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Bringing the Payne Actively participating in the Iowa City music scene for the past 7 years, he has 5 independently published musical projects to his credit. Blessed with an exceptional ear for the vibe and an unique ability to fill in the gaps when needed... Mr. Payne brings it together on all aspects. I sat down with Mr. Payne at the local pub to chit-chat for a bit and talk some shop.

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Tack: You seem to mess with different types of tempo for certain tracks you write...could you comment on that? Payne: Good question Tack…nice shoes by the way. Tack: Yea man, tan Jordan loafers, only cost 40 bucks clearance, I scored on these babies. Payne: Cool, anyway...the groove, the meter, and speed of the tempo are important fundamental elements to the overall feeling of the piece. The speed of the tempo can have so many aspects in a piece of material you may want to convey. I'm influenced by all styles/genres of music, and I pay attention to different types of rhythms and meters, and try to further my own horizons, by trying to make it, "groove effective." Tack: How important is mixing to achieve "groove effective." Payne: Very. Period. Tack: Uh, yea...Think you could elaborate? Payne: Oh sure Tack, my pleasure. Let me grab us a few more beers. Tack: Sweet, my favorite tasting brew…free. (5 minutes later Payne slides back into the booth) Payne: Ah yes, pre & post production are both important aspects. From getting the tracks up to par 'till the whole damn thing gets mastered. Analog sounds with digital mixing can be tricky, so when I sit down with an engineer to mix down a track. I like to walk away with 2 or 3 different mixes so I can do sort of a litmus test on different stereo systems. After I leave the studio with the tracks we referenced with studio monitors, I like to test my mixes on affordable, consumer friendly stereo systems to get a better idea of overall sound. Tack: Yea...no doubt, musicians get tricked into thinking that the those studio mixes translate into tight mixes in every affordable consumer stereo set up, and in every booming system in people's ride...what's up with that? What are they smoking? Payne: Good question...I haven't figured that one out either. Tack: I think it comes down to research, just asking questions, reading magazines, and bouncing ideas and different production methods off of other engineers, producers and beatmakers in the field...don't you agree? Payne: Affirmative Dr. Fu. There's definitely no "one" perfect way to strive for that "tight mix" every producer is after...at least none that I've been privy to. Therein lies the "art of mixing" I suppose. Tack: Ok, what do you think the "art of mixing" is? Or some of the tricks you use to achieve that fine detail, despite several different sounds going on at once. Payne: I would tend to think it depends on the type of music your mixing, what you want to stand out, what type of character you want your tracks to have and what you want to lurk in the background...with that said, equalization, compression, limiting, volume, panning, effects, editing, etc. definitely have their place within mixing music...not for everything mind you. But maybe the "art" of the mix lies within what the music is demanding and how the producers/composers try to fulfill what the music demands. Maybe the same could be asked of other art mediums...Why does a painter use certain colors or certain types of brush strokes? Does that make sense? I don't mean to get too cryptic. (laughs) Tack: Sure it makes sense! The piece is never finished 'till last "brush stroke." Which brings me to the next question...I know you're working with all sorts of musicians right now, and every song can be approached differently, which can lead to different styles of mixes...at what point do you say…it’s done, it’s finished. Payne: hmmm... I guess once you're happy with how the mix sounds then mastering the track would come into play, which is a whole other ball of wax after mixing the track. I've done some basic mastering 101 to songs and it's a very tricky thing. I consider myself a novice, at best, when it comes to mastering audio. There are some highly skilled folks out there with very specialized mastering equipment who will spend a considerable amount of time mastering a track. Tack: I know the folks you work with, but the readers don't...Who's in "Protostarr"? Left to Right: Carissa, Mr. Payne, Kaz, & Lolo Payne: Carrissa is on the bass and she adds vocals, I play guitar, program the looping gear, and contribute vocals. Kaz is on the sitar, and Lolo does vocals and plays the synths. Tack: Anything cooking in the near future? Payne: Hopefully an upward evolution with our music. Tack: Yo kid, you got a dope web site going on, I'm going to kick down the link, so folks can check it out i-ight? Payne: Thanks man!

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