You may not have heard the name Sean Kongery before, but you’ve probably heard his work. Or perhaps you knew this UW grad by his real name, Sean Bacastow. Flashback to May 2012 when the summer anthem “Darty” blew up. Yeap, he produced that. Whether you’re familiar with him or not, you’re about to catch more of him in the future…and you couldn’t be luckier.
After moving to Hollywood, Sean released a video with Lake Effect Films titled “Paper” which gives an inside peek at what he does on a regular day doing what he loves- producing music. The video opens with a quote: “…and after all, if you do really like what you’re doing, you’ll eventually become a master at it” explaining that these series of seemingly ordinary tasks can sometimes translate into extraordinary results.
From playing multiple instruments to creating lyrics, it seems Sean Kongery is a master at many things.
So stand back and watch here.
He’s releasing follow-up video on November 4th titled “Aware.” In mid-November, Kongery is launching a video series called “Tracked Out” where he will respond to Twitter challenges and document his process of creating a new track each week. So make sure to follow and tweet him @seankongery your most outrageous challenges using the hashtag #trackedout. But only after you check out this interview!
How did you start off in music?
When I was in high school, I was in a band called Fair Herald. We were kind of a roots-rock, alt-country band so it was a lot different from what I do now. We played together for six years and were pretty serious about it. Then my sophomore year of college, we broke up so I kind of had this creative void that I had to fill, and I didn’t know what to do with my time so I started producing. I’ve kind of just been doing that ever since. Senior year, I decided that that’s what I wanted to pursue as a career so that’s what I’m doing.
What was your major in college?
I was a journalism major so I was just producing in my spare time. If I felt like making music, I would just sit down and was doing it maybe three times a week. It wasn’t until senior year that I took it a little more seriously and I was working three or four hours a day.
When producing music, do you sing, play instruments or work mainly on the computer?
It’s a little of everything. I guess I can sing but not well. I play guitar, bass, drums and piano and then I use those as tools to make music on the computer. I’d say most of my tracks have guitar in them. Especially with music going where it is, with a lot of focus on computers and electronics, I like to try to bring live instruments into the mix as much as I can. I think it helps make my music more organic and unique.
What was the moment when you realized that you could actually make a career out of producing music?
I think the first time was when me and Nick Luebke released “Darty” because at that point I still didn’t really have an identity. I hadn’t ever released anything big. I was just kind of making it up on the spot and so was Nick. That was our biggest success together. I think that was something where we both were allowed to step back and really be happy with what we made. We really just wanted to make a fun summer song and I think we did that. We actually wrote and recorded it in 24 hours because we had to meet a deadline. It was crazy.
Do you help with the lyrics too?
It really depends on what the artist wants but with Nick, I co-wrote the hook for “Darty” and Nick wrote the verses. Sometimes I won’t do anything for the melodies or verses and other times I’ll do a lot. It just really depends on what they want help with because a producer’s role is really just to help the artist express their vision.
What do you do in California?
Well I moved out here almost six months ago in March. I produce music and lately have been working on a lot of R&B, hip-hop, and electro type stuff. I’ve kind of been all over the place because I think I’m still developing my sound.
How did you decide to move out to LA?
It took me a few months to finally make the decision. One day I decided that I got my degree and I have nothing to lose so I might as well give this a shot. Me and my good friend, James Bloniarz, who directs films, moved out here and I’ve loved it so far. I like LA more than I thought I would.
What was one thing that you learned from UW or growing up that prepared you for the culture difference in LA?
Well I grew up near Chicago so I went to school in the city. I’ve always really liked big cities. But I don’t think I was prepared to be honest, though. I don’t think I was prepared at all. We basically just threw everything into my car and drove out to LA and we ended up staying at my friend’s aunt and uncle’s place for a month. I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and we really had no idea what we were going to do. Now that it’s been six months, we’re starting to figure things out.
Do you think that most people out there have a mindset like that where they dedicate their lives to a passion of theirs?
This is what I would say- what I love about LA is that when you meet new people, everyone has a great story. Everyone has their own unique and quirky venture and everyone’s really passionate about what they do. That’s something that’s cool, and you can see it in their face when they talk about it. They light up. When we first moved out here, I remember my friend’s aunt saying it’s a good place to be young and poor because everyone is kind of just starting out, and it’s fun because you’re all grinding and doing things you love.
So it sounds like it’s more of a welcoming environment rather than an extremely competitive one.
I’m sure it’s different at higher levels of the industry when serious money is at stake, but there’s three music producers in my house, one film director, one film producer, and an actor. So within our house we’re working together a lot and helping each other. I also collaborate with a lot of other producers out here, which is something that I didn’t get to do so much at home. So I think at this level, it’s easy to check the egos and just try to learn. We’re all just kind of figuring things out so I think everyone is trying to share and work toward a similar goal.
How do you find people to produce music with?
One of your friends will say “My buddy produces for this artist. I really like their stuff; you should collaborate with them.” Then you just meet them in person, or hit them up on Twitter or email them. It’s just really like hanging out with music involved. It really depends. It’s pretty casual.
Is this what happened with your video “Paper”?
“Paper” is sort of different than most of the stuff I’ve been doing. “Paper” was a three-month project that me and my two roommates really kind of slaved over. For me, I’m usually producing songs for other people. But I hadn’t really released a video that was about my musical process. We were pretty excited about it and we spent a lot of time and money on it. It was a fun project.
In the video, you portray that a bunch of ordinary occurrences, where you do what you love, eventually build up to something great. Can you explain that message?
I think I’ve realized, especially since I’ve moved here, that no one wakes up one day being at the top of their field. No one decides that they want to direct films and then the next day they wake up as Steven Spielberg. It doesn’t work that way. You start with something small and then your job is to try to grow it until one day you’re doing really well at it and doing what you always wanted to do. I think it’s important for people to believe and give themselves a chance because in the beginning it’s so hard because you suck at what you do. I was so bad when I started producing, and I’m not saying I’m that great now, but I’m definitely better. I think that it’s just important to give yourself a chance.
Are you releasing any other videos?
I have a video coming out November 4th called “Aware” that’s the follow-up to “Paper.” I’m working with an extremely talented artist named Elias on this one. It’s a really trippy video that dives into the concept of dreams and inspiration. When you see the video you’ll see what I mean. We’ve spent about a month and a half on it now so I’m really excited for that to come out. With “Paper” I wanted to make a video that was interesting to producers, but also to non-musicians and that’s what we tried to do with this video as well.
You mentioned something about a video series as well. Can you explain that?
I’m doing a video series that starts in mid-November. It’s called “Tracked Out.” I found myself getting in a rut, getting bored of doing the same thing every day, which happens. So I wanted to challenge myself every week and make things more interesting. I’m doing a series where people will give me challenges on Twitter to make different types of music. Something like “Make a song that sounds like if Adele did Gangster rap, or make a hip hop song that incorporates traditional Indian music.” Goofy stuff like that. I’ll choose a challenge and then the episode shows me making the song and showing people what I did. I’ll also get to bring a lot of friends on the show. It’s going to be part studio video, part reality show haha. I live in a house of interesting creative people and I want to share our story with people. I’m really excited about it.
How much time do you spend producing music?
I try to work 6 days a week. That means actually sitting down and making music on those days and then I have hours also set aside for my business and marketing stuff. The marketing is really a team effort. It’s me, my roommates, and my manager, Becca, who is incredible.
What are your future goals?
My ideal situation would be touring four or five months out of the year and then producing for the other seven. There’s really no feeling like performing. Nick Luebke and I went on tour about two months ago and that was a life-changing experience- so incredible, so much fun. But after you’re done with it, you’re ready to get back in the studio and just stay in one place for a bit. So I want to be performing in some capacity and producing for bigger artists. I want to travel a lot too, but I guess that ties in with touring.
What was your favorite part about going on tour and performing?
I just like the performing part; it’s the greatest high in the world. It’s a really gratifying feeling. You get to see people responding to your work and enjoying the music that you’ve put so much time into. Some aspects of touring aren’t as awesome, though. We were in a conversion van with eight guys in it so it was really cramped and we drove from Minneapolis to New York City with only a few stops- no hotels, 27 hours straight. Not a good time.
What do you like better- producing or performing?
That’s tough. Like I said, I don’t think there’s any feeling quite like performing live but producing definitely has its moments. A given track probably takes about 20+ hours to make. 19 of those hours might not be that thrilling, but for one or two hours it’s a huge rush. There’s times when I’m alone in the studio jumping around like an idiot to a song I just made. To anyone watching, I look like I need some serious help, but for me creating music is an unreal feeling. Seriously, there are moments that are incredible. That’s why I do this. That’s why I’m excited to wake up every day- to make music. So I enjoy both performing and producing I guess. They’re different.
Who are your biggest influences?
I think my favorite producer is probably Ryan Leslie because when I was starting to produce, I’d always watch his videos. He’s a multi-instrumentalist so he does a lot of the same things as me. I look up to him. I also love J. Cole as an artist and producer.
Do you think having influences is necessary for someone to be successful?
It depends. Usually you’re inspired by something. I remember even before I was producing, watching Ryan Leslie’s videos and thinking “I just want to be one of those guys. I wanna be in that room with those people, doing what he’s doing right now. I don’t know how to do it, but I’d like to find out.” It’s like when you’re a kid and you watch Kobe Bryant hoop and that makes you want to go play basketball. You’re bound to be inspired by someone or something.
Do you hope to one day inspire someone by what you’re doing?
Yeah absolutely. That’s sort of the bigger picture. Obviously you want to enjoy success. You want to succeed and make money, blah blah blah, but the whole message behind “Paper” was that doing what you love isn’t about the money or success, it’s about enjoying what you do every day. And that’s something I can honestly say that I’m doing. I really love what I do, and I want other people to experience that feeling.
For more of Sean Kongery, visit his website at seankongery.com, or catch him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
https://www.facebook.com/SeanKongery
@seankongery