the first part of that question, I absolutely agree that music and sound are some of the most interactive forms of creativity. I’ve always said that art decorates space, and music decorates time, and with our current state of tech increasingly disconnecting us from the present, there’s no better way to bring a whole group of people to the here-and-now than some good live music.
That said, to the second part of that question, I think I generally tend to gravitate towards working solo a lot of the time - because my creative-brain moves faster than my mouth, hah - but some of the most inspiring musical moments of my life have been in spaces of collaboration. Probably my most memorable collaborative experience would be working directly with Vanilla Ice to produce a modernised version of his hit, 'Ice Ice Baby', from the ground up. Getting to pull apart the pieces of the original to understand how the (legendary) sausage was made, and getting Vanilla Ice’s insights into his process was fascinating, to say the least!
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Tate> Hmmm, the most satisfying part of my job is hard to say, but the feeling I get after listening back to a completed project (or even better, hearing it in the wild) probably takes the cake. Knowing I was able to translate a client’s creative vision into a functional product with all parties satisfied is the best.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Tate> We’ve obviously seen massive change in the ad space with the ubiquity of things like Instagram and TikTok, but I think a super important part of that change is an overall shift in how we consume advertising in the first place, and sound is a big part of that. From every app branding its content with a custom sound-designed stamp, (a sonic icon, or 'earcon' if you will), to the fact that the overall attention-span for all media is shorter than ever, music and sound are going to continue to play a huge roll in getting an advertisement’s intent across as quickly as possible, while remaining memorable to the listener/viewer. We’ve just gone from 'jingles' to 'sonic-branding'.
LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?
Tate> Super difficult to narrow it down - there’re a lot of them! The biggest that comes to mind would have to be Trent Reznor. Between his high-intensity industrial music for Nine Inch Nails and his carefully crafted movie scores for things like 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and 'The Social Network', the range he displays with his melody-writing and sound-design is second-to-none. He even produced the sample that went on to become 'Old Town Road'. Talk about range!
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?
Tate> Yes, definitely. A concept I come back to for almost every song I write/produce is the idea that a song can be broken down into three pieces: 'story', 'melody', and 'imagery'. The 'story' is simply the story the song is trying to tell, generally created literally with the lyrics. the 'melody' is, well… the melody of the song, (including the chords and the arrangement), and covers the overall musical components like instruments and sound-design. Finally, the 'imagery' is the visual experience the mind's-eye creates when listening to the piece. I think a perfect song unites all three of these components, without any one of them overshadowing the others, and creates a space that guides the listener through the sonic landscape with maximum impact, while not being too overwhelming or hard to follow.
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?
Tate> Actually, I have a really tough time working with background music. It’s difficult for me to not focus on any music that’s playing, so I tend to work in silence - though ironically when I’m producing music, sometimes I’ll put on an old silent movie or cartoons that don’t need sound to give my eyes something to look at while listening back to mixes, which, I suppose you could essentially consider 'background visuals'.
LBB> 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?
Tate> I think the biggest change here is the universality of the headphone-listening experience. When I first started producing over a decade ago, I spent a lot of time thinking about what creative space I was mixing/producing for, (i.e. whether it was live performance, a movie-theater setting, a SoundCloud deep-cut, a radio spot, etc.) but at this point, the vast majority of listeners are experiencing high-quality audio almost exclusively through headphones. So, these days, my final steps in the production process are always dialling in the stereo image with headphones on - sometimes even mastering with headphones on as well. Another huge change I’ve noticed across the industry is the element of dynamic range and loudness, (TikTok has single-handedly made music about 3 LUFS louder on average) but that’s another can of worms to open, hah!
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Tate> I like to enjoy my coffee in the morning with some soft jazz, maybe a little Oscar Peterson or Keith Jarrett, and then I tend to dive into whatever tracks I’m producing for the day. So at that point, my ‘listening diet’ tends to be pretty light since I’m usually dedicating all my focus to whatever genre I’m working on. I do try to attend as much live music as possible though.(Especially love local open-mics.)
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…)?
Tate> I keep a vinyl collection (wouldn’t call it hyper-organised, hah), but otherwise I generally enjoy music via streaming services. I started my professional music career producing a genre of music called 'Chiptune' or '8-Bit', which involves producing electronic music on retro video game consoles like the Gameboy or Nintendo Entertainment System, so I also have an enormous collection of eight and 16-bit video game samples; nothing makes a cool snare-drum-sound like an affected punch sound-effect from 'Street Fighter'!
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!!)
Tate> Fashion! I’ve always said that in another life, I would have loved to be a designer. I think the creative process of styling an outfit is very similar to the creative process of building out a song, and matching styles and colour is like creating harmonies in music. (PS, I miiiight have a slightly over-the-top jacket collection at this point, haha.)
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?
Tate> I absolutely agree that travel is essential to finding inspiration in the creative space. Last year, I traveled through Vietnam and Cambodia for a month to see the ancient city of Angkor Wat (been on my bucket-list forever) and it was a truly life-changing experience. There was a moment, hiking through the Cambodian jungle, where I realised my ears were focusing on a soundscape that was different than anything I’d ever heard - it was as simple as existing in a space with different trees, different birds, different weather, etc., and I found myself eager to write new music and explore that inspiration as much as I could.
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?
Tate> I began my music career as an electronic producer, particularly EDM and Dubstep (Skrillex was my idol, hah), yet fast-forward to now, and I just produced a country music record. So, as you could imagine, a lot has changed for me over the years. I think as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more open-minded about what different genres/styles can bring to the table, and that regardless of the institutional space those genres belong to, it’s all just music… and I love music!
